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Finca Dracula in Guadalupe
Is Panama the next Costa Rica?

A trip to the library in Ephesus

Guadalupe: a bounty for your inner botanist

article and photos by Darrin DuFord

Keeping an orchid alive can be a challenge when the plant is removed from its natural habitat. The wrong variation in sun, humidity, water, or temperature could reward you with a leafless brown stick poking up from a pot of substrate. Windowsills have often become graveyards for many an orchid, despite feverish fawning by their careful fans.

It's easy, therefore, to appreciate the success of Guadalupe's Finca Dracula, a multi-hectare orchid farm in the forest on the side of Volcan Baru. The greenhouse complex houses 2,200 species, including a new hybrid species named after ex-president Mireya Moscoso. That's the one that has shiny, expensive jewelry hanging off of it.

Not all of their orchids bloom at same time, but with over 2,000 species --- both native and non-native --- you'll still find plenty of orchid blossoms bursting all over the color wheel no matter when you go. When my girlfriend and I went in the rainy season, we had all 2,200 species of orchids to ourselves that day (we shared them with our orchid guide, of course).

Orchids aren’t the only plants that prosper in the area. In the center of Guadalupe, carrot and onion trucks roll below pastel-colored farm plots that magically cling to the sides of hills, a nod to the area’s rich volcanic soil. We enjoyed sipping fruit wines made in the nearby town Volcan, including one derived from cashew apples.

The warming of alcohol coursing through one’s body comes in handy in Guadalupe, because at an altitude of over 6,000 feet, Guadalupe is one of the few places in Panama that gets a little chilly. To illustrate this point, just visit the nearby Los Quetzales Lodge, where its sauna, competing with the elements just outside its walls, needs about an hour to heat up --- worth the wait, however, after a busy day of orchid ogling.

David-bound public buses stop right in front of the Los Quetzales Lodge. Oh, wait --- that’s not really a surprise, since almost every road in Panama seems to have some form of public transport regularly prowling up and down it.

Finca Dracula is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Call for an appointment to schedule a guide: 771-2070. The cost is $10 per person.

From one of the smallest…

…to one of the largest.

Darrin DuFord is the author of the book Is There a Hole in the Boat? Tales of Travel in Panama without a Car

Finca Dracula in Guadalupe
Is Panama the next Costa Rica?

A trip to the library in Ephesus