Home For Sale, 20 Minutes from David

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

This looks like a really lovely home.

joeltc1's avatarFindingMySelfinPanama

My friend and the guy who has houses for sale and for rent (Eduardo Horna) asked me to post info on a house he has the listing on.

Hey Joe ,

You wont not believe the property I just got in my hands to sell …:

Beautiful 2 brm house built by Canadians in a 2.5 acre only 20 min from David.

Asking Price is 159,000. Fully furnished, paved road and every thing .

Check it out , if you don’t mind put it up in your blog, maybe ?

This is a deal , here is the link ,House for sale

Ed Horna

—————————————————————-

Joel here-I don’t know anything about it except what Ed said in the email and what I see in the photos and it does look nice. Contact Ed NOT me for more info. His email address is:  Río Chiriquí <riochiriqui@gmail.com>

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Panama City, Albrook Mall

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

When Holly and I arrived in Panama City, we had some extra time and went to Albrook Mall which is conveniently located next to the Albrook Bus Terminal. I heard it was a big mall but my goodness, it was HUGE! We walked and walked but never seemed to run out of new sections to explore. There are hundreds of stores, very attractive common areas with interesting and variable decor, and lots of food and entertainment options. I would have to spend a few days there with a map to do a decent report on this mall. But, I did manage to get some photos to give you just a taste of what it’s like there.

There is a huge two story food court with a merry go round in the middle
Another view of the food court, and this is only one food court of quite a few we found.
One of many common areas
Cool decorations at the bottom of this escalator
There was a lot of free WiFi, though I couldn’t get it to work on my iPad
Food and Music – is this the magic? or is it even more magical than that?
Careful going in here!
The bowling ally
Another place to sit down with a snack
Holly with her backpack is ahead because I am lagging behind and taking photos
Check out the cool train that takes shoppers around
I like the balloons above
The merry go round from the ground floor
Cool colors, and notice the “Space Playworld” above.
We check out the giraffes. The movie theater is in the background.
Holly can almost hide under a giraffe
We ate at this food court above and looked down at this t-Rex on guard below
Holly looks small under the t-Rex. There is a Super 99 doorway there which gives no clue how big that store really is. It’s like a super Walmart with groceries and pretty much anything else you can think of.

If you need to shop, I can certainly see the advantages of living in Panama City. And, this is only one mall. There are a number of others and tons of individual stores, and everything else that one finds in a big, busy, international city. Parts of Panama have very third world aspects but other parts of Panama are definitely modern and first world and we pretty much lack for nothing.

I have quite a few photos of other things – the zoo, historical parts of the city, and general city photos so I’d better get busy before we take off on our next excursion and amass even more photos and stories!

Posted in culture, Exploring Panama, Panama | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Move

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: On the Move

For this week’s photo challenge, share your interpretation of “on the move.” You can be the subject of your image, or you might want to experiment with movement or transportation in a different way. You can share a single image, or include more than one

While visiting Panama City and spending time with friends, I took my first ride on the new metro. That made it easy to decide what to do for this photo challenge. The metro has been under construction for a long time so it’s very exciting to see it finished. They have done an excellent job, as you can see in these photos.

The entrance to the metro station
The station is bright and shiny with signs that make it easy to find your platform
Escalators keep people moving up and down
A train moves away from the platform
Our train moves towards the platform
We are on the move!

 

 

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Pedasi and Isla Iguana

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

 

We just finished a short but wonderful visit to Pedasi with indacampo and her SU. Holly hadn’t met our blogger friends, and we all had a wonderful time talking and laughing, and spending time together without computer screens between us.

One of the highlights of the visit was an afternoon at Isla Iguana, a gorgeous nature preserve island just a short boat trip away. Of course there are photos!

There were almost no people on the Island so the iguanas were everywhere!
This green fellow let us get quite close.
We got lots of great iguana photos!
The water was absolutely beautiful!
There are many postcard beautiful views on the island
An interesting piece of driftwood
I was checking out the driftwood and rocks and almost didn’t see this big fellow right at my feet
There were hermit crabs everywhere. A lot of them were gathered by these rocks
Bloggers enjoying a relaxing day at the beach!
This tree had the most interesting orange bark
As we were walking to the other side of the island, we spotted this huge red crab in the underbrush.
The frigate bird were nesting in this area. There was a crowd of them flying overhead.
This quick little crab wasn’t happy when I got between him and the water but I could resist getting a couple photos.
It’s much more rocky on the other side of the island, but also really beautiful
Here’s another photo of my blogger friend (look very closely and you’ll see someone walking on the rocks above)
I don’t think there is anywhere in Panama without amazing trees
Two vultures roost in a tree
The remains of someone’s lunch on the rocks
Another iguana
The frigate birds fly above their nesting area
These iguanas were very nice about posing for us
There were lots of coconut trees on this part of the path
It’s lovely walking through the shade of the trees
The paths are just lovely
I am the biggest most handsome fellow on the island!
Crabs on a tree trunk
A beautiful scene
We were just talking about how hard it was to spot these beautiful little birds, and this one landed right next to us just long enough to snap a couple photos
These pretty leaf buds looked interesting
The seagulls and pelicans hang out on the beach
Our boat captain Edwin (white shirt) brings our boat back to shore with the help of a couple waiting assistants. Once we were out of the boat, they tied it to a rope from a truck up above and dragged it up on the sand.

I’m still learning my way around this new iPad. Editing photos has been .. Ahem .. Interesting.  The software I planned to use didn’t work out but now I have a process that works for me. Some of the things I take for granted on my computer aren’t here, but this iPad sure is light and easy to travel with. I’m sure as I get more familiar with it things will go a bit faster.

 

Posted in Exploring Panama, Panama, photography, travel | Tagged , , , , | 20 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring – For this week’s challenge, share a photo which describes what spring means to you.

Panama has two seasons, dry and rainy, so we don’t have spring. But we are currently coming out of the dry season and the rains are beginning again, so there is a new season to talk about.

With the return of the rains come new bugs. Right now it seems like “bug of the day” time. After the first good rain we had tons of little flying bugs. If they got inside they’d would land on the countertop or floor and just die. I visited one of the neighbors the next day and she had dead bugs all over her patio floor. After that night we didn’t see them again.

Then, a few days ago, we had black flying bugs. One of them was nice enough to land in my glass of Costa Rican money.

This bug was in the money glass where I could catch a photo.

 

The next evening we were visited by these other interesting bugs. My friend said they bite very hard. Thankfully I have no first hand knowledge of this. But again, everyone seemed to have been visited by these on the same night and dead ones were on everyone’s terraces the next day.

Another of the many brown bugs found outside the next morning.
A brown bug encounter outside the front door the next morning.

The next night it was thee invasion of the June bugs.

This June bug seems to like our kitchen sponge.
The smallest grasshopper I’ve ever seen sits on top of the soap dish.

But, if this a post about the rainy season, there must also be photos of rain!

The clouds start gathering in the afternoon.
The sky turns darker, thunder rumbles, and it won’t be long before the rain will start
Rain water is soon pouring off the roof.
As darkness falls the last of the light reflects in the rain puddles.

This is the first post written on my new iPad (thank you Joel!) it is so light and easy to travel with, and I’m learning my way around and liking it more every day. But there may be a few things I haven’t quite figured out so ignore any quirks.

Posted in insects, Panama, Photo Challenge, photography | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Ignore the Strange Password Protected Post

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

I just posted a password protected post not thinking it would go public. Why would it be public everyone knows it is there but can’t see it? I have learned something new today about the “visibility” feature on WordPress.

Someone wanted some photos of the land that is for sale, the one that had the sign that I used for the Letters Photo Challenge. If you want to see the photos, the password is “forsale”

And you thought it was something exciting… 😀

 

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Protected: Land For Sale

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Letters

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Letters   For this week’s challenge, share a photo with letters — no matter the alphabet. You can capture a neon sign, a sentence scribbled in an old phone booth, a random letter that’s seemingly out of place, or anything else. As you look through your lens, think about how your image might convey something bigger: a snapshot of how we communicate with one another, even if we don’t speak the same language.

Letters? I came up blank all week. Inspiration wouldn’t come. Then I came home and saw this sign leaning against our shrubs. It has letters and a history.

We seriously considered buying this lot in our neighborhood. The owner lives in Florida but has a Panamanian wife and extended family here. Through talking about the lot, he and Joel became friends and also met in person when Tony was here.

But, the sign fell down. Wood rot, termites, and possibly a weed whacker led to the demise of the bottom of the stakes. So, Tony called Joel who brought the sign to our house, and one of the family members will pick it up later.

We decided that financially, tempting as it is, this isn’t the best time for us to buy and build. The owner loves Panama. Maybe the lot is meant for him and his future home? It’s interesting though how a friendship can develop from a casual walk up the street, and a sign on a nice lot.

5114Letters

If any of you want a lot in a lovely neighborhood, woods beside and behind, the river a block away, quiet, tons of birds, five minutes from a major shopping area and the Pan-American highway, turn your computer sideways and write down the contact information. There’s even a couple other gringos living down the street 😀

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Rejected

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Recently I posted about International Living, and their request for reciprocal links between my blog and their social media sites. After much thought, I decided to try it out and I put their link on my sidebar. But, my photos never showed up on their sites and my stats never showed any traffic from them, so I emailed to ask about this.

I received a reply this morning. It seems they have retracted their request. I can certainly understand this. I had a lot of hesitation about including them on my blog as well. If they don’t want someone with my views and lifestyle though, I’m not sure why they asked me in the first place.

It’s nice being in my position. I don’t need to make money and I don’t need traffic. I blog for my own enjoyment, and it’s a bonus that I’ve made some great friends and helped others on their journeys. My blog is always going to say what I think and feel though. I try to be kind and polite, but I will speak the truth as I see it.

So, this is why I had a link to International Living one week and none the next. It’s for the best. Opposites aren’t always meant to attract.

 

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Sunday is Election Day in Panama

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Sunday seems like a good day for elections, a day when many don’t have to work. Panama has compulsory voting for everyone over 18 but I don’t think it is strictly enforced. I know one of my neighbors doesn’t plan to vote “I don’t like any of them. They are all the same.” That sounds like a lot of people I know if the US.

It’s very interesting to watch the election process here in Panama. Candidates are out and about and making themselves as visible as possible. There are signs and banners and flags all over town. (One of my local friends told me that the candidates have to put up the money to take down all their stuff before they are even allowed to put it up, which sounds like a very good idea.)  People drive around with flags and signs on their cars, there are ads on TV, trucks drive around with loudspeakers, and there are rallies  small and large. There was a huge one in town last weekend with thousands of people, free lunch, t-shirts, hats, speeches, performances, and enough traffic to jam up the Pan-American highway.

This notice is also out from the Tribunal Electoral, the folks who manage the voting process.

diaSeco

Notice – Dry Law

The Tribunal Electoral makes public knowledge that from noon on Saturday the 3rd until noon on Monday the 5th of May, 2014, will close all the bars, saloons, centers of night fun (nightclubs), dance halls, and other places that sell alcoholic beverages and it is prohibited to sell, gift, transfer, use or consume.

The measure has the objective of granting a climate of peace and tranquility for the general elections of May 4th which is a civic holiday, and once again will be evidence of the political maturity of the Panamanians.

Excepted from this prohibition of consumption are foreigners in hotels where they are guests.

This was a surprise. We don’t do this in the US. Apparently if you are found drunk or drinking around town, you will be taken to the police station. This is probably a good weekend to be very well behaved, even for those of us who can’t vote.

There are three major contenders for president and candidates for many other offices as well. It will be interesting to see how this all comes out! I have some friends who aren’t very involved, and others who are totally passionate about their chosen candidates. I hope no one is too badly disappointed, and whoever wins will continue to lead Panama in its very positive direction.

Posted in Miscellaneous, Panama | Tagged , , | 16 Comments