Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

Hi Travel Fans,

We thought we were the only people in our little resort until last night when we heard a vehicle drive in and then drive out.  This morning, there was a new face here.  Octav is from Victoria and had recently lost his wife.  He decided he needed to get away so came here to Panama, all on his own.  He is 78 years old and, we are told, probably would not be able to rent a car due to his age.  He had a bit of a bad experience in Panama City when he arrived to find out his hotel didn’t have his reservation and he needed to find an alternate in a rush.

Panamanians show a lot of respect for older people and the owners of this resort, to their credit, are typical examples.  They were concerned about this older man traveling on his own and without a car so had decided to make him breakfast, to his surprise.  We offered to take him into town and got talking with him.  He is a fascinating man, born in Romania and having worked all over the world as an electrical engineer.  He speaks several languages but his Spanish is limited, he says.  He speaks far more than us.  He tells the most fascinating stories about some of the projects he worked on in various parts of the world.

He decided to join us while we had breakfast at the Artash Restaurant in town.  We had been there once before and enjoyed the casual friendly atmosphere.  The restaurant is located on the covered patio outside a Panamanian house.  The property is elaborately landscaped which provides a privacy separation between the eating area and the rest of the property.  It is run by a young couple.  Arturo and Natasha.  He is Panamanian and she is, more recently, from Canada.  The restaurant runs in his families old home.  The food offering is a bit different.  Arturo characterizes it as casual international.  Arturo’s experience as a chef includes Panama and Spain.  Everything is fresh and quite creative as prepared by him.  Natasha, provides a friendly attentive service to the guests.  The food is reasonably priced and very tasty.  If you are in El Valle, pay them a visit, it will be a great experience!

Octav left us after breakfast to walk around town and we returned to our resort.  After talking with the owners, we decided to take a short hike down to the river to see some falls that are close to the hotel.  By the time we were ready to leave, Octav had returned to the resort so he joined us for our walk.  We never actually found the falls as it required  a bit of rock hopping on wet rocks and the footing was not very good.  We elected to sit in the shade by the river and enjoy the sound of the water making its way down the channel and the cool breezes that have been with us all day.  On return to the resort, we decided to try the pool as the afternoon was warm.  Cabanas Potosi have an arrangement with another hotel in town that has a pool so we got directions and made our way to an empty resort with a beautiful big pool.  We were told it is spring fed and there is no chlorine in the pool.  The pool is shaded by one of the largest trees I have ever seen.  I can’t even imagine what it must be like to keep that pool clean when the leaves all decide to drop!  The water was refreshing, not too cool and not too warm and the pool was nice and clean.

The three of us went to Capitones Restaurant for dinner.  It is a pleasant place where you can dine inside or outside on tables scattered around the property.  They specialize in German food.  We ordered our food and were all impressed with what was provided.  They provided the best cup off coffee I have had since we arrived here.  It was coffee from Boquete, which is in the hills in the west of Panama.  Andrea had jumbo shrimp while I had garlic chicken.  Oh and then there was the strawberry cheesecake.  Yum yum!  Dinner for two $36.  This will get a return visit from us, particularly for the coffee.

I know I promised you some shots of some of the beautiful big estates here today but I just never got around to it!  I think I am settling into the Panamanian lifestyle!  Manana.