The Panama Adventure

Back in David and liking it a lot

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

I just haven’t been writing much since we returned from Nicaragua. I’m not sure why, maybe doing other things, or don’t think I have much to say or the time to compose a post. Then, my husband comes along and says just what I have been thinking about. Thank you Joel.

FindingMySelfinPanama

Boy, did I ever love our trip to Ometepe, Nicaragua. People who have traveled there often describe it as “magical”, “peaceful”, “seductive”, etc. I fall into that group, the island has a special feel to it that words don’t really convey. It’s a “feel” thing.

Part of me wanted to buy some land and just stay there in a sort of suspended animation. But the more rational, “left brain” part pulled back on the reins and said, “let’s give this some more thought”. Really, Joel, are you ready to dash off to live on an island with an active volcano, the occasional mudslide, and few gringos to talk to just because it is such a neat place??? YES!—NOT!!! (Wish I could say that but not right now!)

Now that I have been back in David I’ve had some time to mull over my quandry and I have to say that life…

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Posted in Panama | 2 Comments

Help Los Ramos Rebuild

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Our friends on Ometepe really need your help! Some have lost everything. Deb lives on the island and is organizing resources to help them through this crisis. Any amount makes a difference, even a bag of beans or a few candles. Deb loves these people and will use every penny you can give to directly help those who need it most.

Posted in Panama | 4 Comments

Ometepe Island Mudslides and Destruction

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

I was just looking for news and info to write a post about this, but this one from our friends at the scene is even better. I am just heartsick thinking about our new friends and all the suffering on this beautiful island. When it is determined how we can help, I will post the info and ask all my fellow blogger friends to do the same.

Posted in Panama | 13 Comments

What do you DO all day??

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

I’ve been asked this question so many times I figured I’d wrote a blog post. Many people facing retirement wonder what they are going to do to fill their time when they are no longer working. Add living in another country where options may be different and it becomes even more of a question.

I can tell you what I do all day, but it may not be helpful when you are trying to figure out what you will do all day. What do you want to do? What are all those things you wished you had time for? Or (maybe more challenging), do you only work? Will you have to rebuild an entire new life from scratch?

I think these questions will need answers no matter where you live. You can retire in Florida, or North Dakota, or Tahiti and you will still need to figure out what to do and how to have a good life in retirement. When you figure out what you want, that will help determine where it is possible to do the things you want. You won’t be happy in Panama if your dream is to go skiing a lot or spend evenings at the opera. But, if you want to photograph bugs or hike in the mountains or go fishing, it could be wonderful.

As for me, I seem to keep very busy. I have friends I like to spend time with. I ride my bike, take photographs, write in my blog, and keep up with email correspondence. There is shopping and cleaning and cooking, like anywhere. I like to listen to books and work in the yard, and study Spanish. I have sewing projects I don’t seem to get to, and a website that needs updating. We have also been doing more traveling both in and out of the country. What a difference though to spend my days doing what I want to do, rather than what I must do. It’s been two years and work is finally fading from my daily thoughts, and hopefully it will also fade from my dreams too.

Retirement is such an individual thing, something we all have to figure out if we are lucky enough to reach those years beyond working. I’m fortunate that I have a lot of interests that mesh wonderfully with a life in Panama.

Posted in Miscellaneous, Panama | Tagged retirement | 16 Comments

Interesting New Places and Possiblities

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

As you all know, we have been living in Panama for about two years and we recently came back from a great visit to Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. I haven’t travelled much or seen much outside of Panama so it was very interesting to visit another place.

Ometepe Island is a very unique place. It is hard to describe the tranquility that pervades the island but you can sure feel it. Life is very basic and most people have very little in the way of material possessions or comforts. But, the people have a calmness, kindness, happiness, and pride in their way of life. The locals often use the word “sano” (sane, wholesome, healthy) to describe life on the island. Most people have lived there all their lives and everyone knows everyone else. Crime is not a worry because who is going to cause a problem when they are stuck on an island? Work is mainly agricultural devoted to cows, pigs, chickens, tobacco, plantains, and other crops and of course there are fish in the lake. Tourism is also becoming a growing industry.

If you have seen my previous posts you have seen some of the amazing beauty of Ometepe. There is the spectacular Conception active volcano, and the Mederas dormant volcano on an island of tropical jungle in a beautiful, warm, fresh water lake. The beauty, the people, and the tranquility are very seductive. We could see ourselves living there! But, we also don’t want to leave everything we love about Panama so for now, no changes are in the works. But, land is inexpensive and if we found a bit we liked and could afford, we would definitely give it serious consideration just to have an option there. There is also a lot more of the world to see, so who knows if we may fall in love with other places too.

I also found just a few more photos from the island and our trip back to Panama.

Kids playing in the lake

A ferry makes its way across the lake.

boats on the beach

We met these kids on the beach as we were walking back to the house, taking some photos along the way. They wanted their photos taken too and squealed with delight when I showed them the photos in the camera window.

The other girls finally got the courage to get in the picture too. Their mom said they are some of her eight children, and she is currently waiting for the birth of her first grandchild which was expected literally any hour.

As we left on the ferry the volcano was hidden in the clouds.

Joel caught this great shot of the airport runway as we went past.

We passed dozens and dozens of wind turbines as we left Rivas.

Hanging out at the border waiting for the bus. The guy seated in the jeans shared our taxi there. He is Italian and speaks Spanish with the most beautiful accent!

If you really must take your washing machine with you….

There are always many things for sale at the border, mostly handcrafted items and food.

Some of the women were expert at balancing their wares on their heads.

We got to watch Star Wars in Spanish on the bus.

Costa Rica is so beautiful. Unfortunately it’s hard to get decent photos from a bus.

The bus went along the Pacific coast which was great. It was really beautiful and I was happy to see a new part of the country.

We are now back in Panama and starting to feel settled back in, so I will resume posting things about Panama. But, we have another house sitting gig in Granada, Nicaragua in late November. This house sitting business has some great advantages!

Posted in Panama, travel | Tagged Nicaragua, Ometepe island, travel, Travel and Tourism | 11 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Signs

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Signs For this challenge, share an image of a sign: it can be a sign near your home — a comforting sight after a long journey — a sign that doubles as art, or other types of signs that hold meaning for you.

This looks like a fairly commonplace sign, but the business and people it represents are anything but common. I snapped this photo while I was on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua.

Puesta del Sol started in 2004 with 6 families who would rent one of their rooms to tourists and also share their meals with the guests. It has now grown into 18 families! It is mainly managed by the women and has allowed them a way to make money which has improved not only their lives, but has helped the entire community.

For the tourists, it offers a very unique experience. These are hard working families who live a mainly agricultural life with few of the comforts and conviences that we consider normal. The homes participating in Puesta del Sol have prospered and are some of the best looking homes in the area but still, the tourist will get quite a different view of life and people on Ometepe than they would get in any hotel or hostel. To read more from some of these tourists, click this link to Trip Advisor. Their comments are overwhelmingly positive.

For me, we spent almost three weeks in the neighborhood so I met and talked to many of the participants on a daily basis. These people are warm and friendly and a real joy, and I am so happy for them that they have developed their hospitality skills and their business is prospering. Every time I think of Puesta del Sol I think of the new friends I made there.

It may be only a sign but it means a lot to many people, myself included.

Posted in Photo Challenge, photography, travel | Tagged Nicaragua, Ometepe island, Puesta del Sol, Tourism, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge | 8 Comments

Rare plants and animals rescued ahead of Panama Canal expansion. – The Panama Blog

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

I am happy to see this article which talks about all the efforts to save wildlife displaced by the canal construction, and the reforestation that is also taking place.

Rare plants and animals rescued ahead of Panama Canal expansion. – The Panama Blog.

Posted in Panama | Tagged panama canal construction, reforestation, wildlife | 4 Comments

Charco Verde, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

We are back in Panama but I had one more set of photos I wanted to share. This is another well known area of Ometepe Island, and with good reason. It was absolutely beautiful, and there are also howler monkeys that live in that area. It is on the south side of the island within reasonable biking distance from Moyogalpa. As you will see, we had a perfect, sunny day to go explore this area.

The area is beautiful, and there are many plants and flowers at the entrance to the park.

We find the lagoon

There are some amazing trees!

Thunderheads loom over the lagoon

The pathways are pretty and well maintained. It is possible to bike on most of them.

Monkey!

There was a fairly large family, and they were crossing through the trees right above us.

mom and baby

we saw two moms and babies

A number of them stopped and stared at us for a little while.

Another mom and baby

The beach was also beautiful

Another great tree

Joel checks the sand for treasures.

A beach, clouds, and a volcano!

The paths go through beautiful jungles

another tree

Check out this tree! It says don’t write on the bark, but many obviously didn’t heed it.

a huge tree!

leaving the park, there is a beautiful view of the volcano.

This little girl was going home from school. When I asked if I could take a photo she dissolved into giggles.

Posted in travel | Tagged Charco Verdi, Moyogalpa, Nicaragua, Ometepe island, Tourism, travel | 11 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nighttime

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nighttime What nocturnal photos do you like taking? Whether it’s a starry sky, a street lamp, or the shadows cast by your cat, share them with us. Your shot can be outdoors or indoors, blurry or crisp, overexposed or ominously dark. As every owl (and night owl) knows, nighttime is when the real action starts.

We took a cruise that docked in Cartagena, Colombia for the night.

The ship docked next to a very busy container shipping operation that never seemed to stop.

There was quite a bit of activity in the other direction from the ship as well.

Inside the ship the main area had lots of light, color, and neon at night.

Outside, there was a full moon behind the ship.

Outside also had pretty light, color, and neon.

It was really fun watching Casablanca (in Spanish) on the deck of the ship one night.

I like this tree against the sky. (Taken in Boquete, Panama)

Posted in Photo Challenge, photography | Tagged Cartagena Columbia, Cruise ship, nighttime, photo challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge | 4 Comments

A Beautiful Monday in Nicaragua

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Our adventure continues on Ometepe Island, and it was another interesting day. First we headed to town to pick up a few things.

In the afternoon the volcano had a blanket of clouds hiding the upper parts.

These girls were practicing for the fiesta planned this weekend in Altagracia.

The clouds were trickling down the side of the mountain as we headed back from town.

The witch mobile! We found this great broom in town and had to have one.

After we got back to the house we decided to go walking. We heard that there was some land for sale nearby so we wanted to see if we could figure out which land it was since we thought we had a general idea.

We saw some young men sitting by the road and talking so we asked them if they knew anything. It turns out one of them was in front of his grandmother’s house and she wants to sell it! It is a small typical house with an outside kitchen, but it has city water and electricity. I am guessing it is on maybe 1/2 acre of land planted with a variety of trees and food producing plants. It is close to but not within sight of the water. They want $23K, but would also be willing to sell half of the lot, the part without the house.

We discussed the property, met with the daughter, granddaughter and other family members who were there, explained why we were here and that we were just looking at this point, thanked them for their time and left.

Later we were sitting in the kitchen and heard someone calling from the front of the house. It was the grandmother, this time with her son who we hadn’t met earlier. This frail little lady had walked all the way to the house in the total darkness, down the dirt road through sand, over tree roots, and up and down with one flashlight in her hand to talk to us further and to tell me that they would give us a good deal (though no actual numbers were presented). They must be anxious to sell me the place!

Not only that, yesterday afternoon we were walking the dog and said hi to some neighbors that we have passed before. He called us over to say he heard we had been looking for land, and he has some for sale at the east end of the airport area. Word gets around!

No, we aren’t moving here. We have barely visited for three weeks. But, if there was something we really liked for not much money, we might consider it. I do love this island.

Anyway, we finished our walk just as the sun was about to set and it was a great evening to be out!