Panama City - day 19

Today was a first for a couple of things.

This morning we thought we would hike around the Metropolitano park which is real close by to the city. After paying our $4 entrance fee per person, the park personnel showed us the trail to take. Not more than 12 minutes into the hike, we saw our first sloth, up high on a tree limb, taking his siesta. This guy did not move an inch. I can now come back a happy camper. After reaching the end of the trail we were going to take, we turned around and came back the way we came. We showed 3 ladies the sloth since they had missed seeing him, and sure enough, it still hadn't moved. Also, there is a pic below of one of the termite mounds that attach to trees. They are all over the rainforest here. Gives me the chillies.

Sloth snoozing in the tree

Termite mound attached to a limb

For lunch, we walked a few blocks to the Pomodor Spaghetteria which is another favorite of ours. Real good Italian restaurant we had discovered last year when we were here.

On the way back to the apartment, we stopped at the Duran Coffee shop which is just behind our apartment. We have been drinking Duran in the mornings, and it is pretty good. We then returned to the apt and got cleaned up after the hike.

When it came time for dinner, we couldn't decide on either eating pizza in or going out for dinner. About 6:30 pm, that decision was made for us. The power went out in the apartment building so we had no A/C, no microwave, and also apparently no water. So off we went walking again to our favorite pub a few blocks away. This pub brews its own beer, and it is pretty good. After about an hour, we walked back to the apartment, but still no power. At least the electricians were in the area. So we opened the windows, and got as comfortable as we could. About 8:50 the power came back on. Ahhhhhh, A/C. I do not see how the majority of the folks here live without A/C. (Apparently when the power is out, the wind stops blowing as well, since we had no breeze when the windows were open....)

Some more info about our apartment. There are 5 floors, and each floor has 12 apartments. Each set of 3 apartments are behind a caged door with a lock. There is a parking garage below the apts, and there is usually a guy there watching everything. And the door into the building is locked as well. So there is plenty of security here.

Yes, that is the life here in Panama. Never a dull moment.

Panama City - day 18 - Gorgona

Today we went casa hunting again. This time we focused on some beach front houses and condos in Gorgona, which is about 2 hours outside of the city. At this point I wish that we had already gotten our visas and sold everything back in the states. We stumbled upon a condo right on the beach, with a real nice 3 bedroom that we could almost afford. They are just now starting construction, and the units will not be available till August 2014. There are only 5 units left that have not been sold. Can you spell capital DARN. We went thru the model and really liked it. The master bedroom faced the ocean, and had sliding glass doors that opened up directly to the balcony. What a beautiful view to wake up to every morning.

For lunch we stopped at Pantay restaurant again in Coronado. We ate there a few days ago and thoroughly enjoyed the flavorful food. Today we had the fish of the day and grilled chicken. Both came with coconut rice. This is now our favorite place to eat.

We also visited a gated housing community that already had a few houses occupied. We toured a couple of 3 bedroom homes that would work for us, and the prices were right. Unlike the houses in Altos del Maria, these houses had a carport for 2 vehicles. Below are a few pictures of Malibu housing community.

Panama City - day 17 - Isla las Perlas

Today has been another long day. Up at 6 am so we could get to the Trump tower by 7:30 for the ferry ride to the Pearl Islands. Traffic at 6:30 in the morning is a heck of a lot better than at 6:30pm. It took us about an hour to get 3 miles coming home afterwards.

But enough about traffic.........the ride to the Pearl Islands was about 2 hours. We made 2 stops at other islands before we got to our beach. On the way there, the boat slowed to a crawl, so we all jumped up out of our seats to see why. What we saw before us was way too kool. There was a super pod of dolphins crossing in front of us, so we slowly cruised thru the thick of them. We could see them swimming right along side us, in front of us, behind us, etc. hundreds of them. We were so excited to see them, that unfortunately the pics did not come out so well.

Isla Perlas Ferry

View of the City as we head out to the Pearl Islands

After reaching Isla Contradora, we went walking but the hilly terrain caused us to turn back and stay at the beach where we landed. It was a nice beach, with a bar/restaurant just up the hill. We lounged around in beach chairs drinking cervazas until one of us got a little sunburned. Oops, I am hurting now!

The ride in the morning was smooth as glass. The ride coming back was choppy with 3 to 4 foot waves. Whoo-hoo, but it didn't help trying to convince Jan to get a 43 foot sailboat to live on......

Panama City - day 16 - Chame

It is now 8 pm and we just got back home. Someone please remind me that I absolutely hate driving around in this city at night. It is bad enough in the daytime.

We spent the afternoon in Chame, which is a small town about an hour and a half outside of Panama City. We visited Clyde and Terry who most of you may know as the owners of "Along the Gringo Trail" . They moved to Panama just over a year ago and Terry does an excellent job writing about their experiences.

Before visiting Clyde and Terry we had an excellent lunch in Coronado. I had grilled chicken with coconut rice, and the favors were unbelieveably delicious.

We had a great day, well except for the drive home. Nerve racking but home safe.

Lunch at Pantay Restaurant in Coronado

Terry and Jan 

Clyde the Host/Cook/Bartender

Panama City - day 15 - Portobelo

Today we drove across Panama from the Pacific side to the Caribbean/Atlantic side. We thought we would visit Portobelo, a sleepy and impoverished town that was once one of the most important ports of the Spanish empire. Here we were able to visit Castillo Santiago de la Gloria, a fort now in ruins that folks say never did protect the town very well.

The drive was particularly interesting, as we drove along the coastline of the Caribbean, passing thru many small towns. After visiting one of the souvenir shops, and walking thru the fort, we found a nice quiet place on the beach for lunch. The town was rather quiet today, probably since it was Tuesday. The weather was rather cloudy, and it misted off and on while in town.

After soaking in the scenery including the wave actions along the beach, we headed back towards Panama City. We would have liked to go on into the town of Colon, but we have heard that it is not a safe town to travel to. Colon was one of the stops we made when we took a cruise a few weeks ago, but we did not venture out beyond the cruise terminal. We heard of a few reports of the cruise passengers having trouble while in town, so we decided that we could very easily skip seeing Colon.

Here are a few pics of Portobelo......

Driving back we stopped at the Parque Natural Metropolitano, which is a tropical forest right on the city limits of Panama City. After getting information on the many trails available to explore, we decided to leave that for some future morning when it would be a bit cooler.

In order to get back to the apartments, we had to once again drive thur the gauntlet of downtown traffic. I finally got my groove on, and started to blow the horn on that little Sentra like a mad man. It felt good!

One a side note, we have been fortunate enough to see various wildlife while here. We have seen a monkey, a few capybara's, a crocodile, but no sloth yet. Well on the drive to Portobelo, we saw our first sloth, but unfortunately he must of been too slow to cross the road, and had ended up as road kill on the side. Poor fellow.

Panama City - day 14 - Trump Tower

Today was an off day. We jumped into our Nissan Sentra and went out looking for the Trump Tower. Apparently there is another ferry service out to the Pearl Islands that leaves from the dock at the Trump Tower. Previous attempts to find the dock failed, so this time we decided to park in the Trump Tower garage and do some looking. Finding the lady selling the ferry tickets, we made a reservation for Thursday. Yea, that part was done.

We then found a nice little restaurant on the Amador Causeway selling Texas Longhorn BBQ. But not at lunchtime, so we'll have to go back later after 6pm to sample the BBQ. While having lunch, we watched a tanker pass by the docked sailboats on its way up the canal.

Panamaniac Rules of the Road

1. No matter what speed you are driving, you are going too slow.
2. Regardless of the posted speed limit, you are going too slow.
3. If the road is marked for 2 lanes, there is room for at least 4 abreast. Plus a bike or two.
4. When the light turns green, blow your horn repeatedly no matter how far back you are.
5. When the light turns red, there's time for 3 more cars to go thru.
6. When in doubt, blow your horn.
7. If you are on a motorcycle, there are no rules.
8. If you need to park, just pullover and park, regardless of where you are.
9. Just because an emergency vehicle is behind you with lights flashing, you are still in a bigger hurry than they are.
10. And the number 10 rule of the road, pray and then GO FOR IT!