El Valle de Antón

El Valle sits in the caldera of a volcano that blew apart around three hundred thousand years ago, a flat-floored crater roughly six kilometres across with walls all round it, and the town inside sits at six hundred metres where the air is noticeably cooler than the coast. That has made it the weekend escape for Panama City for a century. Around it are the Chorro El Macho waterfall, thermal springs, a grove of trees with genuinely square trunks, and the India Dormida ridge, whose profile is said to resemble a sleeping woman. The golden frog, the national symbol, is extinct in the wild and survives in a conservation centre here.

What you actually see

• The crater - a flat town floor ringed by volcanic walls.
• The square trees - a grove with genuinely square-sectioned trunks.
• The Sunday market - crafts, plants and produce, the best in the region.
• The golden frog centre - the national symbol, extinct in the wild.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. The Sunday market is the main event and runs through the morning. It is cool by Panamanian standards, especially at night, so bring a layer. Weekends bring crowds from the capital.

Honest expectations

The golden frog is extinct in the wild, killed off by chytrid fungus, and the animals you see are a captive assurance population; the story is a conservation failure rather than a success. The town gets busy at weekends and prices rise. Some attractions are small and charge separately, which adds up.

Nearby

Altos de Campana is an hour east; the Pacific beaches are 40 minutes south.