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.

The saga continues

The Panamanians just love to have time off. A holiday. A fiesta. For anything.They have a holiday just about every month. The whole month of Nov. is independence month.
First it's independence from Columbia. Then it's independence from Spain then it's their own independence.

Dec. of course we have Christmas.

Jan. they celebrate martyrs day. That's when the Americans shot a Panamanian(I believe for flying a flag). Then it's flower festival and on it goes.Thank goodness I know the shortcuts around the main drag in Boquete. The flower festival lasts a week. Sat and Sun. were crazy....

Feb. is Carnival(Marte Gras for a week starting the 13th) so that will be fun too.

It has been windy all week..not just a breeze..I'm talking moving a ball on the green,trees falling n the road,power outages.

We explore Palmeri today..and it's still windy.. really windy,the cactus here is 40 feet tall,I left the car in the picture to give you a  perspective.

Aprille found a new hair dresser in Boquete and she got a cut and color for $38. Unreal. It was a great job too.


So...I thought .75 was cheap for a pineapple. How's .42???? Today we paid that at the local super market just below our gym.

We decided to go to Panama City in Feb or March so we can do justice to the environs. A whirl wind tour the last day is not going to cut it. Right now we are looking at a two day excursion.

Today is Jan 18th. Aprille is  a little under the weather but she is a trooper an went to the German brunch at the San Fransisco plaza. It was marvelous. It was extremely plentiful and as good as any home cooked meal. The meatballs were as good as my mom's,so you know how good they were.

I went exploring after dropping Aprille off at home. Thank goodness. The " short cut" to Caldera was an adventure. Wow! I have never been on a road that bad in my life. To call it a road is being generous. An all terrain vehicle would have been my choice of transportation. Imagine in a Nissan March? 8 inch ground clearance.It was more like a wide path.No way!!! "manege con cuidado"

This is the good part ..really this is like a highway.
I now know how to get to the hot springs(we go the long way) in Caldera. That will be a treat.

I then took a ride to Vulcancito ,El Salto and Vulcan Baru.
Beautiful. That's coffee country. That took all afternoon. The pictures don't do the trip justice.
The picture of the hillside house makes you so glad we live in Canada. There is no phone no pool no pets. The white tube to the left is a water line across a canyon.

Talk about walking. This picture of the Panamanian native is of her pushing her two children in a wheel barrow,uphill.

Golf is much better too. I used the same ball for (only nine) and I lipped out three times and still shot "bogie" golf.

This afternoon is football day. Wow, what an ending for the Green Bay Packers!! Next year?
So how about those Patriots? There was another team.....no really there was.....
So how does the pro line work? My money is on the Patriots. It should be awesome. Last time the patriots lost by one....1....point.

Just a parting thought. Have you ever seen a rainbow this short? Just lovely.

Feliz ano nuevo Happy new year

We celebrated New years eve at the MacDonald's with Mike and Katie. What a hoot. Wonderful food too. They left early,around 1030 and we stayed till about 1230. The hydro went out around 9 o'clock and finally came on about 15 minutes before midnight, So we had a wonderful candle light evening.

My gout is gone. I have doubled the allopurinal ( a suggestion from the Panamanian doctor and a neighbour and friend who has been on this medicine for 15 years) and it is working.

I golf at least once  a week..it is a spectacular course.. and we thankfully have a car and we are far afield.

We joined a local, well equipped gym...Por Favor poner las pesas en su lugar...please put the weights back when your finished... and that is 4 times a week. We are glad to get back to our work outs.

But your right(of course) I could not do this for the rest of my life.

Costa Rica is our next big voyage and it could be a challenge. We may have to book a tour as the paper work to get our Panamanian car into Costa Rica is apparently a nightmare. But then again we may never be here again.

We are now into weekly card..games night..Bridge,Canasta,Go(I never played that before.It's a Chinese board game like Othello but more complicated.Check it out on YouTube). I won 5 games the first time into it and we played the kids version ..5 in a row wins..and Dan kicked my ass for the rest of the games and I think we played 20. As we were sitting on the couch, I noticed a carving by their fireplace and I was struck by the figure. It looks like me,I think,you be the judge(Frank and mini Frank)

Ulla finally got her gmail video working and we spent an hour gabbing. Yea!!!!

Skype is now installed and working at the Gaulin's in Toronto and we got to talk to Paul, Rena and Amelia.

We had Vincent down for drinks and dinner last night and we got a whole new insight into the Panamanian wages.
The workers,his employees are entitled to one month paid vacation each year, and,they get a bonus each 4 months which is equivalent to 1/3 of their annual salary and he pays for their health care too. Not bad.
We got some good ideas about Bocas(the Caribbean side) and Costa Rica. I think we might take a bus trip. That will be more relaxing. Oh..we can take a cooler too....Yea!!!

Oh yea,not all things here are cheap. You don't buy cashews. $9.05 Not at the local store anyway.Wait for Price Mart.

But,how about REAL ice cream,made every day,with 12 different flavors (mix and match) in a sugar cone for $1.50??