PICTURES OF OUR PANAMA TRIP!

Just a bunch of random pictures of our second trip to Panama!

Our balcony at Casa di Pietra

Steps looking down from third floor

Sitting area outside our room

Ray on queen size bed in our room

Our room with sitting area in background

On our balcony

Town of Sora

Inside of the roof of a bohio we looked at in Altos Del Maria

Bohio belonged to this house (unsure what is falling off)

One bedrm casita in ADM ($95K)

Another home we looked at with spectacular views

Some super steep driveways in ADM

2 year old home in ADM (never lived in, not finished, not pretty on inside--termites, foundation cracking)

The tropical orange house picture above

Highlands in ADM

This sign had Ray and I doing a double take.  It was in El Valle, but should have been in ADM (we felt as if the mountain was on top of us)

El Valle in dry season (not much green)

El Valle bakery

Cookies, cupcakes, breads in bakery

The discoteca we shouldn't have gone into

Living fences on the way to Pedasi

Random horse in truck

Park in Pedasi (Ray eating his ice cream)

Church in Pedasi

Pedasi beach (Costa Pedasi)

Playa Arenal, Pedasi

Smiley's in Pedasi

Bird of Smiley's

Carnival sculptures in someone's yard in Pedasi

Fried Chicken found here at bus station

So good!

Breakfast here at Casa di Pietra

Happy hour here at Casa di Pietra

Thermal mud in El Valle

Several fires seen on drive to and from Pedasi

Manglar Lodge, El Palmar

Grounds of the lodge

Restaurant and check in

Our room for two nights

Bathroom

El Palmar beach low tide

More of our room

More of beach

The guard cat at Manglar Lodge

Gorgona beach

CASCO VIEJO (end of our stay)

Our tour guide, Andre, makes a parking space here (couldn't get picture moved , so I left it alone!)

Friday meant the closing of our week in Panama.  It meant leaving the interior of Panama and driving to our hotel (Marriot Courtyard Metromall where we stayed last year, since it is twenty minutes from the airport) outside of Panama City.  We had a tour of the Old City at one pm that day given to us by Andre.  He was to pick us up at the hotel and drive us through the congested streets of Panama City giving us a tour of Casco Viejo.  After checking out of Manglar Lodge and having a great chat with the owner, Ivan, we decided to be brave and try a fonda for goodness sake!  We arrived to Fonda Don Saul and actually sat down at a table this time (I wasn't expecting tables).  The waitress spoke no English so we muddled our way through.  Ray ordered eggs with tortillas, and I ordered eggs with _____?  I couldn't understand what she said so I just winged it.  They didn't have pan, but they had either tortillas or ____?  The fried eggs were delicious.  Ray received two eggs, and I had one?  Guess I looked like I needed less, since I had those other things on my plate.  And what a great surprise they were.  We asked the waitress to say the name of the food SLOWLY, and we heard them to be called Hojaldras (simply fried dough).  Oh, if I could have had some confectioner's sugar dumped on them, but still, they were so good! Like a plain donut, but better!  Our meal was $3 for the food, $1 for bottled water and .65 for a Coke.  With our bellies full (now at the end of the week, we are looking fuller all the way around!), we hit the road to find the airport and backtrack to the hotel.  We didn't have a rental car on our last day in Panama in October, so Ray felt better seeing the airport and getting his bearings straight for the next day.  We arrived to the hotel in about ninety minutes (a bit of traffic on the main road due to a car being broken down in the lane), and we were able to check right in.

Andre arrived at one pm telling us that on a Friday the traffic would be that much more.  We would just expect traffic on the way back.  We are used to this living in the DC area.  It can take 45 minutes for Ray to get home or two plus hours.  The places we visited with Andre on Friday were Casco Viejo, or Old Town, which is the historic district of Panama.  Panama City was founded in 1519 and lasted about 150 years before good ole Captain Morgan burned it down.  When rebuilt, it was built on a peninsula isolated by the sea and surrounded by defending walls.  It is the only walled Spanish city on the Pacific side of the American continent.  The walls are 25 feet tall man made of stone.  Before touring the city, we walked up the steps of the old tower for outstanding panoramic views of the old and new, and fortunately we beat the tour buses!  Andre buys his stamps from a woman sitting on a bench since he doesn't have to stand in line like he would at the post office.  We then drove to Plaza Herrarra, parked our car in a place Andre made up for himself since there is so much construction going on and toured the area on foot.  This is pretty much what I remember seeing:  The Church of San Jose (Golden Altar), the Canal Museum, the Panama Cathedral, La Iglesia de La Merced, the Promenade along the water with many vendors and tourists, the French Embassy, the new and controversial bridge/road that Martinelli decided to construct out in the Pacific, and so much more!  Once we were through with the tour, we sat in Plaza Herrara (in air conditioned car) for thirty minutes trying to make our way out of the town.  This is when Andre told us it would take another hour to get back to the hotel.  Ninety minutes later, we arrived to the Marriott thankful that he did the driving and he knew the shortcuts!  We saw Brisas del Golf on the way back (a shortcut), and lots of cars and heavy rain!  The rain contributed to the traffic along with it being a Friday at five pm.  We left the plaza at 3:30 and arrived to our lobby at 5:45.  Urg.  Andre did not charge for the time in the car and was superb tour guide.  We were famished having eaten at the Fonda nine hours earlier and thirsty, but I did not want Bennigan's at the mall again.  We walked over to the Metromall where I had Wendy's for dinner!  Not the way I wanted to leave Panama, but it was fast and good!  I made sure I ate Queso Fundido (melted cheese on a grill with tortillas), and more helado.  An early start on Saturday to the airport at six am.  Bedtime was the usual nine pm.  

The airport was easy to drive to from this hotel, drop off of our rental was simple, but the lines!  We did self check out but still had to check bags--one line.  We were amazed at the many people that were trying to catch flights at the last minute and in a rush trying to cut in line at the security gate but not being allowed to (!)--line two but went quickly.  Then breakfast and waiting at a gate other than ours since the flight to Miami had not left yet and the gated area was roped off.  Once the flight to Miami took off, we were allowed to be seated in our gated area until they called us up to be re-scanned and our bags run through the detectors.  Chaos as usual, but much easier since they had electronic equipment this time.  Line three.  We knew that since we were sitting in the back of the plane, we would be seated first, so we stood in an unorganized line behind the first class, elderly and adults with children passengers--line four.  No PA system used to announce the rows being called, but we figured it out by watching the gate attendant's every move, and the walked onto the plane.  The rest of the trip and our weekend has been uneventful.  The usual bill paying, laundry and grocery shopping.  Work begins again tomorrow with my continuance of daydreaming about Panama.

Old Tower with some new behind

Pacific Ocean with mountains in background (low tide starting)

Old and new

La Iglesia de La Merced

It did rain later (new bridge)

Low tide starting

Biodiversity Museum on Amador Causeway

Where the vendors are and the tourists shop

Low tide (not pretty)

Steps used in the tower back in the day

Old Tower

Golden Altar

Canal museum on left

Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus (being rebuilt after fire and earthquake)

Andre buys stamps

LOOKING, LISTENING, LEARNING AND WITH CLYDE AND TERRY COLES

Unsure what will be remembered and hope not a lot will be forgotten about our Thursday in Panama, I am going to try and do right by Clyde and Terry Coles, since they showed us so much that day!  I do remember breakfast that day was in El Machetazo's cafe.  Since our meeting time at their house was nine am and Coronado Cafe doesn't open until nine, we knew the store cafe would be where we would find a pretty good meal quick and cheap.  (Also, Rincon del Chef in Coronado has yet to be open for breakfast even though some websites I have gone to say they are open early.  Whether rainy or dry season, we have been unsuccessful finding it open).  We had very good eggs, french toast and fruit to ensure full bellies for our adventurous day with the Coles.  And what a day!  We spent an enjoyable, action packed day visiting all of the places that they have discovered while living in Capira, Panama and then moving to Chame.  We drove into Gorgona to see the beaches with the all of the fishing (Ray and I had driven a little into Gorgona the night before looking at the homes,  but we didn't make it to the beach.  We learned on this day where to pull up and park when you want to just walk the beach--parking is very limited, but Clyde showed us how to bite the bullet and do it).  We saw the house they rented in Capira (this is a "cute" Panamanian neighborhood of colorfully painted and well kept houses), the pool and gym they use at Punta Chame Club and Resort and met the owner, Wayne, went into Campana National Park for sightseeing as well as being given a wonderful tour by Phil, the owner of La Joya de Chica.  His mountainside resort is nestled in the hills of Cerro Campana within the town of Chica.  For anyone wanting peace and tranquility being surrounded by lush tropical gardens of gorgeous plants and fruits as well as swimming, visit the website at www.lajoyadechica.com.  Our adventure up the mountain included picture taking at a scenic overlook of the Pacific Ocean and the mountains and a flat tire that Clyde quickly changed with Ray's assistance.  Terry and I stood by and cracked jokes.

Clyde and Terry Coles 

Yep, it's a flat tire all right.

Terry looks on as I take pictures and Ray assists

Back entrance of the property (the rock on right with flowers landed here from El Valle volcano thousands of years ago)

Bananas hanging around

More of the volcanic rock and resort

Pool and bohio

Flower of the banana plant

Once down the mountain, we traveled to La Chorrerra going into a Panamanian Super 99 (the one in Coronado is also Panamanian but with many more expats) with super skinny check out aisles.  We had lunch in a superb Italian restaurant eating thin crusted sausage pizza with beers and fresca.  (I forget the name but will post the picture).  

Italian restaurant for pizza

little girls room

little boys room

Traffic is always present in these small towns, we learned over the week to just be aggressive and honk to let the other driver know you are there and making a move (!) and to park wherever you can park.  El Costo is another store Ray and I had wondered about, and it was one of the stores Clyde pulled up to, parked and showed us inside. It reminds me of a two story WalMart (huge) with $3 or less flip flops, clothing for $4 and under, upholstery nearby by $1-3/yard and so much more.  I found it humorous to see big kitchen knives laying out on the shelves, but then again, the machetes are out in the open in the stores as well.  The children must know not to touch unlike here in the States!  Terry and I would shop the aisles talking about the store or anything else with Clyde and Ray in the back also shopping the aisles (lol) and talking about I don't know what (probably about how great Terry and I are).  Another store we wandered through was the Do It Center (just like a Home Depot or Lowes) and into Westland Mall.  This is a great addition to the town of La Chorrerra with many stores open and many storefronts still needing to be leased (just like in the States) along with a movie theater.  Here we took a break for helado.  Ray and I were on vacationing eating our way through Panama, so we each had two scoops in a cup ($2.50 each).  Clyde and Terry could use their jubilado discount and saved $1 off the two scoop sundae ($2.50).  And for kicks, they showed us beyond the gates of the "Push button motels" of Panama (drive into a garage, push the button, the garage door closes behind you, pay money in a slot in the door perhaps $20/two hrs in the photo below, and you get a clean room with a bed to nap in haha or...can even have snacks provided or if staying in a suite there is a shower and bath area).

Push button motel (this one with door open is available)

Many doors are closed.  We saw another one that had pretty pastel colored garage doors.

 While living in Capira, Clyde and Terry had their favorite produce and fruit stands so off we went to but some bananas and 2 pineapples ($1.25).  Next stand was for tomatoes, cabbage and peppers ($5.50).  Terry explained that the lettuce doesn't always keep well, so now she has learned to use cabbage in her salads.  She eats more fresh foods and not much is out of a package or box these days.  Clyde picked us up 2 coconut waters (.50 cents each) that were refreshing and so good!  And while drinking our coconut water, he stopped to have his flat tire plugged.  Within ten minutes, the tire was good as new (just not balanced but good to have a spare tire back and functional for the most part) and cost $2.

Hard work drinking coconut water (I left Ray a little bit)

Tire shop

Wandering little boy

For those seven hours, Ray and I never would have seen all that we saw.  Eventually we would venture into the Do It Center or the Panamanian hardware store, but it is a much better touring with those that have "been there, done that".  Listening and learning as we go along with the Coles is so more fun than discovering alone.   Ray and I aren't two people that won't venture out, we know that there will be lots of trials and errors, and the Coles won't be able to hold our hands all the time, but unlike when they moved to Panama and had ONE friend (their realtor) to show them the way, we feel extremely fortunate to have discovered Clyde and Terry's blog and to be able to call them true friends.

We said our goodbyes knowing it will be a lot longer before we see them again (we may visit Panama in January to start the VISA process and hope to have them come into the city to hang out with us) and off we went to walk the beach for the last time.  Bedtime in Panama seemed to be nine pm.  We had another early day on Friday, and our week in Panama was sadly coming to an end.

TRANSITIONING TO ANOTHER PANAMANIAN TOWN

The first thought I had when Ray told me that there wasn't any electricity at the time (six am) was that the fan had quit blowing along with the breezes of El Valle.  How long would the power be out?  It will get warm, but we will be out of here soon.  The hair dryer won't work, and more importantly, no hot water?  But the very next thought was how will Luis fix my pancakes for me!  Breakfast is doomed.  So I decided to just fall back asleep and think later.  And the power came back on.  Pancakes!  It was very quiet at breakfast.  Before dining, I walked around taking lots and lots of pictures, naturally.  Then we sat down to eat fruit, pancakes, delicous bread and have coffee with orange juice.  Yummy as usual.  Filling and getting us ready for the day.  We saw only the server of breakfast.  Again, so quiet since everyone else had checked out already.

Ray and I drove over the Los Pozos Terminales (we should have walked, but we didn't realize that until we got there), or the thermal springs.  Entrance fee was $2.25/person, and once in, we were given instructions.  We were in our bathing suits but chose to just put mud on our faces.  We will go back, so we say, and soak in the mud bath, but for now our faces would do!  There is mud for sensitive and not sensitive skin.  Once we slathered our faces, we spoke in the echo wall (crazy!) and took some time out in the hammock where, yes, a bird did do his business above me and I had bird poo on my nose.  Oh well...fortunately not my mouth!  We let the mud dry for quite a while, relaxed, walked the grounds and rinsed our faces off in the sink.  So silky smooth.  This area really does look like it would have healing powers.  Two ladies soaked in the bath and another couple put mud on their baby's face along with their faces.  Everything so peaceful.

This was packing out day, so we went back to the hotel and said "Ciao" to Luis.  We talked about the oxcart he had in his home (since we have one at our lake house that my dad brought back from Costa Rica) and off we went--to put some air in the tire again and get gas.  I went into the Central Market at the entrance of El Valle town, and what a market!  Huge, clean, and it has everything!  Dress shirts, Butler Gum oral hygiene supplies, pots, food, drink, way better than the Chino we had been in (blech)--we always discover things on the last day unless I have found it in tripadvisor!  The El Rey that they are building will be a true grocery store, but this is a gem of a store, too.  We then met up with Rachel at El Valle Real Estate (the office is in what used to be her in-laws Hotel Greco).  She was full of information, has built and sold many homes, rented out many homes, was confident about our plans even though El Valle is tough to find rentals (we shared our ideas with her, and she through other ideas out at us which we really liked and appreciated), and she made us feel comfortable and relaxed about our big transition.  We will keep in touch with her, and she will keep us abreast of all the new things happening in the El Valle realty market.

We left with El Valle relaxed and our spirits high (that mud I tell you!).  We had decided the day before that we would do a "drive by" of the brand new JW Marriott since we Marriott members.  We know this hotel is super expensive, but we wanted to see how it shaped up on the beach.  We did get through the gate (it is 6km down the road off the PanAm. Hwy) by telling them we were having lunch and wanting to meet with the manager, but when we pulled up, we couldn't find anything but valet parking.  Off we went.  No need to stop.  It is gorgeous!

Check in at Manglar Lodge in El Palmar wasn't until three pm, and it was only one pm, but Ivan let us check in early.  He knows Rachel, and Rachel asked us to tell him hello.  So we threw her name around and got into our room.  He ran up the steps to start the A/C for us, and on his tablet, he showed us the beach area.  He discussed low tide (which was happening), where we could walk and if we swam, where we could swim.  What a room!  It was chilly due to not being used to air conditioning!  And a king size bed without netting!  Screens on windows.  A balcony.  A lovely room.  We picked up a water and a smoothie (Ivan made it for me in the restaurant) and walked the beach.  One of our favorite beaches.  Yes, if Pedasi were nearby, than those beaches would be tops.  But I enjoyed the expansive beach with low tide, watching the girls learn how to surf, and seeing Coronado in the distance.  More pictures, more talks with Ray about Panama and time for a shower!

Once cleaned up, we tried to eat at Cholo's but again, it wasn't open.  We went to Lunarossa in Coronado.  It is pricey (like an Italian restaurant in the States or even like going to an Outback Steakhouse for steak in the States)--$10-18 or more for dinner.  Ray tried the steak with red wine sauce, and he had an amazing steak (for being in Panama!).  The first great beef he has had here.  I tried Corvina for the first time.  Delicious.  We were pigs, and we also ate Tres Leches (the whip cream wasn't soft enough) and cheescake.  I wish we had had the idea to run back to Carlito's in San Carlos for thousand sheets cake, but we came up with that thought after eating our desserts.  All in all, an excellent dinner, great service, we chatted with a few expats, and decided bed time at nine pm was going to happen!  We had tv, but we were too tired to pay attention.  (That one hour I gained is still having me be sleepy in Panama).

Thursday we were spending the day with Clyde and Terry.  They were going to show us anything they could or wanted to, and we were looking forward to what we would see with them and what they would tell us about their experiences in these places.  I had no idea how lovely a day it would be, and all that I would see!  FANTASTIC DAY!  But right now, I am in Metromall Courtyard Marriott on Friday waiting for Andre to pick us up for our tour of the city.  So Ciao for now!

OUR FOUR HOUR TOUR (of Pedasi, Panama)

We left at the crack of dawn Tuesday morning (on this vacation, what else is new) to drive out to Pedasi.  This is on the southeastern tip of the Azuero Peninsula and the dryest of the dry in Panama.  It is mostly a fishing village of about 2,000 people, and Carnival is HUGE here.  It has a new development of houses on the beach that Ray and I noticed a year ago.  So if we found the development (Costa Pedasi), we wanted to do a "drive by and look and see".  Our intentions were also to pay attention to the towns of Anton (the bank line we noticed was packed with people sitting in seats waiting in line), Penonome, Aguadulce, Chitre and Las Tablas.  We both have read so much about these towns, we finally were able to see them and most likely rule those out as a future home for us.

Our updated map for our GPS of Panama wouldn't recognize Chitre, so Ray being so smart took a detour and drove us through the town.  This was good--we saw the area of shopping and restaurants.  This was bad--we missed the bus station for the fried chicken I had read on Indacampo's blog, and we didn't really want to go into Chitre. The road from Chitre to Las Tablas will be fantastic once all four lanes are in use.  For now, it goes from four to two to four so that we were driving on the opposite side of the road at 30, 40, and 60 KM/H.  Slow going.  Next we see a sign that says "Pedasi" (but not really the beach area of Pedasi), and Ray turns left.  He gets us to our first police checkpoint (good first experience--hand over your license and go about your business), and we are off again.  We arrive to Calle Principal, or Main Street, four hours after leaving El Valle.

Since we knew that our new friends, Jeff and Denise, were at Casita Margarita, we thought we would check in on them and see if they wanted to have lunch or a drink.  According to the very sweet owner of this Bed and Breakfast, they had just left to tour Isla Iguana and would be gone for the day.  No problem.  She gave us a map of the town and pointed out where Costa Pedasi could be found.  She is also the reason (besides reading about the places on blogs) we ate our way through the town.  First stop was Mamallenas for $1 caramel ice cream (me) and strawberry cheesecake ice cream (Ray) and use of the rest room.  We ate our yummy, delicious treats at 10:30 am in the park.  I, also, walked the park and took pictures.  We then drove to Costa Pedasi and saw the housing development where the blogger, Iris of Postcards in Panama, has settled into her new home.  We spoke with the agent, Michael, and really learned a great deal from him about his development and Pedasi (zero rain).  He shared with us that we could build a house off the model scheme as we went along, the cost of housing and life in Pedasi. Ray and I have realized Pedasi is a little too far out there for us (farming country).  Chitre is within an hour (once roads really set up correctly), the beaches are gorgeous (!), but it might be a bit too dry for us, also.  Smiley's was our lunch break (Ray still tries ordering hamburgers.  Okay, sort of.  We were told to try Tortuga's (a new restaurant but no one was dining there, and we wanted to be with others.), and Maudy's was a wonderful stop for smoothies "para va"!  (To go!).  On the drive back there were several fires being put out by the hard working bomberas of Panama.  Did I mention it is super dry?

Fried Chicken.  Since I had read about the fried chicken in a restaurant at the back of a bus terminal, and my dear friend is going on a fried chicken pilgrimage, I was in search of this chicken.  We found it!  Since driving through Chitre caused us to miss the car dealerships and the bus terminal earlier, driving out of Pedasi we stumbled on it (the GPS was right).  And it was to die for chicken.  So moist and the skin was super crunchy (a bit salty which made it all the better)!  We shared a piece that was served to us in a brown paper bag.  It was a great pit stop!

Away we went continuing back to El Valle and this time we took Michael's advice (the agent from Costa Pedasi).  He told us they had finished road work in some areas but never took the speed limit signs down, so we should just follow along with the flow.  We decided the McD's in Penonome should have a clean bathroom (so I stopped again at one)--it did not, and we picked up drinks.  With two stops on the way back from Pedasi to El Valle, the drive took three hours and forty-five minutes.

I told Ray if it was misting again up the mountain, then El Valle might not be the place for me.  It has been sunny for two days off the mountain, but we keep coming back to rain.  We start out at elevation being 210 feet and 25 degrees Celsius (around 80 degrees Farenheit).  At Copecito, 8 km mile marker, it is 700 feet in elevation.  And where we stayed, Casa di Pietra, it is 1900 feet.  AND it was warm and sunny--it had been sunny all day!

Once in our room, we "facetimed" with our daughter showing her our treehouse.  She loved hearing the birds in the background.  We learned about her week and shared stories of ours.  Out the door to eat at Carlito's which is new in El Valle.  We had eaten here on our last visit in San Carlos.  We met the owner, Omi, who is so friendly!  There was a parade honoring San Jose (Father of the town of El Valle), and Omi told us the Panamanians are so warm and humble.  They come down the mountain to honor their Father.  We stood and took pictures and watched the parade until our fantastic empenadas, sangria and thousand sheets cake came along!  When we arrived back to our B&B, Luis told me to expect pancakes for breakfast and said our check out time could be as late as four pm (it is usually one pm which is pretty late to begin with for what I am used to).  We told him what Wednesday had in store for us and that we would be down for breakfast asap.

 This researching for retirement is hard work!  But I really felt much better seeing Pedasi.  I had to get those towns out of my system, and now Ray can concentrate more on researching fewer, localized towns.  But who knows.  We may get here, venture to Boquete and decide that is where we want to be!  Things could change...that all happened Tuesday.  It is Thursday now.  The last two days have been even more seeing, listening and learning--those posts will have to wait since a shower is calling my name!  When in Panama, sometimes two showers a day are necessary!  Stay tuned!