‘Bienvenidos Eco-Jardin Tematico El Explorador,’ pronounced the sign as I stopped to catch my breath. I had set off on a gentle hike from Boquete, the small mountain town at the base of the Chiriqui Highlands, in search of the eponymous garden. And now, I had reached my destination.
I checked the sign once more. There weren’t too many eco gardens in this particular corner of Panama, but I wanted to be sure, nevertheless. This time, however, it had changed slightly. Under the lettering sat an upcycled frog, its eyes bulging with a grin as wide as the valley below. The sight took a few seconds to sink in, but I accepted the warm, if slightly surreal, welcome. This visit would unfold unlike any trip to a garden, eco or otherwise, I had made before.
The premise of El Explorador is simple: the open garden lets visitors soak up the cleansing highlands atmosphere. Its philosophy seems to run thus: ‘La Felicidad no se encuentra … se construye dia a dia.’ Happiness is not found … it is built day by day.
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In El Explorador’s case, happiness seems to come from a fever dream. The short climb into the garden indicates something different awaits on the horizon. A series of flowerpots, each decorated with wide-eyed grins, adds a discombobulating edge to proceedings. As I reached the garden itself, I stood transfixed. The ethereal strains of a Debussy melody ebbed and flowed, and a change came over me. Lost in a daydream, I swayed gently to the passing breeze as El Explorador began to cast its spell.
Trippy Explorador
Time had all but disappeared as I floated around the garden. El Explorador excelled in replacing the mundanity of everyday life with the innocence of childhood. I passed an old TV screen, its innards emptied and replaced with smiling paintbrushes. And beyond that, an oversized swing-set, just one of myriad surreal images in the garden. I expected to find a time-displaced L Frank Baum just around the corner, seeking inspiration for his Oz series.
The same grin and inviting eyes manifested themselves everywhere. Wherever I looked, there they were. Some rested on pots, others on pans and yet more on trinkets scattered incongruously around the site. Even the trees and bins seemed to watch me with their giant smiles and coquettish gaze.
Further exploration uncovered even more unexpected delights. A makeshift model barman held court in front of an empty bar. Another mannequin, meanwhile, painted bright pink and dressed in workman’s helmet and gardening gear, held up a frying pan. And on this pan was the legend ‘La gente + feliz, disfruta al maximo de todo lo ke dios pone en su camino’. Loosely translated, happy people enjoy everything God puts in their way. I looked at the figure’s face, and it stared back at me, knowingly.
Unfortunately, as Debussy turned into Rachmaninoff, reality started to make itself known once more. I came back to sense and reason. And as I surveyed El Explorador a final time, I sensed the figures of the garden had gathered to bid me farewell, their countenances divine and their mouths eternally grinning.
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