Hola
Well we made it to Panama!!!!
Life is good!!
The trip went well we discovered a new place to stay in Costa Rica was about 5 miles from the airport, had their own free shuttle, and the rooms where okay and was only $60. Most other places we called for a room at that price did not include the shuttle which can cost as much as $30 each way for a taxi ride.
The first day we arrived in Panama we rented a car from Thrifty and got a free upgrade to a SUV it’s a lot nicer than the Toyota corolla we usually get. We stayed at our favorite hotel called Puerta Del Sol room prices increased a little now they are about $35 a night but real nice rooms, great restaurant and the people are very helpful. Our friends Jack and Ruth where staying at the Puerta Del Sol as well so we had a nice dinner together and found a good free place to check email within walking distance from the hotel and can drink a beer while you check your email. The ride over the mountains went well and really seemed to take no time at all (little over two hours). The second day we arrived here Mario took us on a boat ride to check out some friends’ of ours property they just bought 12 acres right on the Caribbean. It is very beautiful and about a 10 min boat ride to Bocas Del Toro. The work at Mario’s is coming along the restaurant is getting closer to being finished and we hope to help him open it soon. Tonight we are cooking some seafood Conch, pulpo (octopus), and lobster and camarone (shrimp) paella. We bought the seafood fresh from Chiriquí Grande about a 5 minute ride down the road. We spent $14 and have enough for another meal and we could serve 8 at each meal. We did find a fast internet café 7 minutes down the road with DSL still trying to figure out how to get that at Mario’s.
Can’t believe what a great response I got on my pictures I sent you all. (Eric)Thank you for the feedback. Here are a few more pictures.
We are doing a lot of bird watching and hope to have some fabulous photos soon – patience and diligence. Starting to relax a little and have installed hot water at Mario’s house. The Panamanians don’t believe in it for the most part but we are spoiled Gringos and will have hot water. The weather is wonderful, a little cool with a tropical breeze so no need at all for AC right now – perfectly comfortable.
Febuary
Wow a lot transpired since we started this letter.
Even though the time seems to go by slowly the days go by quickly. We are working on getting a place of our own to house our possessions and have some privacy, a concept that is foreign to the Panamanians. Mario’s house usually has 8 people minimum in residence which requires a lot of cooking and cleaning and much noise and activity. Also the construction of restaurant and cabanas continues. The great benefit of living with a local friend is that we are having our immersion Spanish lessons daily in both the language and customs.
Carnavale started right after we arrived in Panama thus it was imperative to suspend all business in lieu of drinking and partying; there really was no choice. Time to leave all sense of urgency behind and attend rodeos, bullfights and the constant partying that goes along with the biggest celebration of the year here. On the last day I finally gave up and went to bed early and Eric continued on down the road with Mario who went on horseback. The typical end to Carnival is that they hose everybody down with fire hoses and whatever water hoses they can find. As Eric was doing his photography, he was raised over the heads of about 8 Panamians to go for the required dousing. No doubt it was a compliment of acceptance but with his multi thousand dollar camera in tow he was most anxious to be kept dry. Just in the nick of time one of Mario’s friends noticed the situation called to Mario who rode in on his horse just in the nick of time and stopped the hoseing!! Knight without armor!!
Benny a biologist and birding expert and friend of Mario’s came to Punta Linda found over 50 different and rare birds on the property as well as 8 sloths in less than three hours. It was contagious seeing his excitement about abundance of wildlife. He feels Punta Linda has what it takes to be a birding destination and since he has a successful birding tour business we are inclined to trust his judgement . We will begin soon on making trails and the access easier. We even have teal toucans!
We had our first visitors from Florida. Cindy and Bill from N. Fort Myers came to see Panama for the first time, we certainly enjoyed having them here and judging by their smiles they had a good time. Throwing our fears aside we all went zip lining over the canopy of the rain forest. A few days later we attended a free Jazz concert in Boquette and were quickly caught up in the spirit despite the typical afternoon Boquette shower. Without missing a beat the problem was solved as the promoters just quickly brought every one up on the covered stage with the musicians so no one would get wet. Can you say “life is good!!!”
We finally received our van and trailer with our belongings. After finding the right people in charge and spreading a few of our dollars around we got through customs with much help from our Panamanian friends. As in many things here it required a road trip in this case to spend 2 nights with Mario’s sister’s family who helped get us through the maze at customs. The trip back to David was long and the trailer was over loaded but the van did the job. We left the trailer at our friends Jack and Ruth’s place just outside of David so would not have to take it up and over the mountains until we have a chance to take some of the weight out of it. Leaving the heat of David behind and coming back to Punta Pena we realized again after we took a deep breath of the clean, fresh, cool air why we are so sold on this area. New homes are popping up regularly and the signs of work and improvements going on reinforce this progress as well. I wish we had sound and “smell avision” so you could enjoy the sensations with us as we watch the locals climb in the stream and swim and the air is filled with the sound and smell of the river cascading over the rocks. The neighbors graciously bring any one of their friends or family that speaks English to meet us. We even have an invitation from the school that offers college classes to visit and judge a play which they are performing in English.
Time to wrap up this edition of Life is Good Panama as we enjoy a drink over the Chiriqui Bay at our favorite waterfront (the only one) restaurant and bar.
More soon. Hope all of your adventures are happy ones.
Can't believe it is May already!
Happy belated Mother's day to everyone. We will soon have full time internet connection and promise to get posts done more regularly In the meantime this will catch you up if you have not received our earlier posts and hopefully get a thread going which can be understood. We will have a new post before the end of the week.
Well we made it to Panama!!!!
Life is good!!
The trip went well we discovered a new place to stay in Costa Rica was about 5 miles from the airport, had their own free shuttle, and the rooms where okay and was only $60. Most other places we called for a room at that price did not include the shuttle which can cost as much as $30 each way for a taxi ride.
The first day we arrived in Panama we rented a car from Thrifty and got a free upgrade to a SUV it’s a lot nicer than the Toyota corolla we usually get. We stayed at our favorite hotel called Puerta Del Sol room prices increased a little now they are about $35 a night but real nice rooms, great restaurant and the people are very helpful. Our friends Jack and Ruth where staying at the Puerta Del Sol as well so we had a nice dinner together and found a good free place to check email within walking distance from the hotel and can drink a beer while you check your email. The ride over the mountains went well and really seemed to take no time at all (little over two hours). The second day we arrived here Mario took us on a boat ride to check out some friends’ of ours property they just bought 12 acres right on the Caribbean. It is very beautiful and about a 10 min boat ride to Bocas Del Toro. The work at Mario’s is coming along the restaurant is getting closer to being finished and we hope to help him open it soon. Tonight we are cooking some seafood Conch, pulpo (octopus), and lobster and camarone (shrimp) paella. We bought the seafood fresh from Chiriquí Grande about a 5 minute ride down the road. We spent $14 and have enough for another meal and we could serve 8 at each meal. We did find a fast internet café 7 minutes down the road with DSL still trying to figure out how to get that at Mario’s.
Can’t believe what a great response I got on my pictures I sent you all. (Eric)Thank you for the feedback. Here are a few more pictures.
We are doing a lot of bird watching and hope to have some fabulous photos soon – patience and diligence. Starting to relax a little and have installed hot water at Mario’s house. The Panamanians don’t believe in it for the most part but we are spoiled Gringos and will have hot water. The weather is wonderful, a little cool with a tropical breeze so no need at all for AC right now – perfectly comfortable.
Febuary
Wow a lot transpired since we started this letter.
Even though the time seems to go by slowly the days go by quickly. We are working on getting a place of our own to house our possessions and have some privacy, a concept that is foreign to the Panamanians. Mario’s house usually has 8 people minimum in residence which requires a lot of cooking and cleaning and much noise and activity. Also the construction of restaurant and cabanas continues. The great benefit of living with a local friend is that we are having our immersion Spanish lessons daily in both the language and customs.
Carnavale started right after we arrived in Panama thus it was imperative to suspend all business in lieu of drinking and partying; there really was no choice. Time to leave all sense of urgency behind and attend rodeos, bullfights and the constant partying that goes along with the biggest celebration of the year here. On the last day I finally gave up and went to bed early and Eric continued on down the road with Mario who went on horseback. The typical end to Carnival is that they hose everybody down with fire hoses and whatever water hoses they can find. As Eric was doing his photography, he was raised over the heads of about 8 Panamians to go for the required dousing. No doubt it was a compliment of acceptance but with his multi thousand dollar camera in tow he was most anxious to be kept dry. Just in the nick of time one of Mario’s friends noticed the situation called to Mario who rode in on his horse just in the nick of time and stopped the hoseing!! Knight without armor!!
Benny a biologist and birding expert and friend of Mario’s came to Punta Linda found over 50 different and rare birds on the property as well as 8 sloths in less than three hours. It was contagious seeing his excitement about abundance of wildlife. He feels Punta Linda has what it takes to be a birding destination and since he has a successful birding tour business we are inclined to trust his judgement . We will begin soon on making trails and the access easier. We even have teal toucans!
We had our first visitors from Florida. Cindy and Bill from N. Fort Myers came to see Panama for the first time, we certainly enjoyed having them here and judging by their smiles they had a good time. Throwing our fears aside we all went zip lining over the canopy of the rain forest. A few days later we attended a free Jazz concert in Boquette and were quickly caught up in the spirit despite the typical afternoon Boquette shower. Without missing a beat the problem was solved as the promoters just quickly brought every one up on the covered stage with the musicians so no one would get wet. Can you say “life is good!!!”
We finally received our van and trailer with our belongings. After finding the right people in charge and spreading a few of our dollars around we got through customs with much help from our Panamanian friends. As in many things here it required a road trip in this case to spend 2 nights with Mario’s sister’s family who helped get us through the maze at customs. The trip back to David was long and the trailer was over loaded but the van did the job. We left the trailer at our friends Jack and Ruth’s place just outside of David so would not have to take it up and over the mountains until we have a chance to take some of the weight out of it. Leaving the heat of David behind and coming back to Punta Pena we realized again after we took a deep breath of the clean, fresh, cool air why we are so sold on this area. New homes are popping up regularly and the signs of work and improvements going on reinforce this progress as well. I wish we had sound and “smell avision” so you could enjoy the sensations with us as we watch the locals climb in the stream and swim and the air is filled with the sound and smell of the river cascading over the rocks. The neighbors graciously bring any one of their friends or family that speaks English to meet us. We even have an invitation from the school that offers college classes to visit and judge a play which they are performing in English.
Time to wrap up this edition of Life is Good Panama as we enjoy a drink over the Chiriqui Bay at our favorite waterfront (the only one) restaurant and bar.
More soon. Hope all of your adventures are happy ones.
Can't believe it is May already!
Happy belated Mother's day to everyone. We will soon have full time internet connection and promise to get posts done more regularly In the meantime this will catch you up if you have not received our earlier posts and hopefully get a thread going which can be understood. We will have a new post before the end of the week.
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