Previously, someone had talked me that Turega Hill has a high difficulty, so, knowing that my conditions aren´t good, I was a little scary about climbing it.
However, while visiting El Valle de Antón (Anton Valley), some friends of Travelling Souls Panama will go to climb it and invited me.
They told me that the trail was short and I could climb it, and of course I could, but very slowly, hahaha.
I met them in the center of El Valle, and we started the adventure, we went in different cars and went to the beginning of the trail, first of all, la street has asphalt.
After there´s a part, maybe 1km, that is just dirt and stones, in that road, it is better go by 4×4 car, you can go by a 4×2 car, if the road is dry and it´s not rain when you are in the hill.
The trail
Then the hike began, but first of all, we had to arrive to the foot of the hill.
If you think you will be straight (horizontal) or with a small climb to arrive, but not, first you go down and down, like 1km, there are quite steep descents.
When we got to the foot, we crossed a river, if you look to the right you can see a waterfall, it`s very beautiful. The river isn´t very deep, nor is very wide, it can be crossed careful, going from stone to stone.
The harder part
Now, the real climb began, personally it was difficult for me to climb this hill, I don´t know it was because of the high, the humidity or both.
At the beginning, I was with the group and little by little I separated of them, of course there were two guides and one stayed with me all the trail.
The steep make you feel tired fast, and more, if you´re out of conditions, like me.
But while I was going up, I got more and more dizzy, so, I went more and more slowly, hahaha, to that point that I climbed like 15 meters and rested for some seconds.
However, this helped me not to slip, because I was going slowly and taking safe steps, I only saw the footprints left by the people before, I could see when they were slipping.
In a moment, I asked to the guide, how much time is left to arrive with my speed, he told me, lest than 30 minutes, 40 minutes later I asked again, hahaha.
Fortunately, it only was like 50m more, (at that point I didn´t wore the mask, at one point, I got too dizzy that I had to take it out, to take a little more of air, although you can breathe well wearing it, when you are hiking a hill, when you are dizzy, the feeling of having something on the face, make you feel with less air.
These last meters didn´t feel so hard, I think it was because knowing I was close to the end.
On the top of Turega Hill
After 1 hour and 40 minutes, I reached tthe peak, it is wonderfull when you arrive there, it is like a great barrier to pass.
I climbed Turega Hill, which scared me a bit, scared because they told me that it was difficult and I thought I could not climb it, but I did.
For my surprise, my friends of adventurers of the day, had arrived only a few minutes before me.
Perhaps, if the humidity and the height had not affected me, I would have arrived with them, from what they told me, it also affected them, but not so much.
During my climb, I heard them talking, but I thought they were already up.
Back
After spending time at the peak, it was time to go down, now the good thing is coming, if it was slippery to go up, now imagine going down.
I was a little late, again, hahaha, this time because I wanted to take some photos before going down.
When I went down I was seeing the footprints where the they slipped and fell, this time the footprints were longer.
I was grabbing on to everything I found on the road, branches, roots, trees,
But even so, I also slipped, even one time I slipped as if I were a ninja, one leg went straight forward and the other was caught by a root. I got caught in a root (you have to be careful with the roots, especially when you go down, because it is very easy to get entangled with them).
The guide tried to grab me, but he could not, because of my foot unhooked and I continued going down, hahaha, thank God nothing happened to me.
Me iba agarrando de todo lo que encontraba en el camino, ramas, raíces, árboles, pero, aun así, también me resbalaba.
The Waterfall
I met the others at the waterfall.
Someone took swam a little before continuing, I didn´t want to get my clothes wet, so I didn´t go into the water.
If I knew what was going to happen next, I think I would have swum in the waterfall.
The rain
It started to drizzle, and we all ran out, now, we had to go up, to get to the cars, or in our case, to the house where they had lunch for us.
We still had about 30 minutes to go to the house.
Fortunately, I had brought some plastic bags that I had saved to reuse, and there I can keep the camera and the cell phone, because it rained hard and we were all wet.
The lunch
When we arrived, a delicious and huge lunch was waiting for us, it was abundant and very tasty (rice with pigeon peas, stewed chicken [dinosaur], salad, natural pineapple drinks, for dessert, watermelon and mango).
After eating, we returned to our starting point. And I can tell you that my legs hurt for like 3 days hahaha.
Note
- There is no cellphone signal on the way, from La Cruz Hill.
Level
- IIntermediate to Advanced.
Advices
- Wear sneakers or hiking shoes,
- Dry fit clothes, long pants and long-sleeved top (such as those for exercising, not jeans),
- Bring water (it can be 1ltr).
- Snacks,
- Sunscreen, cap and sunglasses, almost all the trail is under the trees, but at the beginning and at the peak, there are no trees and the sun can be hard.
- Go with a guide, there are parts of the trail that aren´t easy to follow and you could take another trail.
- Do not carry anything in your hands, you will need them, use a backpack for the things that you need to carry.
- Waterproof bag, for your things like cell phones, in case it rains,
- If you see that it is going to rain or there is lightning or thunder, please do not go up, it could be dangerous,
- A raincoat, in case it rains on the way (be careful, do not go up if it´s raining),
- A complete change of clothes,
- Alcohol (can help with dizziness),
- Extra masks (in times of Covid),
- Do not leave trash and if you can, pick up what you see on the road.
Price
- $35.00 trip from El Valle de Antón, includes lunch and guide, does not include transportation (if you don’t have transportation, talk to the tour guide).
My guide
The guys of Travelling Souls Panama +507 6153-8924, info@travellingsoulpanama.com.
They also offer private tours, tours can be in Spanish and / or English.
How to get to Turega Hill?
Take the Panamericana Highway and enter through the town of Las Uvas, (near town of San Carlos), from there it will be about 27km to El Valle (meeting point to go to Turega Hill).
The hill is located in the town of Alto de La Estancia, it is behind El Valle, near La Cruz Hill and to go to the Turega Hill trail.
It is better to go with a 4×4 car and continue with a guide.
If you continue with your car to the trail, be careful when you go to La Cruz Hill.
A part of the street is very steep and with sharp curves, do not get out of your way, another car or a route bus may come and they usually go very fast.
Es recomendable ir con un auto 4×4 y seguir con un guía.
way, another car or a route bus may come and they usually go very fast.
If you go by bus, you can take one towards El Valle de Antón, or one that passes through Las Uvas (San Carlos).
Get off there and take another that goes to El Valle de Antón.
From Las Uvas it is easier to take one San Carlos – El Valle, since there are more buses and they pass often.
Then they get off at the Center of El Valle (by the Market) or somewhere indicated by your guide.
Then you must continue with a guide in a 4×4 car.
Other places you may like
- Beautiful Sunrise on La India Dormida Hill and its Legend
- Hike to La Silla Hill
- How to get to Pozo Azul Waterfall?
- An Afternoon at Los Chorros of Los Valles Waterfall
- Enigmatic Painted Stone of El Valle de Antón
- Las Celestes Waterfall and its Natural Pool
- Trip to La Silampa Waterfall
