|
May/June 2008 During the past
couple of weeks more "new friends" have
emailed saying they were coming to
Panama or are in the initial process of
investigating Panama as a possible home.
We've also been privileged to be
involved in a series of meetings
recently regarding upcoming changes to
the land ownership laws in Panama,
particularly as they apply to the land
on the Caribbean.
Check out Donna's monthly articles being
published in Vivir Bien -- in Spanish
and English -- so she is now published
in English, Cantonese and Spanish.
Donna was in contact with Spay Panama
and she has put their logo on the site
to left in the hopes you will see it,
check out their site and contribute. If
you have been outside the city you know
how many dogs and cats wander around
under nourished and skinny. All of this
can be prevented through birth control.
February 16th, 2008
This past
week I had the pleasure of
spending 3 full days exploring the coast
line of Costa Arriba. From Playa Blanca
near Portobelo to past Santa Isabel,
almost to the San Blas Islands. The
coast line and the small towns are all
different ranging from large sweeping
beaches to rocky hills descending into
the Caribbean. As i mentioned in my
previous note we had done this trek by
car.
I was there to see how the area Pedro
owns compared to the rest of the coast,
and i can now say without any
hesitation, he has the two finest pieces
if the beach and swimming are important.
There are lots of pieces with
spectacular views but no beach and
others with great beaches but with very
aggressive waves.
The week before we had the pleasure
of meeting Alan & Geri from Canada along
with their friend Jacob. We enjoyed
spending time around Panama City in
Casco Viejo and the Amador causeway.
They went on to Boquete and other areas
around Panama checking out various
housing projects to see if anything
might fit their lifestyles.
Check out
Alan's running commentary here.
i will have pictures online next week
so check back.
January 27th, 2008So many
people have asked us what things we see
and do in Panama that we thought we
would jot some things down once in a
while. This area won't try and be a
diary, but will try and capture some of
the more interesting things we
encounter.
The week of the 13th of January, 2008 we
had the pleasure/privilege of seeing
some amazing things – some things that
just driving around you would never
normally get a chance to see – we put on
almost 2,200 km – and worth every single
km –
We left Panama and drove the PanAmerican
Highway to Boquete – about 5.5-6hrs –
this meant we passed the Pacific coastal
area from the city to the province of
Cocle where it becomes inland area –
mostly farm and sugar cane fields – then
through Veraguas which is similar but it
becomes hillier and greener. Finally
Chiriqui where we came to the city of
David. From there you head “up” to
Boquete – climbing to over 1200 meters.
We had rented a house in Boquete – 2
bdrm, 3 or 4 yrs old – clean – 40.00 per
night all in :} – We visited the Boquete
flower show and spent time at the house
of an acquaintance of Wayne & Elaines.
Interesting couple from Kelowna/Calgary
who moved 4 yrs ago to Boquete and
renovated a house. They have now bought
in the Boquete Country Club area and
will build their own home.
The next day we went back to David,
further into Chiriqui and then “up” to
Volcan and Cerro Punto where we visited
an orchid “finca” (farm) with over 2600
varieties of orchids, but primarily
known for their “Dracula Orchids” –
hence their name Finca Dracula. Needless
to say Donna and Elaine took almost 400
pictures and could probably fill 12
pages of descriptions on what they found
in Finca Dracula. Back to Boquete and
out for dinner at the old grand hotel,
the Panamonte. Excellent, incredible
meal. Before the meal Donna and Elaine
had a facial and pedicure and would
highly recommend that as well.
Then the next day back to Panama City
for a day of rest.
Friday we left for the Caribbean where
we met our friend Pedro and spent 2
nights at Ralph & Claritas house on the
cove. We swam and drank. Hmmmm .. Ralph
has a fellow, Porfirio, do all the yard
work and cook when they or friends are
out there. That evening Pedro arranged
for us to go a neighboring town, Mirimar,
where he arranged a local dinner,
lobster, octopus and rice – and he
arranged the towns “congo dancers” to
entertain us – they had all of us up
dancing – what a hoot … Pedro tried to
arrange for us to go on his friends boat
but the waves were a little too high for
comfort so the next day we got up, had a
Tom’s prepared breakfast (with the help
of Porfirio who I am sure thinks we’re
crazy) , then headed out to Pedros other
land in Santa Isabel – virtually the end
of the road on Costa Arriba – right on
the edge of the San Blas islands.
It’s only 40 km but the last 20 are
“unimproved roads”. I had no idea what
that really meant when we headed out.
All I know is Pedro asked me very
casually at one point on our way, “have
you ever tried your 4 wheel drive in the
Mitsubishi?” I told him, yes, as a
matter of fact I had just to see how
easy it was. Well, we hit the unimproved
– wow – we’re talking roads simply
“plowed” over land, through farms, up
hills and then ……. Across three rivers
…. No bridges… true river crossings … we
have pictures as no one would believe
us.
Needless to say it was white knuckle for
20 km – we had to pass vehicles and one
huge – I mean HUGE shovel unit – unreal.
Another time we had to pass an SUV on
the side of a hill on a single lane
road. He got the inside by the mountain
– we got the side that went down the
hill for what looked like a mile:} We
finally made it to his property – almost
400 hectares from the Caribbean beach to
inland backed by a river that runs
around the property. Pretty spectacular
land. And in 10 years it will be
surrounded by development as they are
building a new road direct from the
Tocuman airport to Santa Isabel. This
will take the trip down to 45 -60 min
from Panama City to Santa Isabel on the
edge of the San Blas Islands. Back for a
local fare lunch (and BBQ’d sausages)
prepared by Porfirio, time to swim and
then head back to Panama City.
January 20th we drove to El Valle de
Anton about 1.5 hrs on the Pacific side
right near Coronado but up in the hills.
We had lunch reservations at a
restaurant called Lourdes. It is owned
and run by a lady who designed this
restaurant and hotel to look like it was
right out of Tuscany. She even imitated
the olive trees in the back ground. The
food was some of the best I’ve eaten
anywhere in Canada, the USA or Europe –
and 4 people, wine, appetizer, main
course and dessert – 160.00
|