Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

The wanderings of Andrea and Keith around Panama

Posts from the ‘Cerro Azul’ category

The Hillbillies Visit The Trump Tower

Hi Travellers,

Well, its 7:45PM and I just got back from my nefarious attempt to steal an Internet feed to load yesterday’s blog but everyone in the house was out and the Internet was turned off.  I guess you will just have to wait!  I will try again tomorrow morning.  I’ll just pour myself another glass of this excellent 2009 Chilean Carmen Valley Central Cabernet Sauvignon and tell you what happened today.

Now, it seems that my descriptions of us being up in the hills and in a somewhat remote location has earned us the new title of Hillbillies from some of our friends.  Perhaps my descriptions were a bit too graphic but I can assure you this is not Hillbilly country.  Its much too upscale and almost all of the residents we have met still have all their teeth and don’t hold their pants up with a piece of worn rope.  We also haven’t seen a shotgun anywhere.  The house next door has a driveway containing a very new H3 Hummer with very expensive looking custom wheels and a chrome winch and cow catcher affair on the front that looks like it could stop a train.  Today we decide to get away from the crowds and head downtown.

As we approached the main gate leaving the park, we saw something on the road.  It was brown and furry and moving at the speed of a turtle!  We pulled over and, sure enough, it was a sloth making his way painfully slowly across the road.  Traffic is pretty busy here today so he was lucky he didn’t get run over.  They move so deliberately, as if in slow motion, dragging their body across the terrain one slow step at time.  I grabbed the camera and got out of the car, thinking that I probably had a victim that I could get some close up shots of because he couldn’t move fast enough to get away from me.  I didn’t even have to rush.  Now I can imagine what was going through his slothful mind… what is this idiot tourist going to do to me with that camera?  Now, if I could just go a little faster…  Well, other than a couple of glances my direction, I got complete ambivalence.  It kind of reminded me of trying to ask girls out when I was in high school!  He finally got up the bank and up the closest tree, where he promptly went to sleep after all the exertion.

On the way down the hill, outside the park, we pass a beautiful lake that was busy today.  I snuck through the fence and got a couple of shots for you.

Because this is Sunday and Cerro Azul seemed pretty busy, we decided to take advantage of the lack of traffic and head to the downtown core, which would be really busy if we tried to do this on a weekday.  We guessed right!  Traffic was light.  From our driveway to the downtown core takes about an hour, using the new toll road Corredor Sur (Corridor South).  Traffic was light and most of the way it is a speedy 110K.  There are two tolls to pay of $1.40 and $1.25, at different locations.  We guess that using the toll road shortens the trip by about an hour due to traffic, lights, jambs, and just the general insanity of going the old route and driving in Panama.

 

 

 

 

Us being Hillbillies and all, we decided to head for the high rent district to spend some of Grannies money (Andrea wanted to be called Ellie Mae but you and I both know the real truth here!) in Punta Paitilla which is a little peninsula into the Bay of Panama right off the downtown core.  There are several very, and I mean very nice residential towers.  The new Trump Tower is just one.   We picked a tower and approached it, thinking I would get some nice shots in the lobby, but the sharp-eyed security dude headed us off before we could even start up the front stairs and politely stymied our access attempt.  We turned around and thought we would have a look at the Trump Tower.  First stop was the gift shop, thinking I would pick up a Trump something golf shirt or such.  The young guy in the shop was the owner (from Pittsburg).  We got talking and found out that his shop had only been open for about three months and it was going well.  He pays $40 per Sq.M for rent.  I asked about the Trump shirts and he said they are trying to bring them in from the US but any merchandising with the Trump name is heavily protected legally and he was still going through the legal hurdles.  He said the hotel was averaging only about 25% occupancy and then told us something that surprised us.  Trump apparently has nothing to do with the building, except lending it his name for a price.  There is your useless factoid for the day!

We prowled the mall in the Trump building and found only a couple of stores actually read to open.  There was a very cool wine tasting bar that we have to go back to and a gelato bar that we couldn’t get by.  Gelato for two was $9.35.  Remember we are in the Trump tower!

We wandered the obviously high-end neighborhood and found a beautiful little park, right on the ocean.  It was shaded by huge canopy trees and there were a few locals sitting or playing with their kids on the well manicured grass.  It made for a beautiful sight with the ocean in the background!  We found a Super 99 store in the area and stopped in to pick up a couple of things.  Just like Co-op at home, they adjust their stores to the neighborhoods they are in.   This store was much different from the Super 99 we bought supplies at before going up to Cerro Azul.  Marble floors, wide aisles, neat shelves and staff who spoke some English were all noticeable differences.  Just like at home for stores like this, you pay a small premium.

We thought we would grab a late lunch before heading back and selected a little restaurant in the mall with the Super 99 called Marina Marina.  This is a combination restaurant serving bistro/fusion type food.  Attentive English-speaking servers, good service and tasty food made this a great experience.  Lunch for two $27, including fresh juice, sandwiches, and cappuccino.

We had planned to leave downtown with enough time to get back up the hill in daylight.  With so much local traffic up in the Cerro Azul area we knew that there would be lots of traffic coming back to town on the road and didn’t want to deal with the unpredictable Panamanian drivers in the dark on a narrow winding badly lit road.  We managed to get home in tact but wonder how many of these drivers survive driving here.  They drive with headlights off in the dark, they don’t stay on their own side of the road even when oncoming traffic is obvious.  If they have to stop for some reason, they just stop in the driving lane and get out of their vehicle forcing everyone else to go into the other lane to go around them.  They pull out right in front of you without warning.  We find driving here in Cerro Azul during the week just fine with only the few permanent residents around but need to be on guard all the rest of the time.

Our activities for tomorrow remain undetermined.  Let it be a surprise!

The Concrete Jungle

Hi There,

Today we were pretty lazy.  It’s nice to have a down day.  It is curious weather going on here.  It is a nice temperature, I would guess in the low 20sC but the humidity is still quite high.  Any light effort will produce a wet shirt.  The sun comes and goes almost instantly as the clouds race across the sky.  One minute you can’t see the next mountain and the next you can see Panama City.  There is a light misty rain that comes and goes but never stays so we decided just to ignore it and continue whatever we are doing.  The one constant is the breeze, which is a bit heavier and gusty today.  All in all it’s the kind of weather that is not unpleasant and it wouldn’t stop you from doing anything but maybe sunbathing.  I used to think that Calgary’s weather changed quickly but this is much quicker although not as wide a range of conditions.

Paul had told us that there are 2,800 lots, here in Cerro Azul.  Of those, only about 500 have been sold and of those only around 100 are permanent residents.  Most of the people here come only for the weekend and summer vacation.  Today there was evidence of many more people being around than we noticed during the week.  It is still not what you would call busy, due to the scale of this place, but there is a definitely noticeable difference on the weekend.

We loaded ourselves up into the Toyota for the 10 minute drive down to the Club to see if the Internet was fixed and to grab some breakfast.  I had pancakes and bacon, which was done perfectly.  Don’t anyone tell the girls at Ricky’s that I had something other than bacon and eggs for breakfast.  They would never believe you!  Well, there was a nice strong wireless network but it turns out it is secured and is a park administration network that they wouldn’t let me have access to.  The tourist network is still not fixed!   I think I will take a course on hacking wireless networks before our next trip!

This afternoon, we decided we had been here long enough and had not yet ventured into the jungle!  It was one of the reasons why we came to this National Park.  The trails are all pretty well marked at the trailheads with distances etc. but with limited Spanish it could be a toothpaste ad and we wouldn’t know the difference.  We talked to one of our neighbors about safety and hiking and they said that we wouldn’t have any problems but to wear closed shoes as you could step on something nasty that might want to take offence.  Off we went to a trailhead near the Club.  The gate had been closed all week but today it was open so we drove right down to the river, about 500M or so.  This place is set up better than some of our National Parks at home.  Parking at the trailhead in a paved parking lot with lines.  there is covered shelter if you have to wait in bad weather for someone to pick you up.  We set off on one of the trails that takes you down to the Rio Las Cascades river.  This is not a large river but I bet it is lots bigger than this during the rainy season (May – November).  There is little danger of getting lost as all the trails are concrete walkways, about 18 inches wide and with a steel rail wherever you might need support.  You could almost call this place wheelchair accessible, except for the stairs.  The little concrete walkway tends to keep people on the trail and not wandering through the adjacent areas.  It minimizes the environmental damage while not presenting too much of an intrusion on nature.  I was surprised to find this level of infrastructure in place but I guess because it is within the housing development, they needed to do something.  I’d be willing to bet that if you came into this park from the river side you wouldn’t find any infrastructure at all.

 

 

 

We enjoyed a nice walk in the jungle and were only accosted by one wild animal… a small (three-inch) lizard that was sunning himself on the walkway railing.  Although it was touch and go for a few minutes, none of the combatants suffered any serious damage!  Of particular surprise was the almost total lack of bugs.  It makes for a very pleasant visit.

Tomorrow we will poke around this area a little more.  You can turn down some of these little streets and often be surprised with what you will find!

Shopping Again!

Just in case you are interested, there have been 1,450 viewings of our little blog since it went up.  I’m impressed!

Everyone we talk to here encourages us to give the little restaurant in the recreation complex another try so today we decided to try breakfast there.  After all, how badly can you screw up bacon and eggs?  When we arrived we were the only customers there.  We managed to order without too much difficulty and then they went away to make our meals.  It seemed to take about 20 minutes for the food to be ready and the fresh coffee to be brewed.  When it came, it was perfect.  The eggs were done right, the bacon was done extra crispy just as requested and the toast was right.  We lingered over breakfast enjoying the beautiful scenery as the building it has windows all around and the views are, to say the least, spectacular.  Breakfast for two $11 with tip.

We asked about the Internet and were advised that someone was to come today some time to fix it and that it should be working tomorrow.  I headed back to Antonio’s house who had so graciously offered us the use of his Internet yesterday but he was not home so I went down the 20 or so tile stairs to his back yard and sure enough, I was close enough to get a signal.  Now I don’t know how many of you have tried to balance a notebook on your knees while running the mouse down the side of your leg in the bright sunlight but it really takes time to get anything done.  The simple fact that you can’t see the screen or where your mouse is due to the sunlight really sucks.  To make matters worse, it started to sprinkle lightly.  I’m really looking forward to having the connection back in service at the restaurant!

Yesterday, I showed you the inside of the monster house that the commodities market claimed from the well to do Panamanian Jeweler.  Today I have a few shots of the outside of this magnificent home.  Here they are.

 

 

 

Nice shack eh?  Well we were about taking house pictures, I thought you might like to see some of the other houses here in Cerro Azul.  Here is a small selection that should give you a flavor for the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have decided to stay here for another week so we headed back down the hill to get some more supplies.  This time we tried the Super Extra store, which turned out to be about three times larger than the Super 99.  It has a pharmacy and bakery (yum yum) and reminds me a bit of Superstore or Wal-Mart.  You can buy tires, clothes, fresh fruit, meat, and anything drinkable.  As we wander the aisles of this gigantic store, I can’t help but notice how much processed garbage is on the shelves here.  When we first came to Panama, you were hard pressed to find much of that but today it is the norm.  A simple example was we wanted a small amount of butter.  The diary case probably had five or six feet of every conceivable kind of margarine o the face of the earth.  We finally found butter in one little corner and got the last package.  Super Extra has a better selection of wine than the Super 99.  We found three bottles of Argentinian red at respectable prices.  A Malbec for $5.50, a Malbec for $4.20 and a Cab Sav for $3.06.  Again, these are all in the $20 to $30 dollar range at home.  Oh, and did I mention the bakery?  We got four sweet buns for $1.60.

Next we needed to refuel our little Toyota.  The traffic was so insane that it took us almost 30 minutes to drive half a block, u-turn at a traffic light (yes it’s legal here), and return half a block to the Texaco Station.  Fuel was at about a quarter of a tank and it took $30 to fill it.

The find of the day was a fresh fruit store, or more like hole in the wall.  Andrea scored a nice ripe watermelon, a pineapple, and a couple of oranges for $2.70.

Well, as you can see we never made it to the jungle today but its on the list for tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

Cerro Azul Real Estate 101

Hi Everyone,

On the way to find our realtor for our tour today, we met his neighbor, Antonio.  He is retired and from California but they have been back and forth several times before he finally built his dream house here in Panama.  Quite the place!  He keeps two large dogs that speak only Spanish, to keep the animals away from the property.  Apparently it works pretty well, it almost kept me away!   I told him about our internet problem and he invited us in to use his, which we did.  So, just where are we?  If you look at the map, you will see Tocumen Airport at the bottom and 76 Via La Paz Castillo at the top.  That is where we are.

After we did our Internet business, we went next door to meet Paul, the brother of the person we are renting from.  Both are Canadian and have been in real estate in this area for about 15 years.  This is a single development here of 2800 lots, 500 of which are sold.  Paul says that their slump, due to the economy, was in 2009 and it got better in 2010.  2011 was their best year so far.  Their inventory of resale homes is depleted due to the interest here.  There is no MLS here so an agent will try to sell you their own properties.  Depending on what you want, there are lots of cozy smaller places that you could buy for under $100K.  Construction prices run from around $50 to $100 per sq. ft. depending on how elaborate you want your home and they have access to an English speaking builder (Paul’s son).  They sell a lot of lots.  Lots here go from around $20K up to $70K for the more desirable properties being those that have the best views, the most privacy, the best topography (meaning enough level ground to build a house on), and size.  Generally, the Panamanians buy in the $20K range with foreigners buying the better property.  We saw several lots and it becomes easier to guess the price based on knowing the criteria.  We found one that was of particular interest to us.  It was a large lot in the 1800 Sq. M range on a ridge with views in both directions and right at the end of the road.  Traffic or privacy would not be a problem.  On the next lot was a derelict house that Paul has researched in detail.  He wanted to find the owner and offer to buy it from him.  The house was owned by an old Panamanian woman who died but had one son, which nobody can seem to find.  The house has not been visited for years.  Paul tells us that if it was him, he would build on the empty lot in such a way as there was no windows on the back to see the derelict house.  Next he would cut the out of control jungle and paint the front of the old house.  If nothing happens for 15 years, you can then claim the property under squatters rights and the government will give it to you.  We didn’t know that Panama had squatters rights in place but apparently it does and if it takes 15 years for a piece of abandoned property to be claimed, it seems much more reasonable than Costa Rica’s relatively short timeline. It seems that this place is experiencing a renewed interest and no wonder because there are only a limited number of lots and they are located in a national park.  The area is popular for Canadians and Americans and is just starting to catch on with the European crowd.

We did see one house.  It is a big sucker, coming in around 3,000 Sq. Ft.  It was built 20 years ago by a well to do Panamanian jeweler before he became interested in commodities which eventually lost him this house, the jewelry business and his house in the city.  The house is now empty and has been so for about two years.  It is a striking house from the exterior due to the vast amount of glass.  Here of some shots of the massive main floor.  Bedrooms and bathrooms are all king sized and there is a third floor with a loft suite.  The attic is also a good size.  When you look at the workmanship here, it strikes me that this would be hard to get today.  Large hardwood beams supporting the roof are open to the house and the intricacy of the beam arrangement over the large turret is interesting.  I just realized that I missed getting a shot of the outside of this place so will have to catch it up in the next day or two.  The house is listed for $308K but Paul tells us the owners would accept $275K.  He says that if someone wanted to turn the main floor into a steak and lobster restaurant, only open on weekends, that it would be a license to print money because the closest such place is all the way across town in Panama City.  All we need is a chef!!!

Living costs here in Cerro Azul are relatively small.  You don’t need air conditioning or heating so electricity is not much.  Antonio tells us he pays around $30 per month for electricity.  Water is $10 to $15 per month.  DSL Internet service is $16 per month with your phone.  Gas depends on use.  Everything here runs on propane.  You can get the big tanks (hundred pounders) that have to be swapped out by a truck or you can have a few 25 pounders and look after the filling yourself when you go into town.  Antonio says he uses about three per month for him and his wife and because the government subsidizes the 25 pounders, they only cost $4.50 per fill.  He says that the hundred pounders are expensive.  Oh and then  the equivalent of a condo fee that every lot pays.  It covers the maintenance of the pool, tennis courts, and restaurant complex as well as trail maintenance, road repair and debris cleanup when needed.  For all that you pay $27 per month.   A handyman will cost you $25 per day.

I wanted to check out the pool, so we piled into our trusty Toyota and drove down to the pool complex.  It takes about 15 minutes.  The area is beautifully kept and includes the pool, tennis courts, the restaurant building and several little picnic areas carved out of the hillside, each with its own bright little blue roof.  The area has lots of concrete walkways to get you from one place to another.  The gigantic pool was actually quite cool, compared to the one at our last hotel, but very clean and very refreshing.  As you can see, there are no people here.  It only gets a bit busy on weekends.

 

 

 

Well after all that, we needed dinner.  We had decided earlier to try a restaurant outside the gate about 6.5 Km from here.  Due to the winding road, it takes about 25 minutes to drive there.  It is called La Posada De Ferhisse and is definitely Panamanian.  We were pleasantly surprised when we walked in to be given menus with both Spanish and English so we could point out our selections to the wait person who seemed to speak only Spanish.  We ordered roast chicken and fish of the day.  Along with salads and a couple of soft drinks, the total came to a whopping $12.  Oh, and by the way, the food was really good!  We would give this place a double thumbs up!

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, we have plans to head into the jungle!  I’ll tell you about it then (if we make it back) Smile.

The Big Stone Deck

Hi Fellow Travellers,

Well today is planned to be a laid back put your feet up and enjoy the scenery type of day.  We do have to look after a few things though.  We cannot seem to get the gas going to the stove and there is no hot water.  We have contact information for the brother of the owner, so will try to get things working.  This morning, we found that breakfast comes with our unit, at least if we go and pick it off the vine.  There is a banana palm just off the deck and there are bananas almost ready for the eating.  It doesn’t get any fresher than that.  A quick check of the little restaurant found it open but the Internet was not working, we were told.  They didn’t seem to know when that problem would be corrected.  If this doesn’t get corrected soon, we will drive back down the hill and find someplace we can steal a signal from so I can get this important information to you.

Our big stone deck is wonderful.  Sitting out there, you become keenly aware of the lack of city noises, bugs and the wind whispering through the pines that surround us.  Trees moving constantly with the gentle breeze bring new meaning to the concept of perpetual motion.  An endless variety of bird songs accompany the many species as they busily flit from tree to tree, going about their daily routines.  Most of what we see are foreign to us but the variety of size and color is seemingly endless.   The big billowing white clouds are so close that you can seemingly reach up and touch them as they race across the blue sky to an undetermined destination.   There is such an atmosphere here!

Sunsets are directly in front of us.  Its as if someone had planned the location of this deck just to take them in.  It is hard during the day to get a picture that would capture the city in the distance due to the haze, but at night the lights of the city make it easier to get an idea of what is there.

With all the natural beauty of this place, I hope you can appreciate why the post today is short.  Tomorrow we will be doing a small real estate tour.  I will let you know all about it then.

The Hills of Cerro Azul in the Chagres National Park

Hi All,

Today is move day and there are almost no pictures.  I must apologize but it took much of the day to make the move and when I finally pulled out the camera, the light was gone.  We moved from sea level up to an elevation of about 950M.  Now that doesn’t sound like that much but it will lower the temperature by around 10 degrees during the day.  We rented a little apartment from Panama Canada Realty and it is in an area called Cerro Azul.  Panama City money used to build homes here to escape the heat of the city on weekends and during the summer.   It is close to the city and is about a 40 minute drive from the airport.  Property here is within the Chagres (pronounced Shaw-gress) National Park and is the only place in the country where you can actually buy property with full title in a National Park.  Today’s featured image is shot from our big deck and is of the lights of the city.

We knew we would be somewhat isolated so we stopped at the Super 99 grocery store (the chain is owned by the President of Panama), to lay in some supplies before we left town.  We dragged eight bags of groceries out of that store for a total of $55.35.  Now I don’t know about you but when I go we go to a grocery store in Calgary, I don’t get anything like eight bags for 50 bucks.  Some of the better buys were a dozen eggs for $1.05, Balboa beer for $0.49 each, and three bottles of imported wine for $6.15, $4.09, and $3.60.  Now the wine is no two buck chuck!  We would be paying $20 to $30 each at home for these Chilean imports.  Panama has a very kind taxation structure on alcohol.

From the bottom of the hill, we travel about 25K to our destination.   At first the paved two lane road has a steady gentle uphill grade but that eventually gives out to a paved two lane road that either is going straight up or straight down.  It is not very windy but there is a lot of up and down.  Nothing is level.  The vegetation changes to forest with mostly pine trees.  Every once and awhile, you come upon a place with an elaborate iron gate and fence enclosing a sprawling well manicured property with a large elaborate stone and brick home nestled among the trees.  Most of the property has to be leveled before it can be built on.  It is an interesting community as pretty much all the well kept structures are tucked into the forest.

Getting to our destination was not without some challenges.  I had a street address, but my GPS could not find it.  The owners sent us a hand drawn map that would take us to the security gate and then a two page narrative to get us to the house.  I could use the GPS to get us to the intersection where we left the main road so we ended up using all the tools we had to actually get to our destination.  The directions were pretty good and we finally got to where we were going.

We are in a house with the main floor occupied by the owner, who is away.  There are two suites on the lower level, one of which is ours.  It is pretty typically Panamanian but it is clean and has almost everything we need.  There is a full length deck across the back of the house that is about 20 feet deep.  It overlooks nothing but forest and hills.  When we look one direction, off in the distance you can see the skyline of Panama City through the haze.  The other direction has a view of the canal.  Other than that, trees, hills, clouds, and blue sky.  You cant even see any of your neighbors.  You could run around naked here and you wouldn’t scare anything but the birds!  There is a pleasant breeze and the temperature, I would estimate to be in the low 20sC.

Our directions said that the door would be unlocked and the key would be on the table.  Just as we determined that there was only one towel, there was a knock at the door and a young woman handed us towels.  There is supposed to be a complex containing a restaurant, tennis courts, and a pool so we thought we would check it out.  When we arrived the security gate was down so we walked in.  We found a sign directing us to a restaurant so followed it to a neatly pained building that was locked up.  You could see all the tables properly set for a meal but there was nobody around.  The front door contained no sign indicating the hours of operation.  We headed back towards the car when we came upon a man walking toward us with a laptop under his arm.  We spoke to him and found out he was married to a Panamanian woman and living there part of the year and in Colorado for the rest.  Interesting character!  He is a lawyer with a practice in Colorado but was one of the authors of the document that described the US turnover of the canal to Panama.  He left Panama with the other Americans on 31 December 1999, when the canal became Panamanian.

He was headed to the restaurant to use their WiFi signal to check his email.  We pumped him for local information and determined that the restaurant was closed today because of the holiday yesterday.  Rather than driving back to town, we elected to get by on our recently purchased groceries and go back for breakfast.

Our house has no Internet, or TV so I will have to use the restaurant WiFi to update the blog.  I can write the content offline and upload it once I have a connection.