Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

The wanderings of Andrea and Keith around Panama

Posts tagged ‘fruit’

The Hazy Campana National Park

Hi Travellers,

Today was warm and close with a noticeable lack of breezes so we lounged around the pool for most of the morning.  After lunch we decided to take a short trip to some higher ground in search of some cool breezes.

Altos de Campana National Park was the first park in the Republic of Panama and was established in 1966. It is an important park as it protects two hydrographic river basins, the Sajalices river that flows towards the Pacific Ocean and the Ciri and Trinidad rivers that join the Chagres river which is a major contributor to the canal and provides the drinking water for the City of Panama.  The park is just under 5,000 hectares in size and is a one and one half hour drive from Panama City.  It has elevations of up to 850 meters.

We loaded our friends Shirley and Dave up and headed to the park which is about a 15 minute drive from where we are staying.  There is a stretch of the Inter-American Highway that is quite curvy for about five kilometers as the roadway descends to the level of the beach communities.  The entrance to the park is part way through this section of the highway.  It is actually  six kilometers west of the town of Capira.

Once in the park, we drove up the steep well paved road in search of views.  There are supposed to be good views of the canal basin and the mangroves at the tip of the mouth of the Chame River at Chame Point from the lookouts in the park but today is quite misty and there is a lot of burning going on in the area to get rid of dead vegetation.  As we continue our climb there are some spectacular views of the coast available.  Unfortunately my filters were not able to remove all the haze from the pictures but I think you can get the idea.

At the top of the mountain we came to a small well-kept town, Campana, and stopped at a fruit stand to buy some produce before heading back down the hill.

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.

The Birds of the Casa Mariposa Boutique Hotel

Hi Travellers,

We awoke to a nice sunny day again and the spectacular view that yesterday we were not sure was possible, was still there.  Breakfast here is a little different.  It is included in the fare and they supply all the things you want for breakfast and you prepare it.  They give you a little menu that you just check off the things you want and magically they appear!  I could get used to this.  Fresh eggs from the chickens on the lot, fresh squeezed orange juice from the orange trees here and Erica’s fresh homemade bread are all delivered to your villa either in the morning or the night before.

Rooms are tidied every day and the floors and outside patios and walkways are all swept as well.  It’s a better job than you get in some higher end hotels.  Each unit has a fully stocked kitchen.

Here at Casa Mariposa they have an event that is a must try.  It is an experience that you probably won’t get anywhere else!  Its called “Lunch with the Toucans”.  You order your lunch and when you are done that you go to the owner’s house where you will find a number of spotless aviaries containing a variety of large billed birds.  Kevin and Erica have a registered bird sanctuary here.  They specialize in large billed birds and take in injured birds that are brought to them by locals or birds that owners no longer can care for.  We have seen Toucans in the zoo but the condition of the birds looked nothing like these.  The Mariposa Toucans all have beautiful bright colors and look like they have just flown out of a Photo shopped photograph from National Geographic!  Kevin attributes their condition to diet and that they eat 30 to 40 Kg of Papaya per week.  These Keel-billed Toucans love Papaya and it is in season all year round here!  Kevin says that these birds are naturally curious and friendly.  These are used to being around people so do not fly to the back corner of the cage and hide when you enter.  They hop down on a branch close to you to meet and have a good look at their visitors.  They will politely take food pellets from your hand and seem to enjoy the attention they get.  Kevin tells us that these birds cannot be released into to the wild because they are too comfortable with people and  that probably would get them into trouble if they were released.  They live about 25 years in captivity.  One pair are a breeding pair and it is their intention to keep the young birds as wild as possible so that they can be released back into the wild when they are old enough.  There is also a pair of Collared Aracaris here.  Along with their big colorful bill, they bear wide horizontal stripes of several colors across their chest and have a white outline where their beaks meet their heads.  Such a show of color!  Erica and Kevin present their spectacular birds to the public in such an intimate way that you can’t help but come away feeling that you have experienced something very special.  You should not miss this!

That is not the only thing that is special about this property.  There is a small pond where a couple of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks, residents of Panama, have decided to move in and set up housekeeping.  They are interesting because of their distinctive orange bills and that they are never very far from each other.  They also have an unusual whistle and not the usual quack.

Attention to detail around here seems to be the norm.  There is careful attention to strategies that use nature to make living better.  There are two-man made ponds on the property that have been stocked with carp.  Mosquitos lay their eggs in the ponds and the carp eat the larvae.  At the same time, there is a large red dragon-fly population here that also lays their eggs in the ponds but the carp do not eat these larvae.  This provides a secondary defense against mosquitoes as dragon flies eat mosquitoes.  There are also bats in the area that help with the mosquitoes.  Bats eat their body weight in mosquitoes daily.  Since our arrival we have noticed only the odd mosquito but nothing that could be considered problematic.

There are also a number of bird feeders around the property that are stocked twice a day.  I spent some time at one of the feeders in the late afternoon and eventually caught a picture of a Motmot.  They are beautiful birds with a blue hat.  The blue hat is not solid but rather just circles the head and the end of the tail has an interesting detail.  The little grey birds with the blue trim are Blue Grey Tanagers.  Kevin tells us that most of the birds in this area are fruit-eating.

On the Road to Santa Fe

Hi Travellers,

We checked out of our little resort and went for breakfast around 9AM.  We were at the Artash Restaurant to get one last bacon wrap and an Internet connection to catch up my posts before we left El Valle.

We had agreed to pick up Octav from the Bayview Hotel on the beach in San Carlos at around 11AM to give him a ride to Santa Fé.  Its only a couple of kilometers out of our way just off the Pan-American Highway.  We have been here before.  It has a restaurant right on the beach with a magnificent view from the deck.

On our way to Santa Fé, we decided to check out a little restaurant in a place called La Pintada (pronounced La Pin Tada) that we really enjoyed the first time we were here.  When we were here the second time, we drove up to find it closed and out of business.  Now, I read that it is open again so we want to check it out for a potential day trip with our friends who are coming in mid February.  La Pintada is 13Km north of Penonome (pronounced Pen a no me), which is on the Pan-American.  La Pintada is a beautiful small town with really nothing much to draw people but the restaurant.  We arrived to find the beautiful little town was once again equipped with a great little restaurant.  Restaurant Casa Vieja La Pintada!  If you are in Panama, this place is well worth the little scenic detour you will take to get here.  There is a beautiful small recently painted white church on one side of the well-kept square with this restaurant on the other side facing the church.  The restaurant appears to have fresh paint and our server was a little Panamanian girl who was attentive, had a big smile and spoke enough English for us to get by.  We just had a cool drink, snapped a few shots and were on our way.

On our way back to the Pan-American, Andrea spotted a small fruit stand in front of a house at the side of the road with a supply of grapefruit stacked on the shelf.  We stopped and this little guy sold us six beautiful big grapefruit for $0.50, (total, not each) once he had his mother’s permission.

We continued back toward Penonome but in a few minutes our GPS wanted us to turn west.  We looked at the road and found it wide and paved but with no lines.  Now normally, Andrea won’t take advice from the GPS but this time, with two of us encouraging her, she agreed to follow it.  It turned out to be a nicely paved secondary road that our GPS called “Road”.  It basically, just cut off the need for us to go back through Penonome.  It brought us out on the Pan-American 20 or 30 minutes west of Penonome after taking us through beautiful rolling hills and past lots of fields of cattle and horses.  Out in the back country I might have thought we would find unkempt properties and homes but that was not the case.  Homes were neat, tidy, artfully landscaped and painted bright colors.  There was no junk lying around.  Then I remembered, we were in Panama not Mexico and this is the norm here!  There is a pride of ownership that shows everywhere.

Shortly after getting back on the Pan-American, a motorcycle carrying a police man passed us at a high speed.  In a few minutes we came around a bit of a gentle curve and saw a little white car of some kind on its side in the middle of the median.  The shot is a bit blurry but I think you can get the idea.  There was shattered plastic everywhere.  We wonder what actually happened because the road was flat and almost straight. In a few minutes we saw an ambulance approaching from the other direction.  It was not in a hurry and the emergency lights were not on.

We arrived in Santiago on the Pan-American which is where we turn north for Santa Fé.  We joined a line of mostly little yellow taxi cabs at a service station to load up our trusty Toyota with fuel before leaving Santiago which, we were warned, is the last place we can get gas.  Strange!  This busy little fuel stop was the first service station we have found that takes credit cards.  We left Santiago, heading north along a nicely paved two lane road with yellow center line and white lines at both edges of the road.  The hills are rolling and every now and again you get a chance to see the beautiful hilly vistas from the road.

We had planned to stop in a place called San Francisco which is 17 Km along the road from Santiago, to see a very important historical church that dates back to 1621.  Restoration work has been recently completed.  San Francisco is a tidy small village with narrow roads.  The whole place looks recently paved and again we find the homes all beautifully landscaped and well-kept.  Here are a few shots of the church.  The interior is amazing.  It is full of beautiful intricately carved pieces that show so well because of the fresh restoration work that has been done.

We continued north on the little hilly road for the remaining 35 Km to Santa Fé.  The GPS is not up to date with the roadway.  It looks like the road has been modernized somewhat and the map has not!  It showed us travelling in the general area of the road but not on it.  We eventually met one of the little Toyota Coaster busses that runs from Santiago to Santa Fé and followed it part of the way.  There is very little on this road.  No houses, no cows, no people, just tall grass, fields of nothing, lots of vegetation, beautiful distant hills and one small Toyota.

Our resort had provided us a map to get us from Santa Fé to their property, which is just a little over two kilometers.  We got to within a couple of hundred meters from the main gate and, following the map, turned off the paved road onto a dirt one with a hill on it.  Now a dirt road here means slippery red clay with no gravel and lots of deep ruts.  When you add an incline and water from a recent rain to this recipe, you need four-wheel drive, which our little Toyota doesn’t have.  Andrea managed to get us almost up the hill before we lost traction and could not go forward.  I hope no one from Budget is reading this!  We were probably 20 meters from the resort gate.  I got out and walked to the resort to get help and she backed the Toyota back down the hill.

As I walked through the front gate of Casa Mariposa, I was immediately faced with terrain sloping off into the distance and an  amazing view of hills, mountains, and jungle that unfolded at my feet.  First impression?  I was mindful of Shangrala!  It was stunning!

I met one of the owners, Kevin, who said to take the car back to the intersection with the pavement, and that he would meet us there with his four-wheel drive to bring us and our luggage to the resort.

There are two new villas right inside the gate at the top of the hill.  Each is beautifully landscaped to maximize the privacy between them.  Our villa is called Toucan and the larger one is called Motmot, after the bird.  I will show you a couple of pictures of the Motmot in the next post.  We were warmly greeted and oriented to the ways of the Casa Mariposa by the owners Kevin and Erica, who are from Ontario.  The routine here in this brand new resort is like in a five-star resort.  We sat and visited with Octav on the large deck of the Motmot, where he is staying, trying desperately to take in all the amazing view.  Rachel came to explain the dinner specials and to take our order.  They have a menu of around a dozen items or so.  Graham, the chef will prepare the meals and he and Rachel will them serve them to us on the Motmot deck.  So far we have experienced friendly helpful owners, who are attentive and follow-up on every small detail as well as a wonderful gourmet dinner capably served in the most beautiful restaurant, the deck of the Motmot!

The dinner selection I chose was horseradish and parmesan encrusted red snapper filet with home-made rye garlic bread and braised green beans.  Andrea chose the homemade french onion soup featuring Erica’s homemade bread, then the stuffed chicken with mozzarella, shiitake mushrooms, olives and bacon served with a shiitake mushroom white wine sauce along with purple nayami (a local root vegetable something like potato)and braised green beans.  For dessert we chose the pineapple upside down cake with a ginger sauce.  Amazing!  Now tell me!  What other jungle can you think of that serves gourmet food like this with such a view from the dining room?

The Mystery Car

We awoke this morning to the distant beat of jungle drums echoing off the mountain walls as the sounds made their way down the valley to our ears.  When I opened my eyes, I realized it wasn’t jungle drums at all but rather the base from some Panamanian dudes stereo off in the distance being played at the only volume setting permitted for music in Panama, that being maximum!  The always barking distant dogs were strangely silent this morning as if they knew why the veterinarians that I told you about yesterday were in town. Oh well, there was still the roosters!

Breakfast today was at the Restaurant Artesanias in the Hotel Residential El Valle.  It’s right on the main drag and looked inviting.  It was also close to the already busy public market where we were headed after breakfast.  The menus here, as in most other places have the offerings written in Spanish with the translation to English in brackets following.  It works pretty well and we have not had too many surprises yet.  Today we ordered fresh fruit smoothies, pancakes and coffee.  I can’t believe a day without bacon!  The food was fine, nothing special but the smoothies were huge and very flavorful.  Breakfast for two $10.  This place would be worth another try but we are running out of days to double up on restaurants.  Give it a try if you are in town.

Last night, while at dinner, we saw a beautifully restored old car drive up and park in front of the Catholic church.  The occupants headed in for Mass.  I had left my camera in the car and the lighting was poor so I did not get a picture of it.  Today, it was loaded aboard a trailer hooked behind a Toyota Tundra capped pickup and parked by the side of the road.  I got a couple of shots of it but still don’t know what make it is.  There was no recognizable (to me) insignia on the car to identify it.  Maybe someone out there could tell me what it is so I can pass it on to the other readers.  I took a pretty close look and the quality of the restoration workmanship was perfect.  Even the wide white wall Firestone tires were in perfect condition.  I love the color, which I know could never have been authentic.  Can anybody help?

The main drag was starting to back up with all the traffic headed to the market and the church.  Crowds spilled over into the street.  Lots of small vans from resorts in other places arrived filled with tourists looking for bargains.  A couple of large tour buses were parked in an empty lot across from the church.  When we walked around the market it seemed a bit smaller than we remember from earlier years.  The back part of the market behind the plant section is empty and not full of vendors selling plants and flowers.  The tent behind, where many of the Kuna artisans display their Molas had fewer tables.  Up front, in the craft area was still busy with many good quality Panamanian crafts being offered.  The fruit and vegetable part of the market is a bit bigger with fresh product piled high on the tables and lots of locals availing themselves of the expansive choice.  I prowled and got a few pictures to give you an idea of what goes on here on Sunday at the market.  Tomorrow, the streets will be empty again and El Valle will return to its more normal slower pace of life.

We headed back to the resort for a little quality hammock time.  I have to keep my tan up!

For dinner tonight we decided to try Chinese.  There is one Chinese food restaurant in town in a new mall called Pekin.  It has a convenience store, hotel and a Chinese food restaurant all called Pekin.  We went in and ordered.  We found the food a bit disappointing compared to the other meals we have experienced around town.  They don’t take credit cards as many of the restaurants now do and the servers appeared to speak no English where most other places we have been they can at least speak some.  The food was hot and the service adequate but we wouldn’t bother with it again.  It was an unremarkable meal.  Dinner for two $23.

The Rincon Vallero Banditos’

Hi Travellers,

Today is our second full day here in El Valle de Anton, commonly known as just El Valle.  Just where is this place?  If you look at the small map below, you will see the route we took from Cerro Azul to El Valle (look for the red push pins at either end of the magenta route).

Here at Cabanas Potosi, the owners keep a few birds.  Today’s feature picture is of the one who actually runs the place.  He lives in a cage for the night but when he wants his breakfast, he just makes it so noisy that the owners bring him food.  He spends the day out of the cage, in a large tree and is somewhat temperamental.  He will visit the guests with the owners sometimes and will show a full range of behavior from being fun and chatty to being miserable and ornery.  He sometimes plays games with people with cameras and likes to hide from being photographed.  Andrea was patient enough to get these shots of him today.  When he deems it is dinner time, he calls for his dinner, which is promptly delivered to him and then retires to his cage for the night.  Quite a life!

El Valle is a place we have been before but we have never stayed here, just day tripped from other locations.  It is growing dramatically but still maintains it’s small town charm.  Weekdays are not very busy here but on the weekends it is a popular place for the Panama City folks to head to beat the heat.  You also get tour busses full of tourists stopping by on the weekends so the visitors can shop at the market.  On a holiday weekend it is common for all the hotel rooms in town to be full!  One of the popular draws here is the large public market where you can buy hand crafts from all over the country, plants, fresh fruit and vegetables.

The owner of our resort, is from an old Panamanian family that has been in El Valle for generations.  They are owners of large tracts of land here which has become very valuable over the last few years.   She tells us that people usually stay here for just three or four days because that is how long it takes to see everything here.

The town site is primarily on level land on the floor of the valley.  Mountains surround the town so it is really quite picturesque.  The weather is cooler than Panama City and this is one of the few places in Panama where you will find fire places in houses.  Both days we have been here it has rained for a short time late in the afternoon.  Today, I took some shots of the main drag here.  It really doesn’t do the town justice because there are some beautiful large “old money” homes here down some of the side streets.  I will see if I can get you some peeper shots tomorrow.

Today, I experienced some typical Panamanian bureaucracy.  I was looking for a WiFi connection, which is still not too common here.  We found a couple of restaurants that have it but the library advertises free WiFi service for everyone.  I went to the library, a nice airy one story building with wired computer workstations around the perimeter of the large single room.  Book stacks were neatly arranged into the center of the room and there were lots of tables and chairs for the use of the patrons.  I walked in, sat down, and started to fire up my computer.  I found the WiFi network and tried to connect to it but it failed.  After a few moments, one of the librarians came over with a scribbler, looking for the MAC address of my computer so they could authorize it’s use on their router.  I scratched my head and tried to figure out why they would bother with such a step as the service is free and available to everyone that wants it.  Why not just have an open public connection?  Oh well, I guess it must give someone a job!

For dinner tonight, we headed to a restaurant that we have been to on other trips.  This is also a favorite, we found out, of Antonio, our friend from Cerro Azul.  The hotel is a little too Panamanian for our taste (yes it’s possible) but the restaurant is awesome!  This restaurant is at the Rincon Vallero Hotel.  Outside the main entrance is spectacularly landscaped with some beautiful local species and the entrance has a mature vine sporting lots of large blue flowers covering the entrance trellis.  Once through the front door you will see a multi level restaurant divided in half by carp pools.  There are plants everywhere and the sound of a small waterfall off in one corner.  The set tables are dressed with bright red and white table coverings, glasses and place settings that just invite you to sit and have a meal.  Soft Spanish music plays from the sound system.  This place creates an impressive atmosphere!  We were the only patrons in the restaurant.

While looking at the menu, a duck and a goose waddled in from the hotel courtyard entrance.  It looked like they knew exactly what they were doing… heading for a table of pastries wrapped in plastic wrap.  The goose looked like the instigator as he could almost reach the basket of goodies by stretching his neck through the wrought iron railing.  He was just about to snatch his snack when the server came back and shooed the two would be banditos back into the hotel courtyard.  We saw one other thwarted attempt later in the evening.

I didn’t order duck or goose for dinner but the corvina (sea bass) special along with a sumptuous papaya fruit shake.  Here is a picture for a certain person in the audience!  The service was excellent as was the food.  Dinner for two, including tip $33.  Once again, this place gets a double thumbs up for landscaping, atmosphere, service, food and pricing.  Don’t miss it if you come to El Valle.

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!