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January 24th 2009
Published: January 24th 2009
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S & SS & SS & S

Ahhhh sea & sand

So it’s been a few weeks as my sister affectionately reminded me…where in the hell are we????? We be in Panama mon! We took a vacation from our vacation home to travel the countryside. Before I tell you more about the places we have stayed I should explain the ratings that Howard has devised. He calls it the “asterisk ratings” kindda like the “five star ratings”. A * would be a place that we wouldn’t stay or same for an eating establishment, a ***** would be just below a one star rating. Got it?
We headed south to Peninsula de Azuero looking for beaches, bays and sand. There is a fairly good size island called “Isla Iguana Wild Refuge” that was on the pricey side for a round trip and decided against it and just explored the area. Lots of cattle ranches and the cows are living on the ocean front! From here over and down to Santa Catalina known by surfers and a beautiful area. See pictures  The place where we stayed for the night was a ** “Surfer’s Paradise” we had a choice of sleeping in a hammock or a real bed. The town, if you would
beachedbeachedbeached

Opps!
see it yourself you would be asking….where’s the town! About 250 people live here and make a living either fishing or taking gringos to Isla Ce’baco. I bought 4 to 5 lbs of fresh shrimp for $4.00 walked across the street and had a lady cook about a pound served with a side of rice & beans for the hefty price of $2.00….what a great dinner! See pictures 😊
From here back to our happy hovel for the night then on to the big city the next day. Our first few nights were in the city eventho it’s only an hour plus drive from our happy hovel, traffic is a nightmare early in the morning.
Our first night in the city area was a ** called a Backpacker’s Hotel complete with only two friendly cockroaches! I didn’t sleep too well this night. We wanted to be at Balboa Yacht Club area to listen to the cruiser’s net to re-fill our empty boating well, being boat-less in Panama. The net starts at 8am which kept us entertained and we met some cruiser’s for dinner and they invited us to stay on their 42’ Hunter, nice people. That was a four star!
ChildrenChildrenChildren

My 8 yr old
The next morning we were boarded by the Panama Canal Authorities checking passports and visa’s. Good thing that I carry ours everywhere or we would have been in dodo. There is the rain forest within the city limits called "Parque Natural Metropolitano" that we hiked that was awesome. See pictures 😊
Howard’s compass has been 90 to 180 degrees off since we’ve been here and makes for a lively conversation when I say we’re heading east when he thinks we’re headed north! The GPS has come in handy more than once or twice!
Now we head north, northeast to Portabello and Puerto Lindo. This was a ***** B & B run by a Dutch couple that use to charter his 50’ Beneteau. He lit up like a Christmas tree when Howard told him he’s a builder and a captain! They wanted us to stick around to help finish building the remodel and take over his charter business that they no longer cruise because of their one year old boy. Not a bad idea of the charter business cruising the San Blas islands, right Bill?
There are several places known as “The Red Zone” for gringos and Colon is red hot.
Panama stylePanama stylePanama style

Old rock-n-roll Panamanian style!
However, there is the “Free Trade Zone” worth visiting and is the second largest free zone in the world. If you buy anything here you can’t take it with you being duty free it has to be either shipped to you or you pick your packages up at the airport the next day.
We are back at the casita for another week then off to David area hoping we find a place to stay in Bocas Del Toro for some real down time!
Stay warm and stay tuned…….



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Mt. top sub divisionMt. top sub division
Mt. top sub division

Can you imagine having too much wine and driving home...yikes!
Tide's outTide's out
Tide's out

gone wading
Local nino~Local nino~
Local nino~

cute local kid
Fine dinningFine dinning
Fine dinning

outside cafe'
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Busted dream

An old surfer dude probable drove down here from California 20 some years ago!
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Another tough walk
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beachfront property for sale
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The view from the property for sale...just in case one of you guys want to buy it!
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Typical cattle ranch hand hut...and this is the delux model
monkeymonkey
monkey

just hangin' out
Canal viewCanal view
Canal view

can you see the canal cut?
rain forestrain forest
rain forest

spectacular
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climb this

Those black spots are thorns
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napping
Peurto LindoPeurto Lindo
Peurto Lindo

Interesting area of tide pools


25th January 2009

In the market... but not quite THAT market
I like the insider real estate listings you and Capt. How have been posting, but I think they're too far outside of my new zip-code. I just got word that I will be the new Territory Sales Manager for SEATTLE! Let me know if you have any leads out in that area... I'm looking to buy in the March/April time-frame! See ya back there, neighbor. - Grant

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