Chiriquí Province

The resplendent quetzal is one of the most sought-after birds in the Americas, and Chiriquí's cloud forest — spanning both the Boquete and Volcán sides of Barú — is among the more dependable places to see one. Males display iridescent green plumage across the head, back and wings, a crimson breast, and, during the breeding season (roughly February to May), tail streamers that can trail nearly a metre behind them in flight — a combination striking enough that both the Maya and the Aztecs considered the bird sacred, associating it with the feathered-serpent deity Quetzalcoatl and reserving its feathers for royalty and priests. Sightings are most reliable at dawn near fruiting trees, particularly wild avocado species the birds favour, and a local guide familiar with current nesting activity dramatically improves the odds over an unguided walk.

Volcán sits on Barú's western slope at an altitude similar to Boquete's, but the resemblance largely ends there — the town is flatter, more agricultural, and considerably less developed for international tourism, giving it a genuinely different, more workaday highland character. It serves as the western trailhead for the Sendero Los Quetzales trail and as an alternative base for approaching the Barú summit hike, generally quieter and less crowded than the routes departing from Boquete. The surrounding countryside is farming country — vegetables, flowers and dairy rather than coffee estates — and nearby attractions include Lagunas de Volcán, a pair of crater lakes formed by a past eruption, and the petroglyphs at Piedra de Lagarto, ancient carved rock art whose exact age and meaning remain the subject of ongoing archaeological study.

David, Panama's second-largest city and Chiriquí's provincial capital, is a working commercial and transport hub rather than a tourist draw — most visitors pass through en route between the highlands and the coast rather than staying to sightsee, using its airport and bus terminal as the practical gateway to the rest of the province. Beyond the city, the Pacific lowlands offer a genuine contrast to Barú's misty highlands: warmer, flatter coastal terrain with beaches along the Golfo de Chiriquí, a stretch of coast less developed than Panama's more famous Pacific resort areas further east, and a base for boat trips out toward the Chiriquí Gulf's own islands and marine life. The shift from cloud forest to coastal lowland within a single province, achievable in a couple of hours' drive, is part of what makes Chiriquí one of Panama's more varied single regions.