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Published: February 18th 2009
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River
beautiful rivers On 2/6 we had a delightful time. We went up to the mountain town of Boquete again and found a private home with an incredible garden that we could tour. It must have been an acre of the most manicured garden in Panama. There were six ponds with hundreds of Kio of every color. We wanted to go snorkeling, but the wind had been blowing so hard for the last three days the idea of being on the water didn’t sound like fun. After the garden, we found an animal rescue shelter that also had very nice gardens. But with monkeys, birds, parrots, an otter cat (not the technical name) that will grow up to be four feet long and two adorable Ocelot kittens. Rebecca spent an hour talking to a couple of Hiaasen McCaw’s and scarlet’s. All the animals were accustom to people and would come up to you in their cages wanting attention. I almost forgot about the two toed sloth, he was three months old and still being bottle fed, soooo cute, see pictures.
Our other memorable moment was a week ago when we went to Puerto Armuelles. It was purely by accident that we got there. The
Cattle drive
traffic jam plan was to west of “David” (that’s where we have been for the last few days) and take a secondary road to circle back. Well we were already at the Costa Rica boarder when we discovered where we were. There was no road to circle back so we went south to the port. The term port (Puerto) here mean there was a place boats docked or there are a few boats on the beach. The pier was about two hundred yards long and in disrepair. It was like walking on a deck where all the boards were not nailed down yet and some missing. It was, at one time, substantial enough to hold railroad cars with some of the tracks are still in place. All of this commerce was decades ago and must have been a thriving port. As we were going out to walk on the pier there was a political rally (election for president is May) leaving the parking lot. Hundreds of cars all honking and waving their flags, this country is big on political flags. After our walk on the pier (there was nothing else to see in the town) we headed home. After about twenty minutes
Garden
A feast for your eyes of driving on the two lane road we caught up to the rally. It would slow down to a crawl in each little town and everybody in the cars would honk and everybody along the road would yell and wave their flags (they’re starving for entertainment). The drive down to the port from “David” is an hour and a half and the way back to the main road took all of that. I thought that when we get to the four lane main road and this traffic would thin out….wrong! There was a cop car in front of us trying to get the rally to move to the right lane and let us non- rallier’s go by. At times the cop in the back seat was standing out the door and waving cars over while going over 70 kilometers. This didn’t work well, but was entertaining! The traffic got thicker and thicker till it stopped. Panamanians are not a patient people so some one started driving in the median when that had an obstacle or another car they drove on the right side of the median near the on coming traffic. When that was no longer a viable option they
birdies
sweet & beautiful took over the left lane of the on coming lane. To say it was a zoo would be an understatement. We decided to join the party in the on coming lane and zoomed along about 30k. When out new lane stopped someone decided to use the shoulder of the on coming lanes. Even busses were doing all this. It took us almost four hours to make the journey home. Many times there would be cops directing this illegal traffic like it was normal. In all this ciaos, not a single accident, these people a very defensive drivers.
After all of this excitement we decided to drive to the ferry terminal going to Bocas Del Toro. Understand that there are only two seasons in Panama, the rainy and the dry seasons and we’re here during the “dry” times…..right! Rumor was that it had been raining for seven days on the mountains and in Bocas and when we decided to head in that direction it had rained itself out……right! The road over and around the mountains either were covered in mud slides or parts of the road washed away without any warnings, just gone! Near the continental divide was a major
Haisson McCaws
I always wanted one of these incredable birds slide being dug out with heavy equipment (yeah Caterpillar’s) and dump trucks filled with boulders, gravel, pavement and mud taking all to another slide to fill-in the loss. While in-line to pass, the dump trucks had made deep tracks leaving it high in the middle. A pick-up truck got stuck, then a bus carrying passengers that had to disembark and trek thru ankle deep mud. This improved our understanding of cuss words in Spanish! After the wait we made it across, thru the mud and to our destination in what was a white car!
Because of the economy and our property not selling, we are on a budget. I found a great place on the internet to stay while in Bocas, with a kitchen and reasonably priced for a week. After finding the location, we couldn’t drive to it because of road work, okay, no problem, carried some clothes and the coolers and settled in. Well, as Howard puts it, it reminds him (the neighborhood around our apt.) of Viet Nam. Local people live in shanty’s made of wood and tin on stilts with little pathways made of broken concrete and planks of wood. They might have six or more
Scarlett's
Having Howard's finger for lunch living in one shack with no kitchen, but the have stereos that have only one level on the volume, WHAT DID YOU SAY? Remember that it had been raining for days, therefore lots of standing “black water” in the area which really adds to the aroma and ambiance of Bocas! Perhaps it would be enjoyable on a sailboat coming here. Yesterday we decided to splurge and charter a Catamaran with our new found friends to enjoy snorkeling, fishing and sailing. The sun came out and the beer was flowing and no fish to catch, nice! The ferry departs at 4:00 pm today and we’re on it! Again, we have no plans and we’re stickin’ to them!
Okay, we’re back in Boquete on a mountain high! Our new digs are working out being in town within walking distance to great bakeries, restaurants and groceries. This area has four different coffee plantations and some coffees are better than others, we’ve sampled all. There are beautiful rivers with connecting streams and natural springs and even a hot springs nearby that you need a 4x4 or horseback ride to access. In the next day or so we plan on making the horse ride
Otter cat
4 months old and very playful to ease our stress! Ha, maybe the pain of the ride its self!
Sorry for the delay, but because of high winds for days, the Internet connection is week. Just adding pictures has been a grulling process!
We would love to hear from you too!
Stay tuned…….
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Reva
non-member comment
warn and happy
Hi you two, good to see you and you look warnout and happy, we are doing fine in the Arizona desert, it's not hot and kinda cold so I guess it's fine, love you both and have more great time for us. love the otter cat picture. I see you are both getting a red tan. See you when we see you.