Tag: iguana

Adventures With the Family December 2022

Jen’s family made a visit to Panama for an early Christmas celebration, and we were able to take them on a few adventures. The group included her two brothers, one sister-in-law, and two nephews. We were sad that nephew, Connor, and his wife, Olivia, were unable to be with us.

Jen’s older brother, Bill, and his wife, Deb, arrived two days prior to the others. They came through immigration and customs in under half an hour and we were on our way to Coronado in record time. Our guests always enjoy Gold Coast Brewery, so we made a dinner stop for half price wings before getting them settled into their condo accommodations just four floors down from ours in El Alcazar. Our amazing friend, Joan, offered her place for the family while she traveled, and it proved to be perfect with everyone getting their own bed and bathroom. While the family was here, we were able to have meals together and play some family card games in Joan’s condo, which offered a much bigger space than our own.

Thursday gave us some time with Bill and Deb, which was perfect for a trip to the Coronado Thursday Market and some last-minute shopping to prepare for the rest of the family’s arrival. We also took the opportunity to enjoy the pool and a nice dinner at Nazca 21. Bill ordered the whole corvina and was surprised when the small fish hung over the plate on both ends.

Friday morning, I prepared to make the journey to the airport to pick up the remaining guests. While the morning progressed, we watched their flights. Jon was traveling from Minneapolis, while Donovan and Cullan traveled from Detroit. They were to all connect to the same flight in Atlanta. Jon’s flight was delayed as it took over an hour to “de-ice” his plane, and he missed the connection. Ultimately, he got a stand-by flight which put him more than five hours behind the nephews. Bill went along with me to the airport to pick up Cullan and Donovan.

Cullan and Donovan arrive in Panama

The trip to the airport was without incident, but the return was a traffic jam typical of Friday afternoons in Panama. I always say to prepare for travel from Panama City to take anywhere from two to four hours and our trip home was on the long side. Both boys were exhausted by the time we got them settled. We had a nice dinner and off to bed they went while we waited to see what would happen with Jon. We learned he was able to make it onto the later flight, so I contacted Marc Vargas who arranged for his transportation to Coronado. It was nearly 1:00 a.m. before he got here. It was a long day for all of us, suffice it to say it was really long for Jon.

We kept our schedule loose for Saturday, but everyone was awake in plenty of time to take our first real adventure to El Valle. It’s always a favorite of guests, and we could have spent much more than a day there. Our first stop was El Macho Falls. Everyone except Jen and I zip-lined the falls.

Following our zip-line and hike around the falls we went to Zapote’ for lunch. From Zapote’, we took them to the rim of the volcano for a hike to the ridge.

Our last stop was at the market. The market in El Valle is always a special favorite of guests. Everyone found a few treasures to take back to the states. Jon and Deb bought Panama hats while the others found some last-minute Christmas gifts and we all grabbed a little fresh fruit and produce.

Our dinner plans on Saturday took us to Segundo Piso. The fine dining restaurant at our club never disappoints and our dinner was no exception. Everyone had a great meal, and we went home early to prepare for our early (6:45 a.m.) Sunday departure to the Embera Village.

Sunday morning, we caravanned to Panama City with four friends. There we met our tour guide, Marc Vargas. Marc was able to bring his wife Keren, daughter Mabel, and mother-in-law, Esther. They had never been on a tour of an Embera Village, and we had room in our group. It was great having them along. Marc’s family is special to us, and we often consider them part of our own family. At the rendezvous point, we loaded onto a coaster bus for the remainder of the journey to the river where we boarded a piragua. Embera piraguas are carved from the trunk of a large tree. They take about six months to carve, and each one can take twenty passengers and a small load of cargo. We brought fruit, rice, and beans for the villagers. We also brought candy and toys for the children. Our piragua had a motor on it, but that was about all the modern conveniences one can expect to find on an Embera adventure.

We made a brief stop at the village to drop off the cargo before heading to a waterfall hike about twenty minutes further up the river. The lighter load allowed us to travel to within a short walk to the falls. The place was beautiful and secluded inside the national park. This village of Embera people are living within the Chagres National Park where they are trusted with the care and conservation of the land. They are allowed to only hunt and fish for their own personal survival.

Following our visit to the falls, we were transported back to the village where we were met by the tribe. Several men from the village welcomed us with music from handmade instruments. The children met our piragua and took us to the village meeting place where we got an exhibition of native dance. The women in our group were presented with fresh flowers for their hair and Marc, along with the guide from another group, translated to tell us about the culture of the Embera people.

From there, we were taken to an area where food was prepared. Our group was given a light lunch of fish and patacones served in a banana leaf. While we ate, we were told about their crafts and the technique for dying and carving the pieces. Everything at the village is made from wood and plants found in the jungle. The dyes are from fruits and nuts growing near the village and the carved wood pieces are from wood growing in the jungle. The crafts are priced according to the amount of time which goes into their creation.

We were then free to explore the village and shop the crafts in the large meeting place. Each family had a table of their work, which was all magnificent. Jen and I were able to purchase three pieces which we will treasure for a lifetime. Jon and I both got Embera art in the form of a temporary tattoo made from the dyes which they use to decorate their own bodies. The “tattoo” lasted over ten days.

When it came time to depart, we were sad to leave. The people were so kind and welcoming, following us to our piragua to bid us farewell. We were able to get some great pictures and share some special moments with people who didn’t speak a word of English but communicated beautifully by sharing their jungle home.

Our coaster bus met us at the place where we had begun the adventure and transported us back to our rendezvous point. Jen and I took the family to Pedro Miguel Locks from there, in hope of seeing a boat passing through. We hung out at the viewing place for a while and were able to see several boats but really saw nothing of the locks. Late on a Sunday afternoon, we were unable to get into the gallery for tourists, and the Miraflores Locks were closed due to an incident earlier in the week. It was late when we started our journey back to Coronado. If we consider being stuck in stop and go traffic for several hours an adventure, we had our third adventure of the day. Sunday evening traffic between Coronado and the city can be brutal. We were thankful to the vendors selling water and churros to those stuck in traffic. Our final stop of the day was dinner at The Bench. It was the perfect place to unwind and talk about our amazing adventure.

Monday was dedicated to a day of beach and pool fun. It was also Jon’s birthday. He and I took a dune buggy tour of the community and went to the beach. The tide was high and the surf strong, but we managed to have a great time. Later, I took the boys in the buggy. The tide had receded, so we were able to get out in the sand for a little fun.

We were able to enjoy a birthday dinner together; ham, au gratin potatoes, tossed salad, and red velvet birthday cake. On the holidays, our family always enjoys playing Up the River Down the River. Monday night was capped off with a healthy card game competition.

Tuesday, we took them all to Santa Clara for a beach day and lobster lunch. The weather and food were amazing, and everyone had a great time. The beach was packed like I’ve never seen before. The anniversary of the U.S. invasion to take down Noriega (Operation Just Cause) was celebrated here as a day of mourning for the first time, and all the government offices were closed giving many the day off. This new holiday is dry, so no alcohol could be sold or served.

Our time together was coming to a rapid end. Their departure on Thursday morning meant we had only one day of adventure left. A poll of the visitors gave us a great idea. We gathered everyone for a short hike to Filipina Falls high on the mountain near Sora. The drive to the trailhead was long, but the road was good for most of the way. Once we reached the trailhead, we paid the landowner $2.00 each, and the dogs led the way to the falls. I brought a bag of dog biscuits, and the friendly dogs did a great job of showing us the way. Jen and I had purchased Panama T-shirts for our visitors, and we all took the opportunity to sport them on the hike. This made for some great photo opportunities.

Our farewell dinner was later in the evening at Cafe’ Med. Franco and team did a great job of making that last meal together special. It would have been great to have the family here through the holidays, but the entire time they were here was special. Their journeys home were mostly uneventful given the weather in the north. Jon landed in Minneapolis over two hours late to temperatures at negative 11 degrees F. The crew that went to Detroit landed an hour late to snowstorms, but all their cars started, and they were all able to get home safely.

Jon’s Jeep started despite the extreme temperature

As the end of 2022 rapidly approaches, we are missing our time with family. We continue to love our life in Panama. Since moving to this beautiful country, we have made some of the best friends of our lives. The relationships with these new friends keep us busy and adventuring, but the visits from old friends and family are special. We hope that all of you have a safe, healthy and blessed New Year. With adventures planned in 2023 taking us to more than 6 other countries, I look forward to filling my passport with stamps from places I never imagined. I hope we have encouraged all of you to step outside your comfort zone and take an adventure. If that adventure brings you to our neighborhood, please don’t hesitate to look us up. We love having visitors and meeting new people.

Blessings From Paradise,

Greg and Jen

#welovepanama

Our Adventure to Costa Rica

We cannot detail our adventure without a brief prologue…Our adventure was to begin on August 19th. We did everything right and had perfect instructions for our journey. Step 1 was to go to the Banco National and pay the exit tax. Due to past corruption in the government here, these taxes are paid directly to the government bank account and you take the receipt to Adunas (Customs). There they process paperwork to allow you to drive your personal vehicle across the border. We paid the .50 cent exit tax a couple of days before and made multiple copies of every document that would be required. We left early and drove just over 6 hours to David where we would go to Aduanas for the document needed to cross into Costa Rica. We waited for an agent to come back from lunch and were told that due to a computer problem we would have to come back in 5 days. With no other option we turned around and went back home. Investigation told us that the only other Adunas office is in Panama City so we made the decision to go there to get the document before driving back to the border. This would delay our trip to the first of September due to other things on our schedule.

Aduanas (Panama Customs)
Aduanas (Panama Customs)

We are often asked what we do to stay busy during retirement. To be honest, we never have trouble staying busy. We are active in our church, do some volunteer work, relax at the pool, read, and spend time with friends. One of our volunteer opportunities is with the local health and respite (hospice), and they do a lot of other stuff, including sponsoring blood drives. Our misfortune at the border allowed us to donate blood on Tuesday. Panamanian people are afraid to donate blood so the donors are very much appreciated here. We both donated and were in agreement that it was one of the most pleasant donation experiences either of us has ever had.

On Wednesday we took the bus into the city to straighten out our problem with Adunas. They collected all our documents (copies) and told us to come back on Friday. We have limited communication skills, but we were being told that the new computer system did not migrate all the vehicles registered and ours was not in the system. Everything would be fixed by Friday. On Friday we returned to find that the problem remained. We friended a man in line with a similar problem. Fortunately he was fluent in Spanish and English, and he helped us to get through the process. They had to do a hand search for our vehicle record to authorize us to take it across the border. They asked us to return in two hours.  It was a monumental accomplishment when we  returned to find they were going to issue the document.

The document to allow our car to leave Panama.
The document to allow our car to leave Panama for 90 days.

On September 1st we took off on our Costa Rica adventure again. We were able to pass through the border, but I must say that it is much harder to travel from country to country here than it is to cross into the United States. Here they want to make sure you will not be staying for more than a visit. It is the legal process. We do not recommend travel like this without good instruction. We had good instruction including multiple copies of numerous documents, and a specific order to do each task. We do not know which was worse, going to Costa Rica or returning to Panama. Both border crossings were stressful, but not impossible. We both agree that it was worth the trouble, and will likely return for another visit in the future.

One of the reasons we selected Panama as our retirement home is they use U.S. currency. One thing we recommend when traveling is to get some foreign currency in advance. This was our first mistake. While at the border we were required to purchase Costa Rican car insurance. Using U.S. dollars, we think, caused us to pay a premium for this insurance. On our travel day (Sunday) no banks were open for the exchange of money. We usually pay for most things with a no foreign transaction fee bankcard, and that worked well for us until we were able to obtain Colonies (Costa Rican dollars). With Colonies in hand we were able to enjoy the roadside diners (Soda) we love, as well as make small purchases. At the end of our adventure we returned with just over $100 USD worth of Colonies.

The other thing we returned with is Momanes. Momanes are a Central American fruit that we are calling “hairy balls” because they have an appearance like, well you know. They really are yummy. When you peal away the skin they look and taste like a big white grape. They have a pit in the center, which you do not eat.

Our first stop in Costa Rica was a wonderful port town called Quepos. We did not want to drive after dark and this was a perfect place to spend the night. We had a great meal and outstanding service at an oceanfront hotel. While we had dinner we enjoyed a spectacular sunset. Our plan for morning was to wait until the bank opened, to exchange cash. This allowed us to wander about on the boardwalk and enjoy a great breakfast. When the bank opened at 9 a.m. we discovered a long line because of 1st of the month payday. Rather than endure the line we elected to continue on our adventure with no Colonies. This was not a problem. We stopped at a wonderful restaurant along the road that accepted our card, and paid a toll with a US Dollar (it was about .35 cents).

We were once again on the road to Surfside. Our good friends own a home there and we will stay with them for a few days to explore the Gold Coast beaches. The journey was another 6 hours on roads that appeared to be carved right out of the jungle rain forest. We spent most of the ride in awe of the beauty of the country. Much of the ride was along the Pacific Coast with small beachfront towns along the way. The roads, even the Pan-American Highway, were primarily two lane and paved. They were also mostly in good repair. We were able to use the Wayz app on our phones, and it worked flawlessly. Forgive us for not taking pictures along the journey. We found that often there were limited space to pull off the road for photo opportunities. The pictures below are from a stop along the coast at a small town called Jaco.

We arrived mid afternoon at our friends, John and Barbie’s home. Their home is located in a beachfront community near the town of Potrero. We noticed that there are many expats living and vacationing in these areas. The locals are much better at speaking English than in most of Panama. But, like anywhere in Central America a little Spanish goes a long way. The restaurants, bars, and breakfast sodas were numerous and most seemed to be doing well even in the slow season.  Over the next few days we enjoyed exploring the area. John and Barbie took us to an upscale condo project called Las Catalinas, which was like walking into a movie set in Italy. It was very beautiful and quiet. We took about 100 pictures but will only share a few. These homes here were in the million USD range.

Las Catalina looks just like an Italian village
Las Catalina looks just like an Italian village

We also explored numerous beaches. Playa Penca was incredibly beautiful and deserted. There was a road adjacent to the beach and we followed it to the end. I promised an end of the road story and this is it. It was somewhat anti-climatic but it was, no doubt, another in what we hope will be  a long lasting theme to our end of the road stories.

Playa Penca
Playa Penca

John and Barbie took us to several great beaches. Some were literally deserted, while others had a lot of people around. The beach at Witches Rock in Tamarindo was a surfers paradise. There were surfers around waiting for high tide, when they would take a lesson or hit the surf. We enjoyed a great lunch on the beach and browsed through some of the great shops.

After visiting Tamarindo we went to an amazing pool at Mar Vista for an afternoon of relaxing and swimming. This infinity pool is separated from the ocean by jungle and rain forest, but when you were swimming in it you could enjoy the awesome ocean vista.

Along the way we spotted this very colorful and handsome iguana. He was not shy and we got a great picture of him to share.

This handsome guy was so collorful
This handsome guy was so colorful

We could not get over the fabulous restaurants in the area around our friends home. The last night at their home we went to Vaca Loca. Translated Vaca Loca means crazy cow. We came to the conclusion that the proprietor was the crazy one. We were served ribeye steaks, that weighed out at over a pound, with appetizers, one side, and a shot of limoncello to finish for about $12 USD each. It was beyond delicious and perfectly cooked. The truth be known, our friend John is an expert at finding great restaurants that will not break the budget. Most of the restaurants in Costa Rica, with the exception of the sodas, are very expensive. This reality was another strong argument for our decision to retire in Panama. We enjoy eating out and having economical restaurant selections is important to us.

The following morning we embarked on our journey to the mountain town of Tilaran.  On our journey we made a special stop at Walmart. Walmart in Costa Rica is a high end department store and we found the prices to be high compared to the States. We did pick up a few snacks and soft drinks for the road. We also got a few things that have been difficult to find in Panama.

The Ciudad of Tilaran
The Ciudad of Tilaran

From there we traveled on to Lake Arenal and the pinnacle of our trip, a visit to Lake Arenal and the Arenal Volcano. We stayed in a great casita with a full kitchen and an awesome view of Lake Arenal for $50 USD per night. Our friends John and Barbie stayed with a friend down the road a bit. The lake is about 26 miles long and we were on the west end of it. The volcano and the small town of Arenal were about an hour drive away on the east end of the lake.  Our plan was to go to the volcano, hot springs and explore on Saturday. We will head back to Panama on Sunday. The pictures below are near where we stayed. The weather was perfect when we reached our temporary home on Lake Arenal.

On Saturday morning we woke up to torrential rain. It is rainy season and we were deep in the mountains and rain forest. Determined not to let the weather affect our plans, we took off bright and early prepared for whatever mother nature dealt us. We drove to the volcano and the small town of Arenal. To make a long story short we did not get to explore because the rain did not stop. We, also opted against the hot springs as it would not be great in the rain. We shopped around the town a bit and took a few pictures before returning to our temporary home at the other end of the lake.

For the rest of the day we enjoyed meeting some of John and Barbie’s friends and a couple of other great restaurants. Our farewell dinner was at Moyas and it was another awesome experience.

Sunday morning we got up for our journey home to Panama. On the way out of the mountains we stopped for what turned out to be an awesome photo opportunity. We took a picture of the Arnal Volcano with a cloud over the top resembling a hat. The rest of our journey was more beautiful countryside and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

We both agree that the experience of driving through Costa Rica was memorable and we will likely make another trip to fully enjoy the mountain experience. The beaches were great, but we have great beaches right here at home.

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Blessings,

Greg and Jen