Horseback Riding & Hot Springs Tour in Boquete, Panama: Best Day of My Life!
A Real Deal Team Experience.
At The Real Deal Tours we send out our team to test out the tours we offer to make sure they are up to our quality standards, give our clients feedback to ensure the tour is just right for them, and provide feedback to our tour providers for areas of improvement as well as praise for things they are doing well. In this case, I think the title says it all…..the Horseback Riding and Hot Springs tour in Boquete is a tour this Activity Specialist highly recommends.
Every now and then (and more often than not if you’re traveling with The Read Deal Tours), you come across a tour that seems like it was custom-designed for you. Just reading the description you start getting excited, and you break into a silly grin as you book it and wait anxiously for the day to come when you finally get to experience it.
Such was the case for me when I read our “Boquete Hot Springs by Horseback” combo tour. I’ve ridden horses since I was five years old, and competed on the rodeo team at my university in Texas, qualifying for nationals as a freshman atop my amazing palomino horse. Any tour that involves horseback riding immediately grabs my attention, but hot springs on top of that…really?! I frequent the hot springs in California and Colorado, as I am a sucker for their relaxing and healing powers. A combination of horseback riding followed by hot springs sounded almost too good to be true, but it is true, and it is everything I wanted it to be and more!
Our tour started promptly at 1:00 p.m. We met at the tour office in downtown Boquete and our guide, Jose, introduced himself and asked our names and where we were all from. He then briefed us on what kind of activities we would be doing to ensure we knew what we were getting into before having us look over the safety information and sign our names to the waiver. We then loaded into a comfortable air conditioned van, and drove about 25 minutes to the gated farm where the horses are kept. The landscape from this ranch in Boquete was absolutely gorgeous!! As we drove up we saw 10 excellently cared for horses saddled and ready to go waiting for us under the shaded barn. I should note that because I am such a horse lover, I’m very particular when it comes to the companies that we work with and the condition of the horses that they use for tours. I’m happy to say that these horses were well-cared for (some even comically plump), with healthy coats, all wearing horse shoes, and with nice saddle pads resting underneath the typical western saddle.
What impressed me the most however, was the way that Jose asked our riding experience level (“How experienced are you on a scale of 1-10?” “15!” I shouted) and matched us to the horses accordingly. He explained each horse’s personality in detail, what they like and don’t like, the horses that they get along with well, and any bad habits that they have. Jose was kind enough to give me a guide horse, as he knew I’d want to gallop in the open space, and “Pepino” was an absolute gentleman. He is a gorgeous 10-year old buckskin gelding with a light mouth who moved off my leg pressure easily and did everything I asked of him. My friend rode a sassy palomino mare who always wanted to be in the lead, and “Lousia” thought about biting “Pepino” a few times (as Jose had warned us), but in the end they enjoyed running alongside each other. There were horses for every level of experience, including the older lady who was on the tour and just wanted to walk along quietly and have her horse do all the work (“Fat Boy” was perfect for the job).
The farm that we rode on is used exclusively by Boquete Mountain Safari Company, and its rolling hills, trails, and open spaces are any equine enthusiast’s dream making for the most incredible horseback riding in Boquete. Jose would let us know in advance when there were open spaces that we could gallop in, and I could not get the grin off my face as “Pepino” would flatten himself out and run along at a breath-taking speed. I carried along the company camera, as was able to snap tons of action shots of my friend and fellow tourists throughout the day. We rode for about an hour and a half, with loads of panoramic view points that made for excellent photo opportunities of the Volcan Baru and the Boquete Valley.
After we returned back to the barn, Jose had another surprise in store for us. He’d brought along treats for us to give our horses….bananas! In my 26 years of riding, I have never seen a horse eat a banana, but these tropical horses absolutely loved them, and it was the perfect way to say “gracias” after an excellent ride! We were then given time to change into our swimsuits in a (very) clean bathroom, before we loaded back into the van and drove about 15 minutes to the hot springs in Boquete.
After a fun, bumpy ride to the location, we unloaded all of our belongings and walked another 5 minutes to the natural hot springs where we would spend the last 1.5 hours of our trip. Jose volunteered to watch all of our things and showed us the 2 different hot spring pools, described the temperatures of each hot spring, and led us to the river where we could cool off is we so chose. I headed for the hottest pool, and at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit, it was perfect for me. The other hot spring pool was about 90 degrees, and the river is a cool and refreshing 75 degrees (mas o menos). To my delight, a light rainfall began making my Boquete hot springs experience almost magical. As I soaked in the soothing water of the completely natural rock-constructed hot spring pool, I had to look up and say thanks to the Creator for such a perfect day.
Feeling completely relaxed and happy, we returned to the van and drove the half hour trip back into town, where Jose dropped each of us at our respective hotels. That evening I reflected on the tour, and decided with my friend (who commented that every time she looked at me I had a massive smile on my face) that it was, indeed, the best day of my life. So yeah, you could say as an Activities Specialist, in my expert opinion I can highly recommend the Boquete Hot Springs by Horseback tour.