Panama City - day 13 - El Valle de Anton

Has it been 13 days already? Our trip is more than half over, and as much as we wish to be home, we are still enjoying our 'total' immersion of living in Panama. There are still a few places we want to visit.

This morning we drove about 2 hours to get to El Valle de Anton. This is another mountainous area that has a big mercado on Sundays. Jan and I went there last year when we visited Panama in January 2012, and we noticed that not much has changed. There is a huge fruit and vegetable market, along with numerous vendors selling their wares. After picking up a fresh pineapple and onion, we bought a few trinkets, then headed out of town. On the way out we found a little coffee shop so we dropped in for a quick waker upper.

Coffee Shop

After getting back down to the highway, we stopped by a new condominium that had an 'Open House' sign out front. We tried to explain to the guard that we were interested in the open house sign, but he did not speak any english. Somehow we got it across that we wanted to 'see' the condos. He smiled and let us in. But it was Sunday, so no-one was there. Bummer. We may go back next Wednesday.

Off we went to Coronado to see the beach. We drove to a gated community and explained to the guard that we were going to the Coronado Resort and Hotel, and they let us in. We picked up that little trick from the Moon Panama guide. Otherwise the guard will not let you in unless you are a resident. Eventually we found a path to the beach between two houses. What a disappointment. One kool thing is that the beach was black sand.

Black sand beaches

Heading back home we stopped by for a refreshing refreshment.....a cold coconut with a straw..

Enjoying a cold coconut drink

Panama City - day 12 - Panama City

We took a day off today, and decided to just do some walking in the area. We walked maybe 3/4 mile to the Wyndham Veneto hotel which is where we stayed for a couple of nights last year. There are some nice restaurants nearby and plenty of shopping. There is also a super mercado close by that we had driven to before. Jan was a real trooper and walked uphill and downhill and made it with no problems.

We had lunch at Manolo's which is right across from the Veneto. I think Manolo's translated means "served with head attached". When we walked by one table, there was the whole fish on the plate, head and tail and all. Hmmm, I thought. After gazing at the menu for awhile, I ordered shrimp in garlic sauce. Head and all. Little beady eyes staring right at me. But, they were Tasty with a Capitol T.

After returning back to the apartment, we decided to go out and try to find the marina that the boat to Isla Perlas leaves out of. If we book a trip and have to be there at 7 am sharp, then I need to know exactly how to get there beforehand, especially with this traffic. Actually it was easy to find, and we got there in 20 minutes. At the marina we found a bar/restaurant that had a menu that said "Longhorn Texas Pit BBQ". We will go back sometime to sample the BBQ.

We soon found a bench along the marina walkway, and while staring out at the boats, we noticed what looked like a city bus out in the bay. It cruised right by us and then drove right up the ramp and out on the road. We were not expecting to see that.

Panama City - day 11 - Altos del Maria amid Punte Chame

We went house hunting today. Well, maybe not house hunting, but areas that we think we might like to live in. We went high, then we went low.

First on the agenda was Altos del Maria, a very nice gated community in the mountains near Chame. This was about a hour and a half drive outside of Panama City along a very nice but busy highway.

Once we got to the sales office, a very nice gentleman who spoke very little English gave us some maps of the subdivision and floor plans, and sent us on our way. We drove down to the gate and told the man there that we just wanted to look the area over. Then the fun began. This subdivision is right on the sides of the mountains. I felt at times that I needed a four wheel drive truck just to get up the driveway of some of the houses. The brakes on my little Nissan Sentra started to heat up and burn, so I had to take it a little easy getting around.

The first house we looked at was a nice 2 bedroom with no garage, and a short driveway at a 65 degree angle. The yard was small, and the only patio was on the front porch. Nothing in the back. Nice, but wouldn't work for us.

Here are a few pics of the Altos del Maria area, and the house we looked at.

Model Home

We soon found a cafe and went in to eat, and almost immediately started talking with a resident there. Andy and his wife Sandy have lived there for 6 years. A little startling since we found more empty lots for sale than houses.

After lunch we headed down the mountain and towards the beach at Punta Chame. We had a cervazas at Punta Chame Villas and chatted awhile with the manager George. This was a real nice hotel with a pool right on the beach. George gave us some info on some condomeniums, and off we went. We found a real nice condo right on the beach for a good price, BUT, there was no garage, and the place looked vacant since most of the residents only come by a few days out of the year. I did not get any pics of this place, but I sure would like living there right on the beach.

Beach at Punta Chame

Panama City - day 10 - Gamboa

It was time to get out of this city for the day. So we thought we would go check out the Gamboa area, which is a small town along the canal about halfway across the isthmus. Today Gamboa is where the dredging operations of the canal reside. They are responsible for keeping the canal deep enough for the tankers cruising up and down. This town also has the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, a real nice $$$$ hotel at the juncture of the canal and the Chagres river. You can book tours there, so we booked the arial tram that takes you thru the rainforest to a lookout point.

We rode in a four seater arial tram along with a guide that described the area in detail. Along the way we saw a small pond with caimans ( a type of crocodile), iguanas, one monkey, and lots of beautiful scenery. At the top of the summit, we had a 360 degree view of the area. The Chagres river flows into the canal and that fresh water is what feeds the locks on each end of the canal. Pretty remarkable when you realize that the lake in the middle is actually higher than each end of the canal. We also saw a few of the capybara's, the largest rodents in the world. They cooperated with the camera, the monkey did not.

The bridge leading into town is a one lane bridge that might scare a few folks driving across. We have a included a pic of that as well. The drive to Gamboa from Panama City was only about 45 minutes, and it was well worth it.

One lane bridge heading into Gamboa

Capybara

Caiman

View of Canal from observation deck

Panama City - day 9 - Panama la Viejo

This morning we decided to go see Panama la Vieja ruins. This city was founded nearly 500 years ago in 1519. This was the original Panama City and was the first Spanish city on the pacific coast of the Americas. Then that rum guzzling pirate Henry Morgan laid waste to the city in 1671, so all that stands left today are stone ruins.

But before we go much further, let me back you up to the few moments before we headed out the door. We usually gander at the maps to make a plan of where we are planning to go. Today we needed 2 or 3 plans, as the route we had selected was a one-way street headed in the opposite direction. This caused us to make a detour which then put us into some uncharted territory. Thank goodness for Google Maps on the iPad and the GPS. Finally, we found the Panama de Vieja ruins, and had a nice time walking around the grounds.

What a day.

Then we headed off to Casco Viejo. This is the area where the survivors of Panama de Vieja moved to after their city was destroyed. Casco Viejo is an adventure all in itself. Narrow streets, hundreds of people walking around, and thousands of vehicles trying to navigate the streets. After finding a local restaurant and having a couple of cervazas and a snack of shrimp with cilantro sauce, we browsed the local artistas booths and bought a few more trinkets.

We tried to find a marina that was supposed to have a ferry leaving from it over to the Isla Perlas. This marina was supposed to be near the Trump tower, which we eventually found, but no marina. So we left and went to another gigantic mall on Av Balboa that had a Hard Rock Cafe in it. After devouring a $17 hamburger, we eventually called it a day, and blended in with the other 43 million vehicles in the streets of Panama and went back to the apartment.

Panama City - day 8 - Miraflores Locks

Today we went to the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal. We had been once before last year, but arrived late in the afternoon and did not get to see the whole museum. Today we were able to take our time and see the whole gambit. Lots of little facts that we missed the last time. We were able to watch two tankers go from the Atlantic side to the Caribbean side (which is the direction in the mornings) and then we watched as 4 sailboats and a tour boat went the other direction (which is the direction allowed in the afternoon). We were also able to see the enormous expansion that is being done on the canal which is expected to complete in 2014.

Later this afternoon we drove down to the Amador causeway that juts out from the city. The weather was beautiful, with a nice cool breeze blowing. We stopped for some 'Pan con ajo' and a few Panama cervazas along the marina, and dreamed of winning the lottery so we could live aboard one of the million dollar yachts docked there. With the Panama City skyline in the background, it was a beautiful ending to a long day.

We are starting to get used to the traffic here downtown. How do you spell Krazy? Try

P A N A M A N I A C. . . OMG! I love it.

When we got back to the apartment, we discovered that our in-room safe had been installed, so we could safely lock up valuables whilst gone during the day. Also we got our laundry back that we had dropped off this morning, 2 bags full, and the total cost was $6. Not bad.

We also stopped by a tour operator to get info on getting a boat ride over to Isla Perlas, the Pearl Islands. This is just under a 2 hour boat ride that we are looking forward to. Maybe we can get signed up for a Survivor adventure?

Panama City - day 7 - Leaving Bocas del Toro

Bocas had a heck-ofa storm last night. Flights that were scheduled to leave yesterday back to Panama City were cancelled till this morning. Soooo, that meant all the flights this morning were going to be delayed as well. Well, we didn't know that, so we arose at 5:30 this morning to get to the Bocas airport for a 7:30am flight that didn't leave till 11am. At least Air Panama did what they had to do to get everyone out on an orderly fashion.

Arriving into Panama City we rented our Hertz for the next 2 weeks. After plugging in my Zumo GPS, we charted a course for Panama Center Apartments. There is a "lot" of construction going on in this city, and mix that with an over abundance of cars and busses, traffic can be very frustrating. So after many mis-turns and " oops that's a one-way" , we finally reached our destination and checked in. This apartment has a kitchen, living area, and bedroom. A lot more spacious than the B&B's we had been staying at. We plan to stay here for the next two weeks and just take days trips out and around the city to explore.

It has been a long day, and with no pics to share, I'll say good-night till tomorrow.