Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

Howdy Fellow Travellers,

Today we invested the day enjoying the beach and the pool at our little Panamanian hide away in Gorgona.  The day disappeared quickly and soon it became time to go and pick up our friend Octav, who is staying at the Bayview Resort, and head out for dinner.  We found him in the restaurant talking with a woman from Switzerland.

We headed for a restaurant at a resort that we knew from previous trips.  Vista Mar, meaning Sea Vista, is a large resort with several towers, a couple of villa complexes, some private homes, and a golf course.  It is west of but not far from Coronado.

On our first trip we visited this place on a real estate tour.  We rented a villa here the last time we were here.  That experience was, shall I say dry!  The first nine holes had been built for some time but the second nine were under construction while we were there.  There were daily water outages, sometimes for the whole day.  Hopefully someone would remember to turn the water back on at the end of the construction day but sometimes, they didn’t.  It was a frustrating experience.  I was there with three women, trouble enough on its own but when they don’t have water it can get downright ugly!  It really wasn’t that bad, they were pretty good sports about it but it was problematic.

Our little villa complex had its own pool which had no shade.  Down on the beach, the resort had a very nice restaurant as well as a small well landscaped pool area.  There was sun and shade and a very nice little waterfall.  It was a really pleasant place to wile away an afternoon.

We were not sure that the restaurant would be open as most restaurants here seem to close one day of the week due to the staff being required to work all weekend.  When we arrived, we were pleased to find they were open.  Before we went in for dinner, we walked down to the beach where we found a surprise.  The beautiful little landscaped pool was gone and had been replaced by a huge commercial looking infinity pool thing that looked like it would hold 500 people!   Deck chairs were lined up side by side just like a huge resort.  The vegetation was gone in favor of a wall to wall concrete deck.  There was actually a concrete wall with astro turf on it.  Imagine!  They had also built a couple of wooden walkways for people to wander on.  The charm was gone!  The intimacy was gone!  The pool contained a huge statue of a fat woman that should be gone, if you ask me!  It was disappointing to see such a perfect little Panamanian space replaced by a commercial monstrosity that seemed to belong more in Florida than here in Panama.

We were seated in the restaurant outside on the deck.  It was in the early stages of sunset and the view of the ocean was exceptional.  The overhead fan along with the gentle breeze from the Pacific made for a most pleasant and comfortable environment.  Dinner was grilled shrimp in a coconut sauce, roast pork, and I had the Sea Bass.  Everything was perfectly prepared and served by attentive wait staff.  We lingered over dinner enjoying good food, good conversation and a perfect environment.  Dinner for three including wine and desert, just over $100.  It is a little more expensive here but still less than home.  If you want a nice dinner in special surroundings, head to Vista Mar.  Just drive up to the security gate and tell them you are going to the restaurant.