And on the third day, it was open!! My last ditch effort to see Museo Herrera came to fruition. I sauntered in and was pleasantly surprised to find it was free entrance. Though, there most certainly was a price! It turns out very few foreigners visit Chitre, usually bypassing for more aesthetically pleasing tourist sites. And those who do venture into the bustle of this typical Panamanian city usually only leave their imprint on a hotel pillow. Thus, I was a novelty.
The two tourist police at the museum entrance were keen for conversation and a photo shoot, while an intellectually impaired young lady employed by the museum attached herself to me. She managed to stammer out a couple of words, then left me to look at the displays as she recorded me doing so on her phone. It was a bit unsettling and I felt like an animal on display at a zoo. Still, there was an interesting display of Panama’s mega fauna and pre-Colombian artefacts on the ground floor, including a mock burial site with artefacts displayed in situ.
I went upstairs to the colonial display and a museum curator came out to give a guided tour of the display. All the while, my little señorita continued her recording. She was having a lovely time and I can only assume what random feed this Wild Woman will end up featuring in.
It was now time to finally leave Chitre and venture further down the coast. I collected my pack and walked back to the bus station for the last time. I caught a bus to Las Tablas, then walked the few blocks for the bus further south to Pedasi. There, I had to sit on the side of the road for about half an hour for my last bus of the day down to Playa Venao.
I had found a hostel online en-route so booked it while the bus was negotiating the winding road. I was then dropped off on the side of the main road to walk down to find my hostel. This was one of those hostels where private rooms are only marginally more than a dorm bed, so I booked that instead. While the rooms were really cheap, they were also really basic. Small concrete boxes, though there was airconditioning. Very basic shared toilets and cold water showers in cubicles were on the verandah outside the rooms. The aroma of freshly choofed marijuana emanated from where I assumed dorm room was.
I dumped my pack and walked along the main road to Eco Venao where a 3km waterfall hike was mentioned in the guidebook. It was late by the time I got there so I didn’t have a lot of time to spare if I was to finish the trail before dark. It was a well maintained trail following a small river which needed fording across rocks a couple of times. The trail then lead to a small waterfall with a pool below.
From there, the trail led steeply up the hill to a lookout over Playa Venao itself. It was a surprisingly good view and completely unexpected from where you pop out. Then it was down and circling the hill around to the start of the trail. It was almost dusk by the time I finished and definitely dusk by the time I got back to my hostel.
By then it was time to source some dinner. Playa Venao is one of those up and coming expat resort communities, complete with upmarket beachside hotels and high rise condos jutting up above the jungle canopy. I eventually found a restaurant attached to one of those beach hotels that wasn’t too outrageously priced to while away the evening.
Wild Woman Wandering 