Thousands of flowers fill Boquete, a town in the mountains of northern Panama, with color, in a traditional fair in which their aromas are mixed with that of geisha coffee, the most expensive special grain in the world, to the delight of thousands of people who visit it every year.
This is the Flower and Coffee Fair, which started this week and takes place until January 19 in an open enclosure flanked by the La Caldera River that crosses Boquete, a town in the valley of the same name and located more than 500 kilometers west of the capital of Panama.
Tomás Ruiz, president of the board of trustees of the fair, explains to EFE that both national and imported flowers are exhibited with artisans from Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama.
The most expensive coffee in the world in Panama
This year, about 35,000 plants of 25 varieties of flowers, including impatiens, dianthus marigol, cineraria, gazania dalhia, dragonaria celosia, begonias nicotiana, zinnias, roses and pestrantus, make up a garden with different shapes, such as the tail of a gigantic peacock, and other geometric.
The flower display is complemented by the coffee offer of the area, the highest grain production in Panama and the birthplace of the Panamanian geisha, a specialty that is sold at more than 13,500 dollars per kilo.
“In addition to the flowers is our great coffee, a well-known coffee, the geisha coffee, which can be obtained in this event,” says Ruiz.
Colorful gardens
In addition to the colorful gardens and the roasted coffee of the fair, visitors can enjoy a range of cultural activities and the gastronomy offered by Boquete, a town that is distinguished by its mild temperature – in contrast to the heat of the capital, for example – and the always “very warm” attention of the people of Boquete, Ruiz highlights.
“This is the most beautiful (…) the Flower and Coffee Fair is one of the most important events where national and foreign visitors come together because of the weather, the flowers and above all to taste the richest and most expensive coffee in the world, the geisha of Panama,” says Francisco Serracín, resident of the sector and producer of the grain.
According to executives of the fair organization, the event generates more than 300 direct jobs, and a hotel occupancy in Boquete of 100% of its 800 officially registered beds, outside the offers available on technological platforms for lodging rental.