My Life As I Know It

Leaving for El Valle de Anton

 

Pool side at the new RIU Hotel in Panama City

With Zach sick and an hour to spare, Kim and I went to the RIU Hotel form breakfast. The hotel opened in September 2010 and cost $120mm. The modern, clean look of the hotel was impressive – beautiful lobby and a great pool area. We heard the breakfast was incredible and the results lived up to the hype, an entire large room was filled with tables holding breads, 10 different types of cooked eggs, smoked salmon, cereals, fruits, smoothies, and juices. It was an incredible breakfast with an American price of $16 each.

 

 

The amazing lobby of the RIU Hotel

 We picked up Zach and Chewy took us to the airport to get our rental car. After getting through the slow process of renting, we followed Chewy through the city in a brand new Toyota Tercel. He took us to a couple of developments 10 minutes past the Bridge of the Americas. We toured one house with drop ceilings, two bathrooms, two bedrooms for $80,000. Due to the surrounding poverty and 700 house all the same, it felt like a trailer court with foundations.

We parted ways with Chewy agreeing to meet Thursday afternoon. We were on our own. We fired up the GPS and immediately ignored its directions. The highway took us through one small town after the other each showing crowded streets, small shops, and poverty.

 
El Valle - the village is nestled in the crater of a volcano that was formed during an eruption six million years ago - El Valle is the largest inhabited crater in the world at 5 kilometers wide

We turned the corner to go up the mountain to El Valle after a 90 minute drive and things began to immediately look better. The houses were cleaner, bigger, and there was more land between properties. The road was fairly good with a few potholes but it was winding and relatively narrow. The commuting buses were plentiful and the number of Movie Star logo bus stops it became clear, this was the locals primary mode of transportation.

 

Sunday market in El Valle

We came into El Valle and stopped at the Texaco for a banos but #1 they could not understand and #2, there was not one.  This was not your typical Texaco – booze, groceries, household items, tools, and hardware. We made our way to the Golden Frog. The Bed and Breakfast was up the mountain but less than a kilometer from the main road through the village. Becky and Larry met us and welcomed us in to the eccentric mix of buildings. Zach was still not feeling well so we got him settled and headed out to the city market. It was misting and cool; temperatures around 70. The market was winding down and not crowded with each person selling their wares. Kim bought a piece of art, a bano sign, and a hand sewed purse.

 

Kim with Orlando, the local feather artist at the market

Yesterday, after one week abroad, the best words you can hear from the U.S. Customs agent; Welcome Home.

Heading North

Today, we head home from our Panama trip with early flights to Miami and then Chicago. With so many things that could be hurdles to getting home this time of year, hopefully it will go smooth. Some of the last pictures are below.

 
3 pounds of tomatoes, 5 grapefruit, one pineapple, 2 onions = $3

 
Our 5 pound tuna filets - $1

 

three toes sloth - lazy monekeys !

 

Hard to believe but picture taken by an unknown couple Kim engaged in conversation in the rain forest 

 

a house we looked at in El Valle - nestled in the rain forest and next to our Columbian friends - never know when we might need his helicopter!

 

backside of house we looked at - guest house in back

 

 

square tress (also found in Iowa)

 

Our fishermen headed out before sunrise

 

Yes that is me lending a hand getting the boat in the water - I figured I owed them after the $1 tuna

 

Hammer head shark head found on our beach walk - something we see often in Iowa as well

 

Kim showing expression talking to Mario the snakeman - most likely something I told her before but far more impactful coming from another person

 

Our cottage at the Golden frog and home of the nights of terror - wind, rain, noises, no electricity

 
Casco Viejo

Panama City skyline 

 
Albrook mall - looked to be bigger than Mall of America and more crowded

heading home ...

New Life

Yesterday, after enduring another night of pouring rain and wind, we packed under torrential showers and left El Valle. Ten kilometers outside of town the rain slowed and we saw the sun. At the bottom of the mountain still dressed in our soaked clothes with the windows steamed with humidity, we began to feel there was hope that what we came here to see, we may still realize.

We drove 40 kilometers to our new place on the beach, Las Sireas. The place was beautiful. Over looking the Panama Bay, it was even a pleasure to check in. Downside, no internet. We changed into beachwear and headed the 50 yards to the beach. It was 4 PM, the temperature around 75 degrees, and the beach for miles had less than 50 people on it that were all in one area.

We walked north which was away from any signs of life and went about an hour before we saw people: a mother and her two children. We turned back on the white and black sand picking up shells, watching crabs make their homes, and enjoyed the warm breeze. We arrive back at the villa and made dinner from our grocery store adventure earlier in the day.

After a futile attempt to start the local charcoal at an outdoor barbaque, we went back to drinking wine, juice and vodka, and cooked inside. A cigar, part of my family, a strong drink, and and an ocean, what more could a man want?

 

Just finished the zip line down the El Valle Mountains ...

Is This It?

 
Our first Internet connection for a while and, as expected, lots has happened. Zach is on both feet and re-engaged (yeah), rented our car, looked at real estate, and landed in the rain forests in El Valle de Anton. The car rental was long, the real estate was unfruitful, and the first taste of Panama was not as anticipated. We looked at a trailer park without wheels with 700 houses and drop ceiling for $80,000. I cut it off as it clearly was not close to what we wanted.

 
We then drove through a few small cities that were rough at best. We were beginning to question whether we were vacationing in the right place. We turned toward El Valle and the road was long, narrow, and winding. With Zach sick, we went slow and it took us 45 minutes to get up the mountain. On arrival we checked in at the Golden Frog and immediately set out to explore. It was extremely windy, cool (70), and misty. The roads were rough and the look of the village was rougher - run down, wild colors, and tons of vegetation.

 
We went through the market and drove through the residential areas seeing huge houses and abandoned residence side by side. Most was hidden from view due to use of native vegetation as fencing. The days was gloomy and rainy. We tried two places to eat and both were closing - it was 4:40 pm. We went to the gas station/grocery store/hardware store and put together the pieces of a dinner to make - 1 liter of vodka, gamba for mixing, a bottle of red wine, charizo, black beans, peppers, tomatoes, onion, and garlic.

 
We got back to the Golden Frog and took our groceries out to the hexagon kitchen and cooked dinner. We went back early to our cabin and feel asleep watching a movie on the iPad. It was a long night -  wind, rain, crashes, nuts hitting the tin roof, and knowing it was not going to change soon.

I am running out of time tonight. However, things have turned around considerably. We are sitting on the loggia of the GoldenFrog socializing with people from Vermont, San Fransisco, Portland ...

In 30 minutes, Mario the snakeman will be here to take Zach and I into the rain forest to look for snakes - it is 72 degrees, wind, and raining - this will be interesting. Below he is pictured with Kim and Z.

 

 

 

One Soldier Down

 
The diversity of food or change in water took one of our soldiers down yesterday. Z suffered through food poisoning yesterday but thankfully, he is on his way back this morning after a painful night. The clear indicator of food poisoning is being sick for less than 24-hours; contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as the 24-hour flue particularly if you do not drink alcohol.

After the canal yesterday, Chewy took us to a mountain top park to see the view. Unfortunately the gates were closed and we went out on foot up the steep, winding, narrow road. Kim decided to let the boys go and Z and I turned back after getting great views of downtown Panama City and Cosco Viejo. Later we learned from Chewy that if we went to the top, we would have had a view of the Panama Canal. We saw a 600 year old tree that was unbelievable, geckos, and the strangest rodents I have even seen – they looked like a ground hog but shorter, small pink ears, short legs, and the jumps like a kangaroo. They looked like I would imagine a huge New York City Rate to look without the long furless tail. Chewy told us we would have luck to see one and we saw four.

We then drove by the large and a smaller mall which were both close – it was difficult to remember, it was Christmas Day. We walked back toward our flat and stopped to eat at a Greek place which served tapas and Italian food. I think it was more appropriate to be termed Mediterranean food but there wasn’t any Greek food on the menu. We had Spanish olives, flat bread, bruschetta and walked back to the flat to rest before hitting the streets for dinner. An hour later Z was sick. Kim and I made a run to Rey’s the 24-Hour Super Market, dropped off some aid to Z and went to dinner at a great Italian place literally 50 steps from our flat. We had a bottle of wine, Carpaccio, and sea bass. Dinner was great but we retired early to help Z which ended up fruitless.

I am writing from a GREAT café in the heart of the upscale Marriott. This place is world class – great service, large, beautiful, and expensive. I am drinking my cappuccino with an extra shot; Kim has her café Americano, and getting ready for today’s change. At 9:30am this Sunday morning, for $40 Chewy will take us to the airport to get our rental car (yes, I got the GPS option) and have Chewy usher us out of Panama City to the Pan-American Highway. The Pan-American Highway can be driven north to Alaska and south to Columbia but stops there.

 
Today starts another chapter of our adventure – a rental car. Our past experience of rental cars is limited to large US cities (Chicago, LA, Atlanta, Houston), Puerto Rico, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain. Each was both bad and good. It would not been the same not driving everywhere we have driven. We were exposed to place, people, and things we never would have seen. On the other hand, I would have few wrinkles and our marriage fewer scars. We have been in the 20-car ¼-mile race from every stop light in Puerto Rico, driven the German Autobahn at 180 kph, I have been flipped off for being in the passing lane on the Italian autostratta, stopped below a Italian sign which pointed eight directions none of which I could read screaming at Kim to figure it out, and made five u-turns in Granada to get to the hotel we could see with four different people telling me how to get there.

It has been written that if you can drive in Panama City, you can navigate Rome. Rome is a training ground for this place. The streets are narrow,  the roads not marked, the cars drive fast, and the horn is used almost as much as the accelerator. Thus, the reason for needing an escort out of town. Chewy has been invaluable so far and we have much further to go – he is reliable, kind hearted, and patient – all necessary traits when dealing with lost Americans such as ourselves. However, he has been expensive. In two days we have paid him $100 and we are no half way through his assisting us.

Today’s goal is the market in El Valle – the largest market in the area and Sunday being its biggest day. Many Panama City residents make a day trip to the market which tells me we want to go there. Also in the packet of written material given to us by Scotty, our absent tour guide, one of the best new developments for buying a home lies on the far side of Bridge of Americas. The gated community is 20 minutes from downtown Panama City, built in the hills overlooking the Panama Canal, 40-minutes from some of the best beaches in the world, and 5-minutes from a huge mall due to open in three years. We will see …

The Big Ditch

 
65 years ago my father went through the Panama Canal to decommission a ship after WW II. Today we saw the same structure and went through the same locks as he did in considerably different circumstances. After our driver picked us up and drove us to the causeway, we boarded a ship with 300 other people to spend our Christmas morning going from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We stayed on the front of the ship and the top deck to get a birds eye view of the process that has taken place since 1904. 40 ships a day make the passage at an average of $120,000 per ship passage fee. We displaced 52 million gallons on our trip.

 
The views were magnificent, the top deck crowded as people jockeyed for position to get the best pictures. The ship was old, the captive audience had mixed ethnic backgrounds, and the weather was warm, windy, and at moments rainy. Overall it was a pretty awesome experience to see an man-made marvel over 100 years old.

As always the experience comes form talking to people - two guys from LA, one worked as a food exporter and traveled much of Latin and South America. This was his first trip to Panama and he was focused on seeing the canal. The mom would let her three kids squeeze in front of us and caused havoc climbing the rails. The Opthomalogist who had travels the world and let his family plan this vacation. The LSU family with the father being here 30 years ago working at the embassy. The bus ride how with the man who worked for Gerhi who is the architect for Chicago's Millennium Park and Disney Performing Arts venue and was now designing the $50mm biodiversity museum in Panama.

 

 

 

 

 

Panama Soil

Yesterday at 2:45 PM our jet from Miami touched down at PTY. According to our guide, Chewy, Flight 2189 is always on time (note to self). The airport was clean and relatively busy. After checking out out digs for the next two days, we immediately left and walked the neighborhood. It was crowded, many infrastructure issues, and a wide mix of the know and not so familiar names - McDonald's with delivery bikes.

As it got dark the noise and rhythm of the city picked up. Clearly Panama is a night-life city and this was Christmas Eve. We ate at Beirut - fantastic atmosphere, great service, wonderful food. Empty when we got there and full when we left. We are off spend half a day on the Panama Canal. Pictures to follow.