El Valle

Introduction

El Valle is a town in Cocle province in central Panama.

Sights and Activities

You can visit El Nispero Zoo Garden, Chorro El Macho waterfall, Small thermal pools, Orchid Conservation Center called Aprovaca, Serpetarium, and the India Dormida Mountain.

Another place is the El Gaital National Park.

Getting There

By Car

Driving from Panama City westwards along the Pan American Highway until Las Uvas at San Carlos, then turn into the road leading towards El Valle. There are 28 kilometres between Las Uvas and El Valle.

By Bus

From Panama City, you can take the bus leaving from the Transport National Terminal at Albrook. They drive directly to El Valle. It is an economic way of travelling.

Getting Around

Several local taxi's are available as well the ubiquitous, van and coaster buses. Attractions are easily accessible by foot. You can also rent bicycles or a horse from a number of local companies.

Sleep

There is a big variety of hotels, hostels and other accommodation options in El Valle.

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes can be found in cities and most major towns. Wifi is on the rise though with many hotels, restaurants and bars offering this services, especially in the major tourist areas like Panama City, Bocas del Toro and Boquete. Some mountainous or off the beaten track areas might not have any internet services at all.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Panama's country code is 507. All cellular numbers start with the number 6 and have 8 digits. Land line phone numbers have 7 digits. 911 is the general emergency phone number.

Calls to the USA and Europe are between 4 and 10 cents a minute. The best way to make international calls from Panama is to buy prepaid telephone cards that are sold at every corner. The most popular is the TeleChip card. If you bring your cellphone, you can choose to buy a local simcard, instead of paying high charges for internet use through your home provider.

Post

Correos y Telegrafos is the national postal company of Panama. It provides a wide range of services though you usually have to use the post offices for both sending and receiving mail and packages, including buying stamps. Post offices can be found in many cities and towns and are open from 6:30am to 5:45pm Monday to Friday and 7:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday. Domestic mail takes several days but to the USA and Europe for example it can take anywhere from 5 to over 10 days depending on the country. For sending larger packages, you might also consider using companies like FedEx, TNT, UPS or DHL, as they offer fast, reliable and competitively priced services as well.

External Links