We have met with friends for group lunches and the
occasional dinner. We are so lucky that we have met such wonderful people here
in Panama. The first group dinner was at Chollos for Mexican food. There is a
server there that we met on our second exploratory trip here in Panama named
Gustavo. We have watched him go from wearing his school uniform (and changing
to go to work) and he has grown into a fine young man. He always remembers us
and always has a quick smile and automatically brings us our drinks. On this visit he was so proud of his 8 day old
baby girl Emily (showing us photos on his cell phone). We had 12 of us for this
group lunch. We were there with another
couple a while back and they said you must come here a lot. We actually don’t
since Mexican food is a calorie splurge for us. I guess we are just
memorable…lol
The February group lunch was at El Meson de Santa Cruz in
Penonome. Only 6 of us made it to this one. We all have been there before and
it really is a nice atmosphere and has great food. It has a huge courtyard and
the entire restaurant is decorated like an old world monastery.
Our March group lunch was at Caracoles. We had 10 of us this time. It seemed especially fun this time. Service was slow and I think it gave us all more time to chat. The food is good and the menu is eclectic with Cajun, East Coast favorites, pasta, salads, burgers & more.
We have taken several day trips here and there. A few to El
Valle and a few to the Gamboa Rainforest area. We hadn’t hiked Cerro Gaital
in El Valle in a long time and since its best in the dry season (the trail can be muddy and
slippery even in the dry season) we did that. We hiked a couple of other short
trails in the afternoon. We had lunch at Casa Tortuga on one visit and Carlito’s
on the other. One of our trips was to find this bird since it is making a comeback to the area. It left and has been sited only in the Bocas del Toro area.
Montezuma Oropendola
hanging basket nests - they seem to like palm trees
Woodcreeper
pretty flowers
Yellow-crowned Euphonia eating a berry
Black-striped Sparrow
Golden-collared Manakin - female
Golden-collared Manakin - female
Crimson-backed Tanager
Violaceous Trogon
Yellow-backed Oriole
part of the Cerro Gaital trail
Greg negotiating a fallen tree across the path
bench at the rest stop
Long-billed Gnatwren
Broad-billed Motmot with caterpillar
Yum, all gone!
Broad-billed Motmot
Southern Bentbill
We took a wrong turn out past El Valle and came across this pretty cemetery.
One trip to Gamboa we found the bridge to the Resort closed for several hours for repair, so we weren’t able to go to a couple of our planned stops, so we went another day to visit those. We did find a couple of ponds we hadn't been to before.
Plain Brown Woodcreeper
Bicolored Antwren
Western Slaty-Antshrike (male)
Spotted Antbird
Bright-rumped Atilla
Cinnamon Becard
Cinnamon Becard
Cinnamon Becard nest
White-shouldered Tanager
Ringed Kingfisher
Slaty Trogon
Golden-hooded Tanager
turtle at the ponds
sloth in Gamboa
White-faced Ibis
Bay-breasted Warbler
Plain-colored Tanagers
We took another trip to Panama City to do some shopping at
Albrook Mall and spent the morning hiking Metropolitan Natural Park. Greg got
new Keen hiking boots and we stopped at PriceSmart and picked up a few things on
the way home.
Black-throated Mango Hummingbird
Black-throated Mango Hummingbird
Orchard Oriole - male
Orchard Oriole - male
Orchard Oriole - female
Parque Natural Metropolitano
turtles at the pond
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow-headed Caracara
Blue Dacnis - male
female Blue Dacnis
Slaty Trogon
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
view of the city from the top
interesting tree trunks
Of course we walk the beach or the sendero here in Coronado
every morning.
huge jellyfish
male Barred-Antshrike
Brown-throated Parakeet
Streaked Flycatcher
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Striped Crown Snake
Striped Crown Snake
sloth
bat flew up right in front of us from the trail up into a tree
Yellow-backed Oriole
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
immature Baltimore Oriole
immature Baltimore Oriole
immature Common Black Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Smooth-billed Ani with insect
young Red-legged Honeycreeper
Rufous-browed Peppershrike
Tropical Mockingbird
male Lance-tailed Manakin
Tour planning for the World Cruise has also taken a fair
amount of my time. Since I deal directly with the people in each country that we
do the private tours with, it’s a lot of back and forth. (often dealing with
sporadic internet in various places) I
enjoy doing it, so I’m not complaining. Most have been quite responsive and
helpful. Greg has been busy researching
everything he can on various models/brands of Rvs.
We finally got our permanent crowns finished!
We booked a week in the Boquete area. (near the Costa Rican
border). We booked 2 nights in Volcan at Casa Grande Bambito Resort http://www.casagrandebambito.com/ and 5 nights at Boquete Garden Inn in
Boquete. http://www.boquetegardeninn.com/ We'll be gone from April 1 to 8. We love the Garden Inn so we are excited to return. It's our first time at Casa Grande Bambito.
We are hoping to find a lot of new birds that only live in that area. Our current bird count is 275 different species for Panama. If we are fortunate enough to see a Resplendent Quetzal that would be the highlight of our trip. It's breeding season for them and the male should be in his full glory. Here a picture from a blog I follow. Caitlin has some phenomenal photos.
We have 2 trips coming up in May. On the 1st we
are doing a week long birding trip with the Canopy Company at Canopy Camp in
the Darien. http://www.canopytower.com/canopy-camp
There are birds that only live in that area, so we should see quite a few new
species for us. We have read there is a Harpy Eagle nest with a chick. We sure hope to see it.
We return on the 8th and then leave on the 11th
to visit my Dad in Iowa. We have a stopover in Miami on the way back. Actually,
we have to stay the night in Miami going as well, since you can’t get there in
1 day. Dad wants to do the Boone Railway
dinner train and that looks like it will be very nice. I have my doctor appointment made to get my
annual prescriptions for the 2 medications I can’t get here. Of course we will be eating lots of food that we miss living here.
We return on May 22nd and then my son Scott and
his wife Sonya are visiting on June 9th to the 20th. So
we get to play tourist with them while they are here. We’re quite excited to
see them. Neither one of them have been out of the country, so I imagine it
will be quite an experience for them. I hope so! They have chosen some really
fun things to do while they are here.
We have a couple of more short trips to do in our final year
here in Panama. One is a couple of nights in the San Blas Islands visiting the
Guna Indians and doing some snorkeling and then flying to Medellin, Colombia.
We haven’t decided how long to stay there yet. There are a couple of other short trips within Panama we will try to tuck in.
After that we will start looking into shipping companies to
ship our things back to Miami. We were pleased with the company we used to move
things here, so will likely use them again. It will be even less stuff than we
brought, but a few things need to come back with us. The rest we will bring
back in suitcases when we return at the end of November or early December.
Then, we’ll have a month to buy whatever we need to take on the World Cruise
and put everything not going with us in a small storage unit.
So, with a whirlwind of things happening in our final year
in Panama, it was important for me to get a jump on the tour planning for the
World Cruise and not have to deal with it. Most private guides were more than
thrilled to book things early. Only 1 has said to wait a couple of more months
as they weren’t taking any bookings that far out. Pago Pago has had the most
internet issues (and I suspect just more laid back than usual) and has been the
most frustrating. On the last World Cruise it was Easter Island that had those
issues. (and then it turned out that it was the only port we couldn’t make due
to rough surf conditions for tendering) Ah well……
We currently are experiencing a “water shortage” here at the
Bay. First we had restricted usage due to annual maintenance. Then, a sign was
put in the elevators stating we would only have water between 6-9 AM and 11-1pm
and 5 to 8 pm. Of course in Panama time the 11:00 water has started anywhere
from 11:30 to 12:30. One 5:30 lasted only 45 minutes. So, we are wasting tons
of water since the pipes are air-filled and water doesn’t heat as well and the
water that does come out is cloudy and often smelly. Not flushing all night
gets interesting. You don’t realize how often you wash your hands until there
is no water. Trying to time showers, washing of dishes and laundry and cooking
during their specific timeframe is a nightmare to say the least. Of course it
is ludicrous that it is saving any water, since we are wasting more clearing
the air out of pipes and trying to get clear water or hot water. But then,
nothing has to make sense it just is what it is! Lol. We’re on the 10th
floor and at least so far we have had some water. Someone wrote on the sign in
the elevator that the 23rd floor hadn’t had any water for a day and
a half. (probably longer by now) This better not last long or a hotel stay may
be in order. (then we can’t cook so there’s no perfect solution.)
Well, we had almost 2 full days of no water. A bit in the morning and then none the rest of the day and the next day. We were told to take buckets to the pool to get water to flush toilets with. We went to the store and bought some big bottles of water. We used the pool water to rinse 2 days worth of dishes just to get the food off. We have bought plastic plates, bowls and cutlery so we don't have much to wash.
Finally, water trucks were able to deliver. So, we now have a different schedule for water and it's 6:00 to 7:00 in the morning. Then again at 11:00 to 1:00 in the afternoon. Then again from 6:00 to 8:00 at night. Definitely not convenient, but it has been pretty reliable. We don't know how long this will last (it's been over a week now), just until further notice.... If they are waiting for wet season to start it could be a while. We're hoping when the "snowbirds" go home and this Holy Week is over and they return to the city that it may allow us more water.
We were very fortunate that last year during the dry season most of Coronado did not have water and we still did. Not sure what happened this year.
Until next time....
