Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

The wanderings of Andrea and Keith around Panama

Posts tagged ‘Boquete’

Impressions of Santa Fe

Howdy All,

Sadly, today we leave this beautiful place and head for our next destination which is at the beach in Gorgona and is about a three-hour drive without stops.  After another great breakfast, we packed up and hit the road.

Yesterday, I mentioned a blockade of the Pan-American, west of here closer to David.  It turns out that the local Indians (Ngobe-Bugle) had blocked westbound traffic on the highway for several days.  They were protesting the changing of some legislation around mining and the Cerro Colorado mine, which has one of the largest copper reserves in Latin America.  There have also been some short-term interruptions to traffic eastbound headed for Panama City.  The westbound blockade has held the second largest city in the country, David, hostage and there are reports of stores being short of food stuffs and fuel stations closing as they are out of fuel.  The police were directed to clear the road last night and the ensuing scuffle resulted in a number of injuries and one death.  Several police were hospitalized.  Further investigation into the death found that the bullet was of a caliber not used by the police.

President Ricardo Martinelli has blamed the opposition and “foreign elements” for inciting chaos.  I did a little Internet research and oddly found that an Indian band in Ecuador held a protest at the same time over a similar issue.  When you look at the pictures of the Panama protest, I cannot help but draw the conclusion that this was organized by someone or group other than the natives that knows the techniques of how to successfully protest today.

Now our friend Octav that left Santa Fé a couple of days ago, was headed to Boquete.  He took the bus from Santa Fé to Santiago where he found out busses were not running due to the blockade.  He had some quick scrambling to do but managed to secure a place back at the Bayview Hotel in Santa Clara, the other direction.  As it is on our way, we decided we will stop and see how he is doing.

We have only been in Santa Fé for a few days and most of that time was spent at the Casa Mariposa Boutique Hotel.  Our top 10 impressions of Santa Fé are:

1.  Book a few days here at the Casa Mariposa.  You won’t believe the experience.  See the link at the bottom of the right column under Businesses We Support;

2.  Don’t miss the “Lunch with the Toucans” at the Mariposa. You will love it;

3.  Be sure to top up your gas tank in Santiago before leaving for Santa Fé. There are no fuel stations in Santa Fé;

4.  Santa Fé is a hilly mountain frontier town, full of friendly locals, around 3,000 of them;

5.  This area is starting to develop, thanks to publications like International Living Magazine.  There is a growing expat community and people from all over the world are starting to settle here;

6.  There is lots of hiking and things to keep you busy in the area;

7.  Check out the Santa Fé National Park.  If you are a birder, your hotel can help you pick up an inexpensive guide to make sure you get to see what you want;

8.  Expect the place to be a bit remote.  There are only cell phones and a high-speed internet connection is still in the future;

9.  On the way to Santa Fé, don’t miss stopping to see the restored old church in San Francisco.  It dates back to 1621; and

10. Be open to all the rugged natural beauty and incredible variety of birds that you will find here.

The trip back to Santiago takes us through Santa Fé and the rolling hills as we proceed southbound back to the Pan-American. Along the way we met a herd of cattle being driven right up the road to us. The guys were friendly and waved as they forced the cattle off the road on the far side to allow us through. One of my favorite pictures so far is this one of the rider on his horse climbing the hill after crossing the bridge. It really kind of describes the character of this area; slow, casual and laid back.

Further down the road, we spotted a hawk flying beside us.  We went around a corner and Andrea said the hawk had landed and was standing beside a blue bag on the road behind us.  I grabbed my long lens and got out of the car as quietly as I could.  This is a Yellow-headed Caracara, a beautifully marked bird.  He was very cooperative.  He posed on the road for a bit then took off away from me and circled back.  I think the markings on this bird are magnificent!

After negotiating Santiago we were again eastbound on the Pan-American, headed for the Bayview.  Watermelon is now in season and it is starting to show up in markets and roadside fruit stands.  We stopped at this place to stock up on some fruit for our next week and bought one cantaloupe for $1.50, three pineapples for $1 and a good-sized watermelon for $3.

We found him on the deck of the Bayview, entertaining a couple of young women from the US!  Octav wasn’t expecting to see us but was glad we stopped by to visit with him on the way to Gorgona.  We made plans to get together over the next couple of days for dinner and a visit then were off to Gorgona to find our new home, Sueno Mar, which means sunny beach.

Square Trees Hold Up Our Deck

Hi Fellow Travelers,

Today or friend Octav leaves for Boquete by bus.  He takes a bus from here to Santiago where he changes to a bus to David and then from there to Boquete.  We will next meet up with him on 12 February.

As today is our first day alone here, we decided to catch up on a few things like the blog.  Internet here is from a place in town called the Information Center which is about two kilometers or so from Mariposa.  We will go in tomorrow and update the blog as well as prowl the small town of Santa Fé.  How long can it take with only a population of around 3,000?  Also, I meant to tell you that although we are in the hills, the elevation is only 461M, according to my GPS.

 

 

If you like fresh juices, this is a good place to come.  Each unit is equipped with a juicer and the property is full of orange trees.  You can drink as much as you can make!  We can almost reach a couple of the trees right from our kitchen patio.  The units here are well equipped with all the gear you need.  The owners supplied things here based on their experience of what was missing from kitchens when you travel.

 

 

The posts that hold the front of the decks up are unusual.  If you remember, one of the things to do in El Valle was to go and see the square trees.  Well the deck supports are square trees.  They are now endangered and you cannot cut them any more but you can still buy them from a few people who have a permit to sell a previous inventory.    They are really quite decorative!

 

 

 

There are two people here that also play a key part in making this place special.  Graham and Rachel who come from California.  Because of them, a restaurant complex is under construction.  Graham is a horticulturist and a chef with lots of restaurant experience.  His creations so far have been sumptuous!  Rachel provides Shiatsu therapy here and is the server.  We can attest to her serving capabilities and intend to check out her Shiatsu skills before we leave.  They make a great team to fill out those necessary extra services here at Mariposa.

Tomorrow I will show you a bit of Santa Fé.

The Spring Fed Pool

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.