Trip to Panama

I took a trip to Panama, arriving January 25th and flying back to Seattle February 8, 2011. The first six days were spent traveling with Laura Alexander (our fearless leader) and 16 or so of her family members and eight expats currently living in Panama City. Laura arranged for a 50 seat air conditioned coach and a bilingual guide, a resident of Chitre, Panama. Juan Alberto (our guide) provided us with the background and history of the places we toured in seven of Panama's nine provinces.

What you'll see here is a condensed version of this truly amazing trip. If you are interested in visiting Panama, check out the following website Laura maintains:

http://www.expatexplorers.com/

Make sure you examine the entire website if you're thinking about visiting. (see http://www.expatexplorers.com/aPanamaDisc.htm for itinerary of this trip.)

Trip to Taboga Island

Gave myself a treat by taking a 45 minute ferry ride from the Amador Causeway to Taboga Island so I could spend the day at the beach. 

Turns out Paul Gauguin spent time on the island, but couldn't afford to stay so off he went to Tahiti, but before he did, he painted a mural on the side of a house. Taboga (founded in 1515) boasts the second oldest church (San Pedro, circa 1524, pics included) in the hemisphere, and has the notorious distinction of being the place Pizzarro launched his invasion of the Inca Empire. 

I've included pictures of the sand spit and party boats anchored off it, ala SeaFair, at low and high tide. I swam in the warm Pacific waters on the party boat side of the spit at low tide (note the difference) and a video clip of a boy playing in the surf adjacent to a condemned building, ya the one with hammock hanging underneath it. Apparently, the locals haven't read the sign.

When I returned to the Causeway and called Oscar for a ride, I was sitting on a bench and noticed a sloth climbing around above me.

Expat Explorer Tour, Day 1

Laura arranged dinner at Tinajas, a restaurant that features folk dancers. Good dinner and this was where I met Laura's extended family, 12 fun-loving Canadians.

On the first day of the Expat Explorers tour, we boarded our luxurious coach (there were 23 of us, all of them Laura’s family except for 9 expats who live in Panama City and me), at Las Heucas Hotel after breakfast.

 Our first stop was at Quesos Chela (about an hour from the city and famous for it’s American-style bread and yogurt) The baker learned his trade in the 

States and 

Panamanians love his bread, because it is NOT filled with sugar. Then we headed for El Valle (a mountain community situated in the an extinct volcano) and took a walk to the El Macho Waterfall and toured an orchid research station (funded by Japan) responsible for replenishing native orchids in the surrounding mountain forests. The guy on the suspension bridge is Juan Alberto, our guide. We ended touring today at a family-owned zoo where the endangered golden frog is 

being preserved. This frog is only found in the jungle in this region of Panama. I also included a picture of a shy taper and hawk eating dinner.

We stayed the night at Rincon Vallero, a picturesque hotel in El Valle, a region where expats who love country living in cooler climes have homes. The hotel was across the road from a goose farm and they served as our alarm clock at 4:00AM. Rincon Vallero has a stream running through it and you can enjoy a meal watching gold fish swim around, or in the evening step outside and listen to frogs chirping or count fireflies as the wink hello.

Tour: Day 2

Stopped at Basilica Nate, the oldest mission church in the western hemisphere—established in 1522. Took pictures of altar, pulpit, and bell tower.

Juan Alberto, our guide, knows the history of every place in the country; and Laura Alexander, president of Expat

Explorers, have created a tour I couldn't have replicated on my own.

Our next stop was to see Dario, a world-renowned mask maker. He demonstrated his mask-making process.

We then traveled a few miles down the road and visited Santo Domingo de Guzman, a 17th century colonial church. We were invited into the home of woman who lives in the historic 18th century row houses that surround the church.

In the same town Angel Cabrillo, a celebrated ceramic artisan, demonstrated how he throws pots, makes plates, etc. We had lunch on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Chitre, Juan Alberto’s home town, visiting Chitre's Juan Batista Cathedral (see altar below) and ending our day at the Gran Hotel Azuero, a stunning new hotel with a fabulous pool.

Tour: Day 3

Started our day at the Herrera Natural History Museum  in downtown Chitre, and then spent the rest of our day at Rincon Del Faro, a beach resort on the Pacific. 

Swam in the ocean, ate a fabulous creole shrimp dish for lunch, and basically hung out with my new family.

Late in the afternoon we headed to Hotel Visa Lago outside Santiago. 

We stopped once at a rice field so Harold, Tim, and Ted (Canadian farmers) could quiz the man who manages the expansive farm.

Hotel Vista Lago looks as if Frank Lloyd Wright designed it. Beautiful! Took a picture of a walking stick insect on the lobby wall.

Tour: Day 4

Forgot to mention that Laura gave Spanish lessons in route to our next destinations. She made photocopies of lessons and gave us all a tablet for note taking. Laura is such a good teacher I'm sure that within a few weeks of working with her, I'd have enough language to get by.

On our way to Boquete we passed pineapple plantations and the landscape was lush. Mountains loomed in the distance. We stopped outside Boquete at a vista where we saw the entire town, the river running through it, and surrounding mountains. The pictures of the town might be deceiving. I walked all three main streets in about 7 minutes. American expats have settled here and there is an active expat community for those interested. Many run Eco Tourism outfits or restaurants.

Café Ruiz is a highlight here. It produces some of the best coffee in the world and Laura arranged a tour of the factory. Seniorita Ruiz (last pic), the grand daughter of the founder, gave the tour. Her grandfather was concerned that the best coffee Panama produced was exported, so he created a café where locals could enjoy the coffee he grew on the surrounding hills. This small factory produces coffee that sells in Japan for $40.00 a cup.

About 100 yards up the road from Café Ruiz is Mi Jardin, Su Jardin (my garden, your garden), a private garden open to the public. The family lives on the grounds still.

In Boquete we spent an hour in the town and saw the whole place in ten minutes. Included a picture of my room at Hotel Valle Del Rio; it overlooked a stream and a view of the surrounding mountains. No air-conditioning here; it’s not needed. I included pictures of my room, because it was amazing, and a shot or Ramesh, Jansie, and I having coffee by the river.

For those who wanted, Laura arranged dinner at Machu Picchu, a Peruvian restaurant. We wondered how we’d get to town about half a mile away, but when we stepped outside the hotel, a  little train greeted us. 17 of us rode into town and had a fabulous meal. Laura is truly amazing! She’s just being who she is, making the trip special for her family and friends.