Day 12 - Dec 13, 2017 Final Thoughts

It's our final day of the trip to fly home (well almost home at YVR).  We left the hostel at 6:25a.  I didn't have a good sleep last night. The room we're given was like a basement dungeon. No outside window.  This made a big negative on my opinion of this hostel.

Guess what?  It's a perfect sunny morning in Panama City with the sun just poking up from the sea horizon, just in time for our departure!  Even at this early hour, traffic is already building up. Not sure if it's abnormal but the opposite side of the highway to the airport was just crawling with heavy traffic.  Linear parking lot in the Paradise!

Check in went smoothly and we're checking out the Copa Airlines lounge.  Not impressed. Just bagels and cereals.  Better than nothing.

Some random final thoughts about this trip and Panama:

- Don't try to seek out any museum in Panama. Even their "premier" museum,  Museo Antropological Reina Torres de Arauze, has been shut down for some years now due to insufficient fundings! I went to check it out just in case and all we saw was very nice colonial building that was closed and locked. Very sad.  The canal exhibition at Miraflores was also funky. Between different floors of exhibits about the canal history and operations, they would insert a random floor of insects, birds, and fish aquariums!!??

- Retiring in Panama is not what it is cooked up to be.  We were trapped in Boquete for three days amidst the heavy rain storms. It's miserable: cold (14-15C) and damp.  I'm thinking: why retire to somewhere that has the same dreary weather as Port Alberni in the winter?  In addition, food and grocery prices here in Boquete are super expensive, even by North American standard.  Housing costs are similar to Vancouver 10 years ago.  If we pick Panama, it has to be somewhere else away from rain.

- Driving in Panama is safe and ok. Even Panama City is fine. I've seen a lot worse places.

- There are not many people who can speak any English.  This is a big surprise to me. It's the same case in the rural areas (expected) and cosmopolitan Panama City (unexpected).  Considering all the financial activities and commercial development in Panama City, one would expect more fluency in English.  Same for Boquete which is supposedly crawling with expats and tourists.  Other than our hostel receptionist and one waitress, no one we met can speak or understand any English!

- Food scenes were not exciting. Despite the tropical and many micro-climates in the mountains, you don't see any decent selections of tropical or other fruits. Not even papayas or coconuts.  The central markets are not vibrant.  Quite disappointed!  The Japanese food we tried last night was poor despite the high price.  Mexican food was surprisingly pricey and not authentic.

- From what we saw, there is no acute poverty in Panama as in some other countries like Peru or Guatemala. For many, living standard is not high and comfort features are absent.  Yet, people seem content and happy with what they have. In the countryside, the whole family would walk up and down a steep gravel road to get to town and groups of children would walk to far away school down the hill.  Yet, they have a house to call home and grow their own veggies or raise chicken or goats, horses, cows, etc.

- Although there is no guarantee, traveling with your young adult son can be fun. It doesn't mean there is no disagreement but after 10 days of adventures, Eric and I are still talking. And I got to know him better.

- Patanone (fried plantains chips) tastes quite plain; while hojaldre (Panamanian fried bread) tastes great similar to Chinese donut

- Although famed for wonderful ocean ecosystems and teeming with fish, there is not much seafood consumed or available in restaurants. Even the shrimp ceviche I tried was mediocre.  As in other Latin American countries, pollo is king and most reliable dish.

- Not too many people smoke here which is great. I'm surprised that one of the duty-free stores at the airport here doesn't even sell cigarettes!

- Finally, traveling without my sweetie wife is no fun!  No one to take care of me, in Eric's words. 😟 Most importantly, I missed my wife to share the adventures with. 😄

Day 11 - Dec 12, 2017 Panama City

I drove almost 6 hours (with a lunch break at Aguadulce) from Boquete back to Panama City starting at 8a.  Since we missed the morning ship sail-through last Tuesday, we want to go back in time today to see the afternoon sail-through.  We were not disappointed.  By the time we arrived at 3p, the first South bound ship had just arrived.  It took the ship over 1.25h to go through the first lock and another 30 mins to go through the other two locks at Miraflores where we could actually see it.

The operation is quite impressive with six trolleys on fixed tracks (3 each side, 2 front and 1 back) towing the ship through the locksl1.  Once the ship is securely entered, the back door of the first lock will close. The water in the lock is then drained to the next lock just by gravity.  Once water levels in the two locks have equalized, the door between the two locks opens. The ship is then pulled through to the next lock. After the back lock closes, water is dumped to lower the ship to the Pacific ocean level.  The front lock then opens to allow the ship to sail to the Pacific.

After the canal, we drove back to Albrook Airport and returned the car.  The taxi demanded $15 to drive us back to Casco Viejo. Since we only paid $5 to get here a week ago, I thought this is outrageous.  Just when I was planning my next step, the car agency's clean up guy offered to drive us back to the hostel.  We were so impressed by this guy.  I gave him $5 instead.

For dinner, we had Japanese ramen tonight with a California roll. So-so taste only. Expensive!  My original plan was to visit the oldest Chinese restaurant in Panama City, Kwong Chow, made famous by Anthony Bourdain.  However, I going the whole neighborhood there quite sketchy after dark so we switched plan.  After dinner, we strolled to the Simon Bolivar Square to enjoy the ambience.  This is probably my most favorite square in the whole Casco Viejo.  So romantic both in daytime and nighttime!

Day 9-10 - Dec 10-11, 2017 Boquete

Yesterday was a write off for this trip.  It rained continuously for literally whole day (24h)!  This place is actually the origin of the weather system that caused the record-breaking snowstorm that hit US two days ago.  I have never experienced non-stop downpour like this: over 100mm rain was recorded by the evening!  It was also windy too with very strong gusts.

It might as well since we couldn't do any activities anyway.  Eric's diarrhea was getting worse.  He finished only half of his breakfast and threw up shortly.  I went to buy some bread, Gatorade, bottled water, and Imodium for him at the supermarket.  He rested whole day in the room and I stayed with him.  We didn't go out to eat so to give his stomach a rest.  Towards the evening, it seemed his body had improved slightly.

This morning, he felt a lot better and we decided to do some activities since the rain was forecasted to slow down today.  We first drove to the river gorge at Los Cangilones de Gualaca.  The river has cut through the rock to form a mini canyon.  The recent rain had swollen the river so much that we couldn't see the bottom of the canyon.

We then drove to Caldera to visit the hot spring.  Followed the route guide, we parked our car at the first bridge.  As soon as we walked to the second bridge, a local dude appeared from nowhere and started to follow us!  The interesting thing is we didn't see anybody on our drive in.  He couldn't speak English and we don't speak Spanish.  He started walking with us together to the hot spring.  We paid the $4 entrance fee and found two hot pools. This guy went in one pool and gestured me to join him.  I stayed a bit and went down to the river to cool down.  When I came up, he's trying to ask us when we're leaving (I figured that what he was asking).  He then gestured he would like to come with us (?) Not knowing exactly what he meant, we ignored him and went to the second (and more beautiful) pool.  Eric didn't want to join me to dip in the river nor the hot spring due to his condition.

As we're leaving, this guy started to shadow us to our car and just stood there watching us.  Eric and I looked at each other and started to drive away as fast as we could.  It's so creepy.  Thinking back, what did he want from us?  The only answer that made sense is that he had been waiting for tourists at the gate.  Upon seeing us, he popped out and tried to peddle his guiding service and followed us in.

After taking Eric back to hostel (his tummy still felt tender), I drove to Vulcan & Cerro Punta on the other side of the volcano to check them out.  Disappointed to find all the strawberry fruit stands empty and shut!  Must be out of season.

We met one more fellow hostel friend from Santa Fe: Steve.  He arrived today at the same hostel we were staying.  Pretty jealous of others' fantastic snorkeling experience at Isla Coiba.  Everyone was depressed by this non-stop rain.  Someone related the news that 15 stranded hikers were rescued from the top of Baru Volcano today.  What were they doing up top in this weather?

Day 8 - Dec 9, 2017 Boquete

Arrived in Boquete from Isla Boca Brava before noon and checked in hostel.  I was surprised that the room was ready so early.  Eric is still not well so we stayed in hotel. He caught a nap since he didn't sleep since waking up last night at 4a!

We went for lunch later and walked the town center a bit. Quite disappointing at the variety of produce and fruits to buy. This is probably worse than Chile or Bolivia.

Just after we were on our way to the hot springs, the sky darkened and sheets of rain started pouring down.  We decided to turn around and do the hot springs tomorrow morning instead.  The only good thing out of this is we got a free car wash from the rain!  But then as we approached the town, the rain disappeared so we drove to see one local attraction: a cliff made of basalt rocks turned sideways.  You can do rock climbing here as well if equipment is available.

Day 7 - Dec 8, 2017 Isla Boca Brava

Day 2 on the Island Boca Brava.  It's a slow and relaxing day mostly due to Eric's condition.  His tummy still has not calmed down yet so we didn't join a boat tour or do sea kayaking.  In between his "business", we still managed to walk the trail again and found more howler monkeys roaming on the trees.  Several guests checked out today but several more joined.  It seemed to be a busy place.  I relaxed at the cafe lookout to watch the waves rolled in and boats moved in and out among the islands.

Although I'm not the type to enjoy sedative holiday, I think one or two days of breaks like this is good before heading back up the mountain tomorrow.

This hotel employs 6 people right now to look after the whole complex.  Although they are doing their best, I can see the hotel structure is slowly falling apart literally.  The heavy rain and the humid climate are taking a heavy toll.  The foundation of many buildings has eroded severely and some cracks are forming.  The owner told me that it's getting more difficult to hire staff due to competition from newly opened hotels.  He had to hire from far away places like David and work them in 12 days on 2 days off shifts.  Panama minimum wage now is $15.  It is hard to see how someone can live on such wage unless they live in a group like family to save on rent etc.

For foreigners, the living standard here is very affordable given the amenities and natural endowment of the country.  Renting a whole house can be had for less than $100 USD per month!  Food costs can be very cheap if you don't go to fancy restaurants.  Climate is very pleasant and the choice is yours whether to stay in the heat or escape to the eternal spring up on the mountains.  Infrastructure is getting better every year.  The main highway from Santiago to David is almost brand new!  Compared to Costa Rica, Panama should be higher on the list of retirement options.

Day 6 - Dec 7, 2017 Isla Boca Brava

The roosters didn't make too much noise last night so we were able to have a quieter sleep last night.  Unfortunately, Eric and I all started to have diarrhea, and his case is more severe than mine.  I hope it'll pass quickly.

We gave our car a quick wash off the mud and got on our way to Boca Chica.  The drive took 4h due to highway work.  In our rush, we also forgot to check out one destination (the church in San Francisco which we skipped on the way in).

Boca Chica was even smaller than I expected.  There was only one narrow main street!  We parked our car at the private lot behind the church instead of risking it on the side of the narrow main street.  We then transferred to a local water taxi to take us across the channel to reach our hotel on Isla Boca Brava.  Just when we arrived and ready to get off, I realized I had forgotten my luggage back in the car. The boat had to take us back all the way again. Although an one way trip takes less than 5 minutes, it's still a hassle.  To add injury to insult, Eric commented that now he understands that it was Mom who had been taking care of me on all these trips before!!  How else can he explains all these blunders that I have been making lately!  Ouch!

The hotel/hostel is very nice and perches high on the island.  There is a fantastic ocean view from the restaurant. The owner is an American while has not lived in USA since 1996.  We struck up a good conversation and I learnt a great deal of Panama and their society.  He offered me an upgrade to a room with private bath and better ocean view for $5 more (instead of $10 normal price) and I took it.  Tonight we can try to sleep with the sound of ocean wave crashing over the shore!

Unfortunately, it seems difficult to organize a snorkeling trip tomorrow since we're the only two people interested. We'll see if he can help us hook up with another couple to share the boat cost ($100).  He also warned that the water clarity isn't good now due to rainy season.  Otherwise, we'll go sea kayaking instead.

The hotel property is at the East end of the island and the owner had sold off various lots to raise fund to build the hotel.  We walked the trail to two beaches and saw several hummingbirds and several howler monkeys.  I also found my biggest shell on the beach so far.  Inadvertently, Eric and I crashed a family's beach party too.  When we got there, we saw this naked guy rushing back from the water to put on his pants.  I can only shake my head as he has two young children with him all that time!

On the way back from our trail walk, Eric started to complain about all the mosquito bites that were killing him.  I almost forgot that he has very sensitive skin and is a magnet to mosquitoes just like Mommy.  No wonder there were surprisingly fewer bites than I had expected these past two nights!

Day 5 - Dec 6, 2017 Santa Fe

Santa Fe is a village nestled in the valley up on the mountains that are the continental divides. Two most prominent peaks are Cerro Tutte and Cerro Mariposa.  As of yet, there is no paved road to the Caribbean side so it's a quiet and quaint little town that is so green.

We could already smell the flower fragrance in the air when we arrived in the dark yesterday. This morning, we could see why. The village is just filled with various flowering plants in bloom.  It seems every plant in town blooms.  There are also all kinds of fruit trees like oranges, mandarins, bananas, papayas.

For the first time since we arrived in Panama, we got a very decent night of sleep!  Although the roosters still got timing mixed up and croaked whole night, we still managed to sleep well.  The temperature was just right - not hot that you need AC/fan and not cold you need heating.  I were quite hungry in the morning. We ended up ordering 3 breakfasts, 2 for Eric and 1 for me. First time I tasted yucca and it's tasty similar to taro. We met another guest of the hostel there and decided to go hike together. The trail is called Salto Alto de Piedra. It's a steep 7km climb up a public road first. Then it's muddy trotting down the hill to the river and a series of waterfalls.  The weather was nice, neither sunny nor raining, with good breezes.

The waterfall is very beautiful made up of a series of 5-6 cascading falls.  Even though we're not prepared to swim, Eric was the first one (is the any surprises here?) to dive in the pool and swam. He's even crazier by climbing up the fall to get to the second fall and pool.  I joined in later thinking "what the heck?"

Coming back, we took a different longer route, a 4x4 road, and came across really nice viewpoint of the mountains and the valley. Walking steep down hill is very taxing on your knees and legs. I don't know how the locals do it. They have to hike everyday up and down the hill to go to work or schools!

Eric had lunch in town and I got lots of fruits from the central market. A big bunch of baby bananas and two oranges plus 4 mandarins only costed $1.30!  What a steal!  I enjoyed it even more when I know I was not taken advantage of because I'm a foreigner.

Right now, Eric and I are relaxing in the hammocks provided. It's a good life!