Danger Warning Issued for El PianistaTrail

[Keith Woolford]

TOURISM

Warning issued for El Pianista

Officials say the trail is not properly marked.

Government officials in Chiriqui have issued a warning about El Pianista trail, saying people need to be cautious about using the path.

Yilka Aguirre, regional director of the Ministry of Environment, said the trail, which is within Volcan Baru National Park, is not properly marked.

"If people use it, they do so under their own responsibility," Aguirre added.

On Saturday, a Colombian tourist was lost for several hours. The tourist was found the next day.

Minister of Tourism Gustavo Him said that the trail needs to be better marked due to the large number of tourists who use it.

Chiriqui has seven properly marked trails

http://www.prensa.com/in_english/Ministerio-Ambiente-reconoce-Pianista-turistico_21_4526757289.html

Edited July 12, 2016 by Keith Woolford

[Keith Woolford]

Three years after the loss of two young women from Holland, officials have declared that the El Pianista trail is not suitable for ecotourism.

The doubts left by the death of two Dutch women in Chiriqui

Three years later, little is known about the causes and circumstances in which the Dutch women Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon died, between the mountain ranges of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro.

The young people disappeared in the first days of April 2014, then that one of the tourist guides that should accompany an adventure trip on the path The Pianist, reported that they had not come to the appointment and had several days of not knowing of them.

A year later, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested the provisional file be archived and will only be reopened if new proof is provided.

The case, however, has helped to highlight the flaws in the regulation of ecotourism in the region.

"Due to this event have been searched many corrective measures. Lack much to accomplish, but it showed the weaknesses of the Boquete district at the institutional level and local authorities," says the mayor of Boquete, Emilio Walker.

The National System of Civil Protection (SINAPROC) clarifies that the pianist is not a path for ecotourism activities.

"It is a rural road for people who live on the border with Bocas del Toro", said Francisco Santamaria, an official of the sinaproc.

Yilka Aguirre, director of the Ministry of the Environment in Chiriqui, argues that after the case of the Netherlands, were implemented more supervision plans by rangers in Boquete and Chiriqui.

"We can't stop the tourist part… it is the economic lung of Chiriqui, but there must be more vigilant," says the governor Hugo Mendez.

http://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/provincias/Kris-Lisanne-holandesas-anos-despues_0_4750025051.html

 

[Bonnie]

If I'm reading this correctly, SINAPROC is just proclaiming the El Pianista trail to be unsafe, nothing more. Is that correct, Keith?

Edited May 6, 2017 by Bonnie

[JimAndNena]

56 minutes ago, Bonnie said:

If I'm reading this correctly, SINAPROC is just proclaiming the El Pianista trail to be unsafe, nothing more. Is that correct, Keith?

The trail is not unsafe for those locals who live there using it. The trail can be very unsafe for those not familiar with it. If tourists have a guide, it is a great hike and on some days, spectacular views.

[Matt]

MSNBC Oct. 31, 2022

In 2014, two Dutch women went hiking in a jungle in Panama. They were never seen alive again. And to this day, the investigation into the deaths of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon has yielded more questions than answers. Now, journalists Mariana Atencio and Jeremy Kryt are exploring the untold story in a new podcast titled “Lost in Panama”. Mariana Atencio joins MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez to discuss the podcast and the latest on the investigation.
 

Oct. 31, 2022 - https://www.msnbc.com/american-voices/watch/-lost-in-panama-podcast-digs-into-mysterious-2014-disappearance-of-two-dutch-women-152028741643