Portabelo

Lilly lazing on the hammock in Portabelo.

Shells for sale. $5 for the large conc shells. I used to buy these in Key West in about 1955 for $.50

Clay learning fishing from his Dad.

John with Linda and Doug in front of the Church of the Black Christ. It is a carving of Jesus, shown as black. It is quite famous.

Our house where we stayed in Portabelo.

The bay in Portabelo, which was discovered by Columbus on one of his later excursions.

Portabelo was a significant fortification. Gold from the slave trade was stored here. The escaped slaves' descendants account for the darker skinned Panamanians on the Caribbean coast.

Lonnie and Stacia in the fort.

Caribbean Trip and More of December Holidays

I managed to make it to the dock and sit down before my timer took the picture. We are on a dock just outside a house we rented for two days near Portabelo, on the Caribbean coast. We planned to do some snorkeling in the clear water, but there was an ongoing light storm which stirred up the water, and we didn't get to snorkel. We did see fish and sting rays from the dock, and our family tried a lot of fishing,

We did a zip line for the first time. Very exciting and fun, but not a way to see nature.

Us, dressed up for a Christmas party. I wore my new $12 Panamanian shoes, not shown.

Clay taking to horseback riding on the beach like a regular cowboy.

The movie is of Lilly riding on the beach. The zip lining did not phase her, but she was concerned about the horse.

Family Visit, Embera village

Our older daughter and her family were here in Panama from December 13 to 31st. We had a great time, but did not have time to blog. I'll do some catching up.

One of the best things we did was to take a trip

to see an Embera village of indigenous people. About 10% of Panama's 4 million people are indigenous. One quarter of these are Embera.

The indigenous people seem, in many ways, to have a better life than indigenous peoples in the US or Australia, two cultures we have had some exposure to. They are still caught between preserving their culture and joining the dominant culture. They seem to want to maintain their culture, which the tourism dollars helps them do, and begin to send children on to higher education. We heard of two advanced students who wanted to return to the village as teachers. The tribe is very family and child oriented.

The Embera use extensive, temporary tatooing. Tatooing a newborn from head to foot is a good luck omen. Here Lilly and Jayne are having their arms tatood.

Anne was our initial contact. Next to her is her Mother in Law and a Brother in Law who gave us a talk on the basics, and answered any questions. Anne met her husband while filming a movie at the tribal village.

Our trip to the village was about an hour in a dugout canoe, which had followed an hour car ride to the area near Colon. The traditional dugout canoe had an outboard motor. Otherwise, the hour ride would have taken a full day of paddling.

The children greeted our dugout canoe when we arrived. The men had a band playing for us.

The film which I have uploaded shows the men playing their traditional instruments and the women dancing a dance of healing.

Above are a photo of the turn off from the Pan American Highway, and the last turn from our Gorgona road on to the Calle de Ocean Front.

A few weeks have passed since I last wrote.

The time in Panama passes quickly, though the schedule is less than hectic.

This past week we renewed some old and new acquaintances. We had dinner at Doug and Linda's rental place, while they wait for the closing on their new home in San Carlos.

On Wednesday our new friends Donna and Dave came for a swim. Both are good swimmers, especially Donna, and we had a great time swimmng a mile or so up the beach and returning. We then served them usual brunch of fish, plantains and fruit smoothies.

On Thursday we had dinner with Clifford and Debbie at Cholos, a Mexican restaurant in San Carlos, a fovorite of ours. Afterwards we had coffee and desert at their home in San Carlos. It is a neighborhood that has mostly weekend homes for Panamanians. One is owned by a girlfriend of Noriega. There are quite a few interesting stories about Noriega in this community. It is said to be where he kept a good bit of his arsenal.

Friday was a very nice day. Just the usual, but especially nice. A swim and walk, a brunch, a nap, some errands (shopping for furniture and shelving) and an early dinner at La Corretas, which is associated with the equestrian center in Coronado.

On Saturday we went with Jeanette and Neil to see the Christmas parade and pageant at the Coronado Club. Afterwards we had dinner at the club.

Today we lazed around the complex, going in the pool a few times. We made our version of some Sancocho. Sancocho is the Panamanian national soup, made with chicken, a few vegetables and yucca. It is served with a large piece of chicken, and a side of rice. We made ours with extra vegetables and very little salt. We served a late dinner to Moti and Susan, and had a nice chat about many things, including our efforts to elect a new board for our HOA and set up some new management protocols.

More of First Two Weeks: early Thanksgiving

We dropped by our local bar/restaurant La Ruina. Frank had made an attempt at setting up a market across the street. It rained his first attempt, and he was somewhat discouraged. I have been trying to get him to get a board of advisors to help him find the keys to creating a consistent clientelle. Like most business owners he is looking for the single magic bullet.

Our caretaker Dimas was up in the Mango tree in our parking making a preemptive cut of the brances before the branches and leaves fall on the lot and the cars. No ropes. Just a machete.

Our friends Rob and Donna had purchased some tickets for us to attend the American Society Thanksgiving dinner in PC. Rob and Donna live above the newly completed major street in downtown PC. They are waiting for their condo to be completed so they can move in. It is a year late now!

At the dinner we met several new couples, including another Donna and her partner David, on the left. Jayne, Donna and Rob are on the right. The food was good Thanksgiving fair. We had a very nice evening.

Our Altos lot has some new flowers since last Spring.

First Two Weeks in Paradise

Two weeks ago yesterday we flew into Panama. For a place that lives on Manana time, we have had a very hectic and enjoyable two weeks.

Our mechanc, Alvara, had dropped us at the airport last May and kept our car in our absence. When he dropped us off, the fuel pump had failed just as we arrived a the airport. Before picking us up he repaired that and replaced the worn tie rods. He charged us $.50 per day for storage, which he had not told us about. The total bill was just under $500, which we were glad to pay. We dropped him off at one of our favorite restaurants, Nikkos. We had a quick meal and headed for Gorgona.

In our absence Panama has elected a new president: Maratinelli. He is quite rich and says "you may catch me with my foot in my mouth, but not with my hand in the till." We are looking for changes. We noticed better roads, with reflectes, more traffic cops, missing toll booths.

In our first few days we began our routine of a morning swim and late brunch, paid our manager, put money in the bank, paid our plant lady in Altos, visited our Altos lot....Our Costa Grande casita was rented severa times in our absence. We made some money before paying the mortgage. Our lot in Altos looked good. The plantings of Vetive and Mani kept the hillsides from eroding.

Our first lunch was at Don Chachos. We had the usual: pollo entero, vegetales, and two frosties. After jubilado discount and tip, about $17.

We always meet interesting people who rent the other casitas in our complex. Here are Mike and Angie from DC. We had some good talks, and took them to Don Chacho's!

Ty's Choice: fishing above the crocs!

Ty chose to go fishing with us, and include his brothers and father. Ty is very inclusive and a great older brother.

The fishing place was outside of town. It was an old road tressle that has been replaced by a concrete bridge. The fishermen love this location, but it will probably be destroyed because it will be very expensive to maintain it in a safe conditon.

Jayne and I held our collective breath as the granchildren came perilously close to the edge. Below was a fast moving river. If one fell in I would have been right behind them, but the current would have carried us a half mile downstream, and there would have been no good place to get out. The problem would be the crocs!

Ty seemed to have a good time sharing his special day with everyone. He is very special, and is very good to his brothers.