Time to go to Costa Rica

Well did I have a good idea. Let's have a local drive us to the "Frontera",the border, and let's park the car in the lot where we rented the car. Brilliant.

So Fiona from Value Motors asked around and Franklin, who works there too,and who is almost fluent in both languages, would drive us there,on Sunday, in our car with our gas and pick us up on Tuesday at 5pm.

The best of both worlds for $50. This obviates a local bus ride to David and a local bus to the border.Times two with the return.

Okay,that done I booked a room on line.

We were told to go to Pavone Beach,beautiful beaches,a surfing mecca and because it is much closer to Canoas(the border crossing). I'll make a long story short. However,there were NO vacancies in Pavone,it was very expensive there too and it was actually further from the border.

The hotel listings on hotels.com are confusing. The first place we booked was Hotel Zima. It looked good. But...it was not even close to Pavone. It was 3 hours from Golfito! Anyway I got my reservation refunded.

Here's a tip. Call the hotel. It's easier,faster and more convenient. Quote the on line price and you will probably get that too.

So I looked again. This time with a lot more knowledge of the local geography. I found Banana Bay resort and marina. Beautiful on line. I book it. Only $90 a night including a full hot breakfast. More to come.

Border trucks to go to Costa Rica were lined up for ....miles...I am not kidding. That's how archaic the paper work is. It was a 2 to 5 day wait to get across the border. I wish I had a camera handy. One truck actually had a hammock set up.

Thank you Franklin. He was familiar with where to get stamped out,from Panama,and where to get stamped in to Costa Rica. It was easy(when you know how) It really was an easy crossing. With the duty free being right there,you could freely walk around between Panama and Costa Rica till you were ready to get your passport stamped formally,or not if you were only there to shop. It is a totally free border for the people on foot.

The taxi ride to Golfito was $50 at first, then the same driver quoted $40. He might have gone to $30. Anyway we took the bus.
$4" por ambos" for both of us! It took about 1 1/2 hrs. A great way to see the country side.

It is very green,very hot,poorer,and there is very dense jungle compared to Panama.

Of course we are right in the middle of two bus stops in Golfito. Good thing I was paying attention or we would have missed our stop. So we had to walk a 1/4 mile. Big deal.

We arrive at Banana Bay. Our reservation is confirmed and what a treat. The best we could have hoped for. Here is our view from our room.

What a sunset.

The rooms are clean and modern. There is air conditioning(trust me, you need it). There is free bottled water,internet,TV and a great setting over the bay on a pier with a small sitting area. There are two..hot tubs,albeit they were being cleaned and there fore not available.

The restaurant,the food and the bar are fabulous. What can I say. Nice.

The first day we walked to town to enjoy the heat and the new surroundings. I think we found a new place to buy by the water.

Just kidding LOL

The second day I took the "Lancha" launch to Puerto Jimenez. Beautiful place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.
There was a restaurant called Parrot Bay and there were dozens of live parrots in the woods there. Unique for sure.

Beautiful beaches and cold beer.

I had a Greek salad and a beer.$11 US.
The boat to cross over to the island was $4. To get back(albeit much faster) it was $6.

It's just too humid to really enjoy the day. When we were out I noticed there were 23% taxes, the overall prices can not compare to Panama.

We had a great time there.

Getting out of Costa Rica was also easy. Oh yea,there is a $7 tax to get out of Costa Rica for each person. Another money grab. Oh well.

So we go to the ATM to get money for the border crossing to Panama. We need $500 each and proof of our plane ticket home and of course our passport stamped out of Costa Rica.

So....the chip card does not work in the ATM. We have to go into the bank. Take a number... after you are wandered and your backpack and purse are cleared by the two guards there. We had to wait for about 10 minutes.

I go to the wicket to get my $500. No problem right? Wrong. We are already stamped out of Costa Rica. We technically can not get any money because we are no longer in the country. But the teller is more than helpful and..to make a long story short(sound familiar?).. we get the money. Yea!

We get to the Panamanian border and we are first in line. They look at our passport,take our picture,look at the copy of the return flight and we are in. They did not even ask for the money.
We actually had over $1,000 US in cash.

We had a quick Subway sandwich a beer at the Red Dragon in the duty free section and we are picked up by Franklin. Smart boy. He paid $1US for someone to watch the car for 15 minutes. That way we got to keep all our car parts,and maybe even our car.

Only 5 weeks to go!!!!

This is a real carrot. So..does it look like a bird?

The picture below is Frank's cabin's. We we're on our way to the hot springs in Caldera. Ostensibly the hot springs(were to try to get rid of my cold)" tengo un resfriado"(I have a cold) but this was a great day. We relaxed by the pool and had a picnic lunch and met the owner. Frank(go figure) he is 75 and he took us down to see the tree house condo. You can rent this tree house,by the Caldera River. It is Tarzan in the 21 century. Too bad I didn't have a camera. The cabins here rent for 85 US$ a night. With all the amenities.

I showed the Caldera back road for Aprille to see.It is almost as bad to get to the hot springs.
You'll see.

This is a Boquete side street 1/2 a block from the police station. It's still old school here. 

Nice. It won't last long I'm afraid. Too many Gringo's. Oh ya. There's a hotel right across he road. Forget sleeping in. When is check out?

Here is our score card for the golf.  We were tied for 2nd with a 63

.
I actually won the straightest drive too. There was a misprint I was only 16 1/4 inches and they put down 60 1/4. The winner???? was 30 1/2 inches?? from the line. Shit!!  But I did get a bottle of rum. Whoppeeee!!!! 
But I have the satisfaction to know I actually won.Our 4 some from left to right Herb,Frank,Micheal and Tico

We have to go to Costa Rica(as you already know) and it looked good for Drake Bay." drakebay.com"

scratch Drake Bay.

It will take 5 hours,2 taxi;s and a water taxi to get there(x2 to get home) and it will cost....if we get the 4 day package,1200 US$ just to stay there. So....that equates to somewhere in the vicinity of $2,000 US. 

Not on my watch.

Just more fun things

While we were in Panama city it was the full moon celebration. We were told there would be 1,000's of drums (of every description)on the lawn at the  university. We would have liked to go but that would be another taxi ride and there was only so much time. It would have been fun.

On our return home we attended the Boquete blues and jazz festival. What a blast. Music from all around the globe.

 Switzerland

Columbia

U.S.A.

Panama City

Next to us, at the jazz festival, we met Fred and Susan from Selkirk N.Y. great couple. He is a good golfer too.
We met for golf on Tue. and I shot a 91(that could have been an 88 easily).Damned that 12th hole.  I played with the same ball from 1st tee to the last putt on 18. That is...here...a real accomplishment.

We met again as a couple a week later. The girls stayed home and the boys went golfing. It was not good for me that day and Fred shot a 92.

Farewell to John. He's heading back to Del Rey Florida.


Local(residents and workers on the golf course) golf tournament set up by Xavier(he works at the pro shop). Our team shot 1 under and came in 2nd. out of 10 teams. We won $60 (total) and gave it to the 2 Panamanian workers on our team.

We are now educated about the sporadic and ubiquitous fires. This practice, has apparently gone on for hundreds of years.  It is a very antiquated method of controlling the weeds and undergrowth. They just burn out. Go figure. It really is quite scary.This would be a major forest fire concern in the north.

The big picture below was taken Fri.night(the 20th) and it was taken from our lawn towards a town 10 miles away way to town.

The small fire was just down our road way on the way to town(about a week ago).Thankfully it did rain that day and the fire was extinguished.

We saw the channel 11 news and caught the Friday the 13th at Port Dover at minus 14. Really? A warm spell?


Valentines day was a nice quiet day at home with a great Paella Marisco.

Went to David on the 19th Feb. Lunch at Sabroson(same as Boguete) Fried rice with vegetables and chicken,roasted chicken, beans and salad... $6.38. With real cutlery and plates. Not food court fare.

Aprille bought a new blouse. We thought it was 50% off $20 but for what ever reason it was $5.35.

So drugs for sale or coffee from Juan Valdez. You choose.

Thank goodness for the gym and bakery. Lots of good stories and acquaintances. Our local hang outs at least three times a week

Panama City

We had driven through the Conejo district. This is where Roberto Durand grew up.
But not the place you want to live. I'll leave it to your imagination.

Here's the good news.We had a very large and beautiful suite at the Hotel Milan. You can check it out on line. It is centrally located,super cheap and within walking distance of every thing.

The first day we saw the Panama canal,the museum and theatre showing of the canal. Awesome.

Also on the first day we visited Casco Viejo)the old city. A great experience  too. The street below is called "get out if you can".

And I even went to church. This is a golden alter(real gold) that was transported here and saved by Sir Henry Morgan the pirate who was talked into giving it to the church instead of spending the gold.
Weird eh?

We had a beer at the Golden Frog"La Rana Dorado" very cool. We had the sampler(free) you see in the back ground and decided on the Blanco for Aprille and the Premium for me.

Jorge actually took this picture and you can ask me about him later. I don't have the energy or time.
Thank goodness it wasn't a 7 hr flight.

That night we had a beautiful Italian dinner at El Conejo resaurante. Then we walked to the Veneto casino a few doors away and across the street. We dropped a few dollars at the casino but the drinks are free and the atmosphere is electric. They have all the table games from Vegas. Very nice.

The second day we sailed(motored out) to Contadora Island. It was a boat ride of approx 1 hr and 40 minutes. Within 30 minutes there was no land visible. Just ocean.

The beach below is Galeon and the landing beach.

The beach here is Playa Larga and one of the prettiest beaches. Maybe at high tide but not now.
The white hotel is unfinished and was...owned by a Colombian drug lord..his plane blew up in mid air.

The brown hotel is also unoccupied and was owned by a Colombian drug lord who is spending a life sentence for smuggling drugs into American. Maybe crime does not pay.

The other side of the island is beautiful too and this is a view towards Playa Ejuctiv.

So you can travel around the island too. But..really..$70 for a golf cart for the day. I only pay $53 to golf with a cart. So...we walked. Breakfast was lovely. We ate at Gerald's. It's a free shuttle(say this with a Ron White inflection voice). Breakfast consisted of,scrambled eggs,a fruit plate(two not indigenous fruits)a coffee and tea.... $24.30. If you say it quickly it doesn't hurt as much.

We were going to go to Mercado de Pescado(you pick your own fish they clean it and cook it and bring it to your table) but our driver and a friendly American,at the beach at Contadora,said it was very hot and very smelly. You really have to like fish. So we decided not to go.
We opted out for a Peruvian restaurant and a fabulous dinner at Machu Pichu Restaurante. Good choice. Only 100 yards from our hotel too.

Getting out of the city was no problem. We just missed the left hand exit and driving like a Panamanian, I didn't have to stop for the stop sign getting back to the round a bout LOL
Oh, Aprille was not very happy, here we go over the over pass,we cross over the Bridge of the Americas and away we go.

Just down the road we saw the sign for Panama City. This is the way we should have come in. I saw the exit for Panama city and I instinctively knew that was our exit, but it was too late and the signs ahead said Panama Cenrto,so how bad could it be? But it was an adventure.

We had a much more scenic and relaxed trip home via Santiago to the border crossing.

Here's a good idea. What do you think?
Let's pass on an up hill curve with a double line at  80 km per hr. Whoa! Good thing I was paying attention and so was the guy being passed.

We just got lucky entering at the crossing, We were only the 2nd car entering the highway from the by pass to Santiago. Looking east toward Panama as far as we could see,there were cars stopped,waiting for inspection. A nice driver actually let us in,or maybe it was my car entering his space,maybe a bit of both.

We got to the inspection station passports ready and plainly visible and we we waved through the crossing. It took less than 5 minutes. YEA!!!

I finally found a way to get rid of all the junk from the phone camera so here are the pictures from LosRuices. You can see them on the previous blog now.

It felt good to be back home again.

Now what? 2 months in paradise

Holy...!! I just looked at the exchange rate for the bank!!!1.30 %. Es muy caro!! It's a good thing things are cheap here.

Tuesday we leave for Panama city. That is approx. a 6 to 7 hr trip.from Boquete. It's like driving to Montreal from Hamilton. That makes it sound better.

We are staying at the Milan and we get a 15 % discount for cash. We get to stay in a suite for $84 a night. Nice. We get to see the sites of the city without a whirl wind tour the last day. And more importantly, Aprille gets to soak in a bath tub.

We also have to go to Costa Rica within the stated 90 days, to keep our tourist and driving status current. How silly. But that's their system.

But we did find out we can eliminate a lengthy wait at the border by crossing at a smaller site near our trip to Vulcan. You also have to have,in cash, $500 US dollars each,and proof of a return flight home.

We just found out too, that the rental car, being brought across the border, is more of a safety issue for the car not being sold there. That is why the paper work is so onerous.Very strange.

Okay here's a good one. Today,Monday(Ground hog day) we went into Boquete after the gym, to get some money from the bank. There was only one parking spot, I backed in and let Aprille out. An armed guard, came and told me to turn around(that much Spanish I know). Why you ask?
So I can't make a quick get a way(my thinking). So don't back into a spot in front of a bank.

So we made it to Panama City. 500 km and 8 hrs later. No street signs,no highway signs. No town signs. "Nada".  No stop lights in small towns we went through so you just go when you get a chance.

Oh.. there are no stop lights in Boguete and only 3 in David and we saw none on the way to Panama City. Also on the subject,you hardly ever see a female driver down here.

It was 40 km an hour for most of the trip because of the construction.... NOT.....That's the posted maximum but there is no way, no way, I'm going that speed. So..you lock your self behind a transport,or better yet, a national police bus. Then you can easily go 80 km. Much better.
But you gotta do it just once(really just once).
Pot holes worse than Hamilton after a hard winter. Can you relate? One pot  hole actually activated the wind shield wipers. No kidding. Ok you can stop laughing.

Twice I used my badge to good advantage.
Once in Los Ruices,where we had to go to a police station to find a bath room. I had a conversation (in broken Spanish )about how long I had worked,how long I had been retired and when and how long we were in Panama.
The Sgt did know where Toronto was(maybe that was the only city he knew in Canada) but he spoke no English. We actually got to use their bath rooms in their barracks. Nice.
PS. The Trans American highway from Los Ruices to Coronado was horrendous. This is their national highway for goodness sake. One part of the highway was beautiful though. It actually reminded us of the Holland marsh the 400 NB.

The second was in Panama City where we were hopelessly lost and I asked a young National police officer where the Milan Hotel was. He tried his portable radio and the dispatcher didn't know so he flagged down a taxi who led us right to the hotel.  Fortunately I had the street and the phone number of the hotel...... The best $5 I ever spent.  Well maybe the $10 dollars in Cuba, but that is another story.
We followed the taxi through a section of Panama City that I would NEVER try to navigate at night. Yikes!
How poor,unlucky, gang controlled,filthy conditions,no windows living in abandoned buildings. Scary. More on that later.

We were told about the nicer drive(albeit longer and more circuitous mountain driving) to avoid the road building but we missed it on the way here. We are definitely taking this road on the way home.
I know the(unmarked rd) but it came on me faster than expected and I was committed.
Here we go.

More reflections

We can't find a whisk any where, we have tried every store. Weird in this country,I think.


Corned beef was hard to find too. We finally asked at the Mortons' bakery(where we get our beautiful Jewish rye) and she told us she gets it from Cristos' deli. (just down the street from our gym and the bakery), so I bought a pound and I'm on his mailing list.

Sauerkraut too is almost impossible. We got a can at Deli Baru. We tried the international market(Tuesdays,but it was not good). I just love Reuben sandwiches.

Smoked oysters..anything smoked...forget it. We tried mussels in a marinade and ..well.. it's just not the same.

But...we did have fresh tuna steak(cleaned and filleted) the other day from the local fish monger. Enough for two dinners and some left over for lunch. $5 bucks.

Bajareke. That's Panamanian for "it rains just about every day, a little misty rain that only happens in Boquete. LOL..anyway, Bajareke is what meteorologists call debris moisture. It is a mist that blows in from another weather system. In our case it is moisture that blows over the mountain range from the Caribbean. During the dry season, the northern winds can carry some moisture over the mountain range from the Caribbean Sea into the northern part of the Boquete District. This is especially the case at the higher elevations and into the Subdistricts of Los Naranjos, Jaramillo and Bajo Boquete. Since the Boquete District is on the leeward side of the mountains relative to the Caribbean cloud systems, the moisture that gets pushed over from the Caribbean side usually comes in the form of a mist or light rain that is locally called the “bajareque.” It is a fine but very wet mist. Because of this dry season moisture, the northern part of the Boquete.

This is the picture you get. A rainbow just about every day.

It isn't really a full rain coming from high clouds but rather a blown-in mist from somewhere. It depends on where you are in the District of Boquete as to how much you get. The northern part of the District gets the most.

Down here it is rare to have a lawn mower. The gardener(usually) is cutting the lawn with a "Stihl weed eater".

I know gas is cheap back home now but how about .64 a litre?

I was on my way to Potrorillo( i was looking for Jansen's coffee plantation) and I saw this fire.

It was unsupervised,uncontrolled and there wasn't a fire fighter in sight. Nor was there one 30 minutes later on my way home.

This is Whisper,the owners dog. She is a rescue dog. It's only$10 for neutering and $5 for spaying at the local shelter and the vets come in once a week.

week 7

We went to one of the local the pool halls, before dinner. $1.50 for a beer and $2 an hour to rent the table. The quality of the tables was very acceptable. The balls did need cleaning, but it is Panama. We had a great time.

On the way....

There are no cats here. very, very rare. They don't like them. That's all I can say. There may be PETA people out there.

Posada Restaurante..again. We met Tom and Nancy aquaintances of John. We had the mixed Argentina, with sea food, but it did include all the regular meat lovers food groups too. It was big enough for 4 people.The "doggie bag" was lunch the next day too.

I drove up to Elto salto with Aprille. 9.8 km from Los Narranhos all uphill. A beautiful drive. We took the drive just in time too. I think in a day or 2 all the trumpet flowers would be dead.

On Sunday,the 25th Jan we drove to La Pianista resaurante. We had the  calzone grande and we split it. It was a wonderful  picture opportunity.

It reminds me of the Old Mill in Ancaster with it;s beautiful vistas but the live stock was an added bonus and a good conversation

Boquete is beautiful from the west too.

On Monday, we went to Nevis restaurante on a recommendation.  "Le mejor comida en la nacione" the best food in the nation,but "en el pais" I think is better. LOL Any way I digress. It was great. $10 for a full hot lunch.

On Monday,yesterday, we went to the gym.".Eso(it should be que) es no musica que es ruido. Cambiar la musica por favor". This in response to bad language rap music playing. My Spanish is coming along nicely.