The Panama Adventure

We don’t get hurricanes in Panama! We don’t get tropical storms either. Well… never say never. We haven’t seen the sun for six days. It has been raining for most of that time and it is becoming a real problem. Rivers are flooding and hillsides of mud are falling on to roads. People are being flooded out of their homes, areas are closed, and two teenagers were washed away and drowned in a river.

Tropical Storm Otto has been slowly making its way towards us, and is expected to become a category 1 hurricane before it makes landfall. Thankfully for us it is heading west and will probably land in Costa Rica or Nicaragua, but of course this is very bad for our neighbors. We are definitely feeling the effects in Panama though with tons of rain and more expected. The president and the media are warning everyone to stay out of rivers and streams, and out of flooded areas for safety.

We live about where the little red arrow points so you can see we are definitely being affected by the storm. There are purple outlines for the countries. Costa Rica is next door to the northwest, and Nicaragua is above it.

It sure has been a lot cooler also. Temperatures have been pretty much low 70’s, day and night. Everything feels so wet because of the high humidity. A bit of water on my outside table sits there unchanged day after day. We usually have the sun in the first half of the day to warm and dry everything, but not lately.

Here is a more colorful and dramatic picture for you. I remember in 2012 when I first arrived we had four days of rain as a hurricane passed above us. Who would have thought that one would actually land this close to us? Thankfully it is a rare thing. I worry about our neighbors though, and all the people who have very little and could be devastated by a bad storm.

We have Oferta Simple here, a thing like Groupon that offers discounts on restaurants, hotels, and many other things. Usually the deals are in Panama City but once in a while something comes up in our area. Today there is a deal for the Seagullcove Lodge which in my opinion is a very special place so I wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention.

The deal is HERE. $109 for a bungalow for two people, comes with a welcome drink and use of a kayak for 2 hours. There is a restaurant on site and a tiki bar, and the food is very good. There are only 5 bungalows so it is a very intimate feeling place. It’s on the side of a hill though and you need to climb up and down stairs to get to the bungalows so don’t book this if you can’t manage that.

This area is a bay with many islands so it is calm and beautiful. It is fun to hire a water taxi to take you on a tour (probably at least $50 so a group works well). Or, for just a few dollars you can get a taxi to take you over to Boca Brava where you can walk, look for howler monkeys, and visit the restaurant which also has great views.

The view from the resort, from the top of the hill.

I have been there and blogged about it HERE. Click the link to see more pictures. We have stopped by a few times since and as far as I know, Marcelo, the smiling guy in the red shirt is still working there. He speaks excellent English and is a great host. The whole staff is excellent but he’s the one you will see the most.

I think this is a very special place so I figured a deal that makes it more affordable is good news worth sharing.

This is the height of rainy season and oh my goodness, has it been raining! Usually mornings are clear and it doesn’t rain until late in the day, and it stops by mid evening. It can rain incredibly hard sometimes but it doesn’t last long.

This week though we woke up to rain on Wednesday morning. It rained all day, sometimes quite hard. It continued through the night and into Thursday, not as hard but pretty much steady all day. There have been warnings about flooding and possible land slides, so this is definitely not a good time to go swimming in the rivers and streams.

This morning it was cool and cloudy but not raining. It sure is wet out there though! I put a pitcher of iced tea on the terrace table Wednesday morning where it sweat and made a bit of a puddle. This morning, Friday, the puddle was still there, unchanged. I guess this is not a good time to hang out laundry 😀

This afternoon, the rain has come back, not hard, but just a steady light rain. The weather prediction says it is supposed to stop this evening but they are wrong as much as they are right, so we shall see.

Along with the rain has come some very cool weather. I have been in long pants most of the time, and even fuzzy socks and a sweatshirt.

Mid afternoon when it is supposed to be the warmest.

Ok, you can stop laughing now. But now you also understand why we don’t live in the mountains. I’m most comfortable with temperatures in the 80’s. I am going to store this in my memory so I can pull it out in March, the height of the dry and hot season. It will feel good then.

El Rey is one of three large supermarkets on the Pan-American highway. It’s in a very nice shopping area that also includes a number of other upscale stores. We usually go to El Rey because it is on our side of the highway and there is plenty of parking, so it is easy to get in and out.

You learn what is in which stores and plan your shopping trips accordingly. If you want “health food” type things, your best bet is Super Baru which is a slightly smaller supermarket across the street. They tend to have the best variety of interesting imported things of all types. You can’t find everything you would expect in the US but more and more things seem to be coming available, I imagine because of the large expat population up the road who come down to David to shop.

Today we were making a quick run through El Rey and landed in Aisle 7 where Joel was studying the cereal selection, and some chia seeds on the other side of the aisle caught my eye. Since when were these available here?? (only place so far I’ve seen them is Pricesmart) Then I noticed sesame seeds, which before I only found at Baru. Then, organic coconut, quinoa products, gluten free things… where did all this stuff come from?!

Then I noticed the greatly expanded selection of soy milks that now includes more flavors, a whole lot of almond milks, some rice milk, and quite a few other products I haven’t even seen in the US! Hazelnut? Oat?

Down the aisle was a whole display of Red Mill products. They have these at Baru but El Rey now has twice the selection! (excuse the blurry photo. I was using my cell phone and trying not to look obvious to the employee stocking shelves nearby).

I also saw coconut oil! A while back our veggie market, our usual source, wasn’t able to get coconut oil and I ran all over town looking. I finally found it in Romero in San Mateo next to the old McDonald’s. But, it was imported, expensive, and not nearly as aromatic and flavorful as the home made stuff from the veggie market. But, if the veggie market guy has a problem in the future now I have another source right down the street. And, I see agave and other products, and maple syrup! (I can’t see the price but if you just must have some, here you go). Many of the prices looked high to me but I live in Panama. I just had a rude awakening, as usual, when I went shopping in the US so in the big picture maybe these prices aren’t too bad for imported things.

I have heard good things about a health food store in Boquete called Organica, but since I’m not up there much I only vaguely remember it from a visit a long time ago. Many Boquete folks come down here to shop though and El Rey is convenient. I always see other gringos there, so I imagine these new products are here for the expat shoppers. The Panamanians I know tend to eat their traditional dishes but being generally very health conscious, maybe they will be interested in trying some of these things too.

We do not suffer here, and we do not lack for things we need every day. Sometimes we don’t lack for things we never even knew we needed 😀 If you are looking for health food store types of products be sure to check out Aisle 7 in El Rey. I’m sure there are more things there than I noticed and/or photographed and you might be happy with what you find.

One good thing about having visitors is that you tend to go out and enjoy the things in your area and get out of your routine a bit. My nephew was visiting last weekend and we had a day to run around, so we thought a trip to the beach was in order.

There were lots of people out

Fun with a great nephew

The clouds were spectacular

The waves were stronger than they look in the photos

The beach isn’t that far but weeks can go by when we don’t go visit. It was as beautiful as ever this afternoon though the waves were bigger and stronger. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people out having a good time.  The parking area was quite full, and many people were on the beach and more were relaxing in the shade.  Many times we have been there and only seen a handful of people, and sometimes nobody at all but not on this beautiful day.

At the public beach area they have constructed many shaded areas for people to sit and relax

The brand new condo building looks about finished

There isn’t a lot going on at the beach. There is Las Olas resort/hotel, a building of condos, and down the other direction there is a community of beach homes but I understand most of them are only used seasonally. In the middle area this new white condo building has arisen, and past it are a couple little local restaurants, both of which were open. In my previous experience only one is usually open and they usually only have fried fish, but it’s very good fish.

I love the mountains way in the distance

If you go to this beach though, use extreme caution in the water. It is known for dangerous rip currents and undertows and people have drowned. I noticed there was a caution flag and emergency floating devices on the beach, something I hadn’t seen before. I don’t think there is a lifeguard though.

The view from the restaurant

To get to the beach it is a pretty drive through the countryside past cow pastures, sugar cane fields, rice fields, and some small towns. I bike out there quite a bit but it’s a 2 hour ride each way so I usually only go part way. Near the beach you can see storks, egrets, and other water birds and there is a caiman that is known to live in one of the waterways.

This stork had just caught a fish

Just chillin on a Sunday afternoon

I hope everything here makes sense. I’m listening to my daughter at the same time. She is doing a Planning Commission Meeting for Sonoma County CA and it is live on line. I’m sure this is totally boring to most people but I think it’s really cool to be able to watch her at work. They are in the very complicated and lengthy process of making policy for marijuana, and since they are the among the first who are making policy for growing, distribution, sales and all aspects of the industry, a lot of eyes are on them.

I took a few pictures in Panama City, and then as the bus left the city.

This was in the airport lobby where people arriving come through. The guy in the yellow shirt had a Shriners hat. The guy in the blue shirt was missing an arm, the girl being held was missing a leg, and the girl in the pink pants has a lot of trouble walking. There were lots of hugs and smiles all around so whatever was going on looked like a happy thing.

They were putting up the Christmas tree in the Albrook bus station.

Everything went smoothly at the bus station and before long we were on our way.

The bus station

A cyclist is out training

You know you are close to the canal when you see all the container cranes

We pass th Albrook airport just down the road from the bus station

The train line is also here

It was one of the many November holidays so many buildings were decorated in flags and red, white, and blue.

I snapped this photo as the bus crossed the canal on the Bridge of th Americas. Out there, just to the right of the three left most crane. Are those the new locks?

One of the pleasures of taking the bus is the beautiful scenery. There are wind turbines in one of the photos. I was on the wrong side of the bus but managed to get this photo as the bus went around a bend. I remember when there were only a few, and now there are a lot more all the way up to the road. Someone told me they weren’t working when he saw them but they were all turning on this day.

It’s been busy between travels, a great time with a visiting nephew, and getting settled back in but things seem to be getting somewhat back to normal again.

I have ignored the blog for days. I have things to say. I have photos. But, I just haven’t been getting anything done. Well, I have done lots of things but not blog things.

I spent some wonderful time in the US with my family. It was a long trip back, Tuesday Seattle – San Francisco, Wednesday SF to Panama City, and then Thursday all day on the bus to get back to David. My nephew arrived Friday evening and we have been having a great time hanging out and exploring a bit of the area. We also went to Boquete on Saturday night to hear Joel’s band. They are back together after all their various travels and they are sounding fantastic.

Things should settle down somewhat this coming week so maybe I can get back to blogging a bit. I probably have some more photos of family and cute babies. I need to see if any of the photos from Panama City came out well enough to share, or photos of the beach we visited today. I have thoughts about returning to the US after becoming accustomed to the life, culture, and  people of Panama. I avoid getting into political discussions but I can’t ignore the impact of the US elections when all my Panamanian friends, neighbors, and even strangers want to talk to me about it.

And, there were toucans in our trees today, and a blue morpho butterfly in the yard. One of my plantains made fruit while I was away and the leaf cutter ants tried to eat my moringa tree. I have plenty of weeding and trimming to do (aka yard therapy, my favorite) and ideas for my next painting.

So that’s a little of what has been going on here. Life will get back to  normal, whatever that is 😀 But, it’s all good and I’m busy, and happy.