Panama | Keith's Panamanian Travel Ramble

A Day With No Plans

Hello again from beautiful Panama,

We awoke today to the nicest day so far on our trip. Now that’s not to say that the weather as been bad but today was just a little better. The low flying billowing white cumulus clouds that have chased each other in a never-ending race to the Pacific were gone and they stayed gone for the day. The temperature is up a bit, probably to the high 20sC and the constant breezes were more gentle than normal.

Our neighbor, Brent, has asked me to take a few pictures of his still in progress but almost finished Panamanian rehab, to be used on the Panama Canada Realty website (check out the link at the bottom of the right column of this page under Businesses we Support) as a rental so we headed over to the neat little white house, about five minutes from where we are staying. The inside is not quite finished and Brent will be back here in March to actually use the house for the first time. Here are a couple of shots of the outside. If you are looking for a place to stay…

On the way home, we drove down a side road and found a magnificent example of what looks to me to be an“old money” estate. The property was large and the house massive. I would characterize the style of the house as a kind of Mediterranean Tudor. The expansive gardens were manicured to a tee and nothing seemed out-of-place. Now this is my idea of a nice little summer cabin! What do you think?

When we got home this afternoon, there was a scrap going on at our humming-bird feeder. There was an empty feeder here outside our dining room window and we have trying varying combinations of sweet stuff and water to attract the humming-birds. They don’t like pancake syrup and water! Now they know it is here as you see them coming to check it out but after a quick taste they leave. It’s like they think that if there are people around the house, the feeder should be full. Each visit is accompanied by a chirp, as they leave as if to thank us for filling the feeder. Finally, we found out that the magic combination is one part sugar to four parts water and you have to warm the water to make sure all the sugar dissolves. Picky, picky! So once we had the right formulation, more hummingbirds came and they would stay longer. But back to the scrap. There is one bird, the smallest one, who seems to think the feeder is his own private domain. He will allow only one other bird to feed with him, maybe he is trying to impress his girlfriend. He keeps a close eye on the feeder and when another bird comes too close, he puts the run on them. It’s funny to see the caution the other birds exercise when they approach the feeder to be sure the feisty little one is not around to give them trouble.

The Hacienda Country Club

Howdy Traveller,

Today, another sunny day in paradise, brought with it a somewhat clearer view of the city in the distance. The giant skyscrapers are like eerie ghosts showing partly through the mist in the distance. We are told that the clearest days come after a rainy day in the wet season.

I thought you might enjoy some bird pictures from this area so after some futile attempts to attract birds to our big stone deck I packed the camera and headed down the road to talk to the expert, Antonio. He has a small feeding station set up off his upper deck and the birds are used to being fed there. A ripe banana, in the skin, is all it takes. There is a large pine tree close to his deck so the birds can gather in the safety of the tree and make the short hop over to the feeding station when it is their turn. There is a definite pecking order! Here of some of the characters that came to breakfast with us. I love the vivid colors and wide variety, although I was told that this is a small sampling.

We headed into town to get some gas for our Toyota and on the way back, we decided to explore what was behind a large statue of three concrete horses by the side of the road. We have passed it many times and always wondered what was down the road through the large archway, so today we headed down the road. Shortly, we came to a gate house with a security guard. Now our normal approach to these kind of things is to press on like we owned the place, which is what Andrea tried with the non-English speaking security guy. There was lots of motioning and finally, he stuck a clipboard through the window indicating we should put our names on the list. I noticed something that seems to becoming a trend on this trip. Any time a name is required by security people, it’s always my name that gets given. Hmmm. We handed back the clipboard and the gate was opened to us. We drove for several minutes on a well paved divided roadway before we could see a structure in the distance. It was a massive sprawling one story structure that looked very opulent from the distance. We continued to drive for several minutes more before coming up to a large covered driveway and entrance to the building. We parked the Toyota and walked in trying to look like we belonged not tourists. It was a massive open structure with fountains, archways, an open air restaurant and some offices. Andrea went into the office and came back with Josy, the English-speaking Events Coordinator for the Hacienda Country Club, that we had just crashed!

This beautiful place was empty, except for a goodly number of staff tidying up tables, fussing with the landscape and preparing food in the kitchen. Off in the distance, under a huge tropical shade tree, stood two brown horses, seemingly enjoying the cool of he afternoon breeze. With them was a large white crane. Josy gave us a tour of the facility, pointing out the only polo field in Panama, a show jumping ring that gets used for rodeo from time to time, a beautiful outdoor pool area that will accommodate functions of up to 2,000, stables to house the horses, numerous banquet rooms that can be rented for special functions and a golf driving range. Josy told us that there are now around 70 members but they hope for more in the future as they complete the 18 hole golf course and the kids pool area. In the future, you will be able to buy lots to build a house, or mansion, inside this gated complex. Want to join? It will cost you $8,000 for a 20 year membership and $100 per month dues or you can go month to month for $300 per month. Josy explained that the Guatemalan owner of the property had a vision for this place 18 years ago and that it has just come to reality over the last year or so. If you like polo, there is a match on Saturday at 5PM.

There was nobody around except us and the staff so we had a late lunch before saying goodbye to this fascinating place and heading back home for a dip in the pool.

The Death of the Diablo Rojo

Hi Fellow Travelers,

No, Andrea didn’t go on another killing spree and Diablo Rojo is not a South American red wine. This is a piece on Panama City transit that may not seem to be a fascinating thing but I believe you may find some bits that capture your interest. People here in Panama City have complained about their transit system, or lack of it, for years and fixing the problem was one of the platforms in President Martinelli’s election four years ago. Transit in the City has evolved over the years, as in most places, but it was deemed to be so broken that it was necessary to replace it and not fix the old system. Today’s feature image carries both an old Diablo Rojo bus and a new Metro Bus. I have to admit that I like the Diablo Rojo best for its individuality, color and character.

The old bus system was structured similar to our taxi commissions at home. Individuals would get a license from the government to run a bus on a particular route. In some cases they would get a license for several buses and hire drivers for them. Some would hire drivers who owned their own bus and others would buy busses and hire drivers. All of the busses required a staff of two to run. One to drive and the other to take the money and to jump out at each stop, yelling the destination of the bus and herd as many passengers onto the bus in as little time as possible. You see, drivers were paid by the number of fares they obtained. Fares were a flat $0.25 each way, no matter how far you travelled. This caused fierce competition among busses to scoop as many fares as possible and, of course, made it necessary to drive as fast through the traffic as possible to get the next group of fares at the next stop before the other buses got them. Busses became known as Diablo Rojo (pronounce Diablo Ro-ho)(red devils) by the locals not because they are red, few are, but because of the way they rocketed recklessly through traffic on their rush to their next stop. They used their size to intimidate all other traffic, on the way to scoop as many fares as possible from the next stop. Now with all of this bad in the system, you can see why something had to be done. The safety issue alone has been claimed to be enough grounds to change the system but yet there is a sadness to the passing of the old Diablo Rojo because it is the passing of an era. The beauty of the totally unique appearance of each bus as an art form will morph into a sanitized orderly modern transit system with each bus identical to the next. As these old retreaded Florida school busses roar into history, sadly one of the icons of Panama City will disappear along with a form of art that is unusual and colorful. Where else can you see a portrait of Osama bin Laden etched on the side of a bus stuffed with people barreling through traffic?

Each bus has been individually decorated to varying extremes. No two are the same! The hood is typically covered with as much chrome as it will bear and beautiful air brushed images of heroes or villains that hold some significance to the driver or owner. There is often a display of art on the sides of the bus and, of course, more decoration on the back. These diesel buses are purposely made as noisy as possible with the removal of any muffling devices and the addition of two four-inch chrome straight pipes up the back of the bus to the roof. They have been called a major contributor to the pollution of the City. You can hear them coming from blocks away! Many have been equipped with strobe lights to make sure people can see them coming at night. Here are a few examples of the art of the Diablo Rojo. I’m sure you can see the beauty of these aging relics just as I can. I found a couple of great examples at the end of their route and the drivers insisted on my taking pictures of their buses.

The Panamanian government put the new transit system out to bid to private companies. The successful bidder and new operator has implemented a zone fare system that basically lets you ride for around two hours on a single zone fare. Fares to the transit company are now at $0.47 but the government subsidizes those fares (after some public protest) so the ridership continues to pay the same $0.25. Now there are transfer privileges which did not exist under the old system and all the buses are air-conditioned.

Implementation of the new Metro Bus system is being done on a route by route basis. Many of the major routes have been converted but the system has not yet been completed. It is a work in progress. As the new air-conditioned Volvo buses become available, the government buys each of the old Diablo Rojo licenses and vehicles back from the license holder for $25K and parks the old buses in a large yard at Playa Bonita. Many of the drivers of the old buses have been retrained and are now driving the new buses and working on an hourly basis. It’s amazing to see how that simple change has affected the way buses negotiate traffic. We passed a Metro Bus today that was patiently waiting with turn signals on to enter the traffic flow. The driver was wearing a neat uniform and wearing a seatbelt, all things that would never have happened under the old system!

Another platform from the Presidential election was the construction of a subway system here. Although not yet open, it is well under way with two boring machines called TBM “Martha” and TBM “Carolina” both working.

So the face of transit in Panama City is being sanitized to look like the transit system in any other North American city and although passengers have gained air-conditioned comfort and transfer privileges, I’m sure there are those that will miss the roar of the straight pipes and the adrenalin rush of rocketing down the road in a cloud of black diesel smoke on the hot stuffy Diablo Rojo. I’m sure there are others who will miss the Diablo Rojo as an art form.

The Great Balboa Beer Truck Incident

Hi Folks,

Just half way through the cooking of breakfast, the propane tank quit! It was empty! Now we know that both our tank for the kitchen stove and the barbecue tanks were taken away to fill yesterday but on checking today, they are both empty. Turns out that the supply of propane is somewhat sporadic here. There are two suppliers, one at the main gate and the second another 20 minutes down the road. There are green tanks and blue tanks, which signify which supplier you must deal with as the tanks are not filled up here, just swapped out. Apparently it is not uncommon for one or both suppliers to be out following a weekend.

After paying some bills on the Internet this morning and trying to find accommodation for our last eight days before we go up to Santa Fé in the interior, I wanted to head downtown to get a couple of bus pictures for a piece that I want to write about the modernization of the city transit system here in Panama City.

We headed down the hill but about the half way point there was an accident. It didn’t look particularly serious, I mean there were no bodies lying around or such. A Balboa beer truck on the way down the hill had managed to take out one of the telephone poles on the right hand side which carries power up the hill and to our little community. Part of the fiberglass truck fender is broken and on the road. The truck was right across the road and very close to another telephone pole, which remained in tact. Maybe the popularity of this accident had something to do with it being a Balboa beer truck. I bet there was lots of speculation about how the accident happened. Maybe the driver was consuming some of his cargo. Maybe the driver was traveling in the middle of the road, as they tend to do here, and an oncoming car caused him to swerve and lose control. Maybe he lost his brakes. The never-ending possibilities seemed to be fuel for all the dialog amongst the growing crowd. Judging from how the truck was across the road, it wouldn’t have taken much for it to roll over and then everyone in the quickly growing crowd would be salvaging all those beers rolling down the hill on the pavement. Now that would draw a crowd! Traffic started to back up in both directions as everyone came out of their houses to see what was going on. The police were there but nobody seemed to be doing anything but standing around, pointing, and talking among themselves. After waiting some time, we decided nothing was going to happen very quickly so we turned around and started back home. It seemed to start something because a number of other vehicles did the same.

So we never got to town but plan B, going to the pool, was a great option.

When we got home, the power was still off so we went to the restaurant for a late lunch and a visit to the pool. I asked at the restaurant about the broken Internet connection and was cheerfully told that it was fixed but the power was out so you couldn’t use it! They did manage to produce a couple of good sandwiches for us so we ate and went to the pool.

This pool here is large, well-kept, and full of cool water. We have been in pools down here that are too warm to be refreshing but this is not one of them. It is a great place to spend some time, particularly during the week when the population up here is low. There were four other people there today!

We will try for another trip down the hill tomorrow but you never know what will happen here!

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Hi Travellers,

It was a dark and stormy night, or so the cliché goes. Here, it was dark because the power was out and it was stormy because of the wind and rain that pounded down during the night. It all fit perfectly together as Andrea had just started another book, this one by Stephen King! If you know the author, you will know he can tell some brutal stories. I guess because it was so stormy the moths, which there are lots of, all wanted to come into the house. Screens do not fit very well here so a few got in. Andrea went on a killing spree during the storm with our brand new $0.79 fly swatter. I’m glad not to be a moth judging from the body count on the floor the next morning.

By morning the sun was out and the gentle breezes had dried off our big stone deck. We had thought we might go for a hike in the jungle but after the downpour last night we thought we would wait a day or two for the mud to dry out.

We had been lot looking with Paul and he showed us a number of lots of various quality and price. We wanted a second opinion so asked Antonio if he would take a drive with us and look at some of the lots. The lots we were looking at had all the brush removed so you could see the real lay of the land. This one has a beautiful view of Panama City in the background. They were also fenced along the lot lines so you could see how large they are. We spent several hours wiling away the afternoon looking at various lots and discussing the pros, cons and pricing. An interesting afternoon, for sure.

Back at the condo with the big deck, I was grabbing some sun when I noticed the little ant with the big flower that is today’s feature picture. This little guy was the epitome of determination. The flower is several times larger than the ant, as you can see, but even when the stronger breezes blew him back the direction he had come, he held on to the flower and pressed on to his unknown destination. I wonder if he was taking the flower to his girl friend?

There is quite the little Canadian community on our street. New folks arrived during the storm last night to occupy the other suite here. This morning, we met Brent and his sidekick Gary. Brent came out of his apartment and walked over to me saying “You must be Keith and I know you like bacon!”. He had read the blog before coming to Panama. The little group grew last night to include John and Paul who all know each other from way back. It was like a reunion. Everybody owns here!

Also of interest to me was that Antonio had received a rental inquiry for one of his suites as a result of the information posted on this blog, just yesterday!

I did get a comment on the blog about not showing pictures of the food and the pretty girls serving it… err umm, its Andrea and her cooking! Now I know this person has seen her cooking and that this person knows how camera-shy she is. Maybe he is trying to get me in trouble?

Another Place to Stay in Cerro Azul

Hi Travellers,

We awoke during the night to the sounds of rain beating down on our big stone deck. It didn’t last long and when the morning came, the deck was dry. After breakfast, we discovered that we have new neighbors in the next house. More Canadians! This guy and his son were down for a couple of weeks. He has owned the house for about five years and comes down two or three times per year. Take a look at the view he gets from his living room. It’s the top-level with wall to wall glass. Spectacular!

I visited with Antonio while updating the blog this morning. He is a warm, hospitable, interesting character who is helpful by nature. He has two suites in his house that he rents out. Accommodation here in Cerro Azul is pretty hard to come by. I mean, there seems to be lots of for rent signs around but I would bet that you would never find them on the Internet. I know the effort it took me to find the place we are staying. There is supposed to be a Hostel in the area but that is outside the main gate and part way down the hill. If you want to stay here and experience this place, you need to rent a house or a suite in a house. You will also need to rent a car to get here and around.

There is a one bedroom suite on the lowest level that has a full kitchen, a bathroom and a nice living room. It comes with a WiFi connection and a flat screen TV. It is nicely finished and immaculately clean. The view from the deck is to die for! Nothing but trees and birds and hills for as far as you can see. This little gem rents for $US75 per night with a minimum of two nights or $US450 per week or $US900 per month! Along with this you get an onsite owner that speaks fluent English and Spanish and has lived there for 15 plus years. There won’t be many questions about Panama or the area that he won’t be able to answer for you.

On the level above there is another unit that can be rented as a one or two bedroom suite and has a private bathroom. Each bedroom has its own access to the large deck with a spectacular view. There is no TV (which is not uncommon here) but there is a WiFi connection so you can stream to your heart’s content. Rates are $US50 per night for the one bedroom or $US75 per night for the two bedrooms. Weekly for the two bedroom you pay $US450 and for the one bedroom, $US300. No monthly rates for this accommodation. For some pictures of the accomodation check out www.cerroazulsuite.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in renting either of these suites, just email Antonio at smaharba7@hotmail.com.

As the weather wasn’t all that great, we decided to head down the hill and do some comparison shopping. Today’s feature image is of the local Do It Center. These modern big box chain stores are kind of 75% Canadian Tire and 25% Home Depot. We prowled the store and found prices are much the same as at home for things like appliances, ceramic tile, lighting fixtures, and plumbing stuff like faucets etc. You will find both unfamiliar brands and those that we know. We went next door and checked out a furniture store with similar results. This store really didn’t have anything much different from what we have at home. We need to find a furniture store that has furniture more Panamanian!

We next headed to a mall! We stopped at the Metromall, a modern gigantic super mall with three or four levels and all the stores we have at home plus a few. If you didn’t know better, you would think you were in a shopping center in Canada or the US. We ate at one of the many restaurants before returning up the hill at the end of the day.

We will be getting company in our little house tomorrow. Some friends of the owner will be moving in to the upper part of the house so we will have to tone our noisy partying down a bit. If the weather is good tomorrow we will be off for another hike in the jungle. See you later.

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!