Jan 28 – I’m hobbling like Grampa from The Real McCoys today (who is old enough to get that reference?), so we won’t be traveling very far.
Lucky for us, we are just down the road from the Butterfly Haven.
A gentle activity on a peaceful day.
Jan 27 – After a day of rest, today was a day for action! We had an early breakfast and set out for El Valle’s most famous hike, up La India Dormida. Although the reviews called the hike ‘challenging, steep, rocky, and moderate to difficult’, Jim assured me that it would be no problem for an experienced hiker like me. Famous last words.
We walked all the way through town, then down a road another mile to the start of the trail.
Jim climbed back down, all happy, and we ate our lunch on the bench. You might think that scrabbling down is easier than climbing up, and sometimes you’d be right, but the muscles at the front of my thighs had already given all they had to give, and our descent was painfully slow.
We finally made it down, then only had to walk one more mile to get back home. It was a long mile! We stopped halfway for a strawberry ice cream cone, which made me feel better, then home for a hot shower, which made me feel better still.
An interesting day.
Jan 26 – Happy birthday to our Lexi, 12 years old today! Baba and Grandad love you forever.
Who knew that sitting on a bus could make you so tired? Maybe it’s the higher elevation? Or maybe we’re just slowing down to vacation pace. We decided to take it easy today and see what there was to see in town.
We were drinking our morning coffee in bed (Jim, the best husband ever, brings me coffee in bed every morning, no matter where we are), when it got suddenly quiet. On this beautiful, sunny morning, the electricity went out! I wonder how often we should expect this? And how long will it last?
Our two burner stove works on propane, and there’s only cold water in the tap anyway, so there was really no impact. Jim made us a yummy breakfast that we ate in our outdoor dining room. I washed the dishes, heating up a pot of hot water for the final rinse. We know how to do this!
El Valle is a tourist town. It’s located inside the crater of an ancient volcano, with green peaks and ridges surrounding it in every direction. Less than 10 years ago, the streets were unpaved and the offerings few, but the perfect climate (high of 80, low of 65 consistently every day) and the lure of nearby mountain hiking made this a destination town.
Now the main street is paved and lit, with sidewalks and a bike path. Italian restaurants (pizza and pasta) proliferate, although there are eateries of many kinds: Chinese, Peruvian, Colombian, Thai, and Creole. There are several well-stocked supermarkets, and a variety of things to do and see.
The most famous mountain is La India Dormida, the Sleeping Indian. Can you see her below, her head on the right with green hair flowing?
As we walked, we kept looking in shops to see if the electricity had returned, but no bueno. The supermercados had generators to keep the cold food cases cold, which was a good thing.
Jim made supper a little early, because we weren’t sure how we would see our way around the apartment once the sun went down. Then, hallelujah! The electricity was back and we ran inside to recharge all our devices and take a warm shower. It doesn’t take much to make us happy these days!
Jan 25 – This morning we packed our bags, had one more breakfast that couldn’t be beat, and Ubered over to the Gran Terminal Nacional de Transporte, otherwise known as the bus terminal at the Albrook Mall.
The terminal was huge, and we were passed from one tout to the next until we reached the booth selling tickets to El Valle de Antón. Tickets cost $4.50 each, for a three hour ride.
We were directed onto a bus, and sat there for about half an hour until there were sufficient customers for us to leave. The bus was not a shiny new one like the city buses, nor was it as large, but it did have air conditioning. It also played loud mariachi music.
As soon as we left the terminal, the bus stopped on what seemed like every corner until it was full. The music changed from mariachi to Spanish rap. Each bus has a driver and a guy who opens the door, yells out the destination and hops off to collect money as passengers get on and off. It took us a long time to get out of the city, in bumper to bumper traffic, with road construction all around. Now, this feels more like Central America!
After an hour or so, the traffic thinned and we started to make good time. After another hour, the driver turned off the air con and we started to climb. We’re going to the mountains!
At the third hour, we arrived in El Valle. The driver stopped the bus right at our place, and we hopped off.
Los Aramos, owned by a former ambassador, is full of European furniture and artwork, and has been made into apartments of various sizes. We have a bedroom, a bath and a full kitchen, so Jim will be able to cook for us. The multiple dining and living rooms are outdoors, and shared.
We will be here for a week enjoying the cooler weather and taking in the sights and the hiking trails. Stay tuned!
Jan 24 – Our week in Panama City is drawing to a close, and there is one more hill Jim wants to climb. It’s not near our end of town, so we called an Uber to get us to the foot of Ancon Hill.
It turned out to be more of a paved road than a trail, but it was nice and shady, and gave us glimpses of the city as we climbed.
Jan 23 – We approached the Old Town from a new direction, and what did we find? Chinatown! It seems that every city has one. This one was definitely not included in the modernization we’ve seen in other parts of the city.
Iglesia de la Merced, Church of Mercy, had lots of life-sized statues.
The church next door had a more modern feel. I really liked the artwork.
Jim read about a church here with a remarkable Nativity display. We found it!
The display continued into the next room, with modern characters:
A fun afternoon!
Jan 23 – What to do today? We’re running out of major attractions to see in the city. Some tours and bloggers suggest a trip to the local fish market, so that is our plan for the morning.
After a tour of all the choices, we went outside to the string of fish restaurants, all hawking the same lunch choices. I got camarones in garlic salsa with rice, and Jim opted for the pulpo (octopus) with yucca fries.
Next to the market we saw lots of fishing boats at anchor. It was low tide, and some boats looked like they’d been there a long time.
We walked further down the Cinta Costera, which we learned had just been built in the last ten years to reclaim the waterfront area. We would have walked farther, but it was HOT, and the sun was beating down.
We realized we were not far from the Casco Viejo (Old Town), and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon nosing around. More in the next post.
Jan 22 – Today we left the shiny skyscrapers for a walk in the jungle. Within the city limits is Metropolitan Natural Park, offering a shady walk and a chance to see some local flora and fauna.
We got back to the hotel and rewarded ourselves with an afternoon swim. For supper, we saw Sancocho on the menu, and remembered that this was one of the national dishes we were to try. Sancocho turned out to be chicken broth with a big piece of chicken breast, served with arroz blanco on the side. So…chicken soup with rice. Very nice!
Jan 21 – Today was our day to travel to Miraflores Locks to see The Canal. Although we traveled through the canal for a day in 2008 (while Jim was teaching for the Semester at Sea), this was our opportunity to see the locks from the land.
Jim plotted a way to get us to Miraflores using the subway, several buses, and an hour of time, but we opted instead for a $4 Uber ride, and were there in 20 minutes.
Miraflores is totally a tourist attraction, with a $17 entrance fee and a 3D IMAX movie in English, narrated by Morgan Freeman. Turns out that the movie was the entire attraction, as there were no ships going through the locks when we were there.
Here is a $17 history of the Canal. The Spaniards thought about a canal across the isthmus, but didn’t have the technology. The French tried and failed to dig a canal in the late 1800s: between the rain undoing their digging and malaria and yellow fever killing the workers at a rate of 500 deaths for every mile dug, they gave up.
In 1903, Teddy Roosevelt orchestrated a one day coup to free Panama from Colombia and take over the Canal Zone. A US engineer had the idea to dam up the Chagras River / Río Chagras, creating a lake in the middle. This simultaneously provided hydroelectric power for the project and decreased the number of miles to be dug. A UK doctor discovered that mosquitoes were the carriers of the diseases, and they started aggressive spraying the canal area to eradicate the pests.
Ten years later and voilá! A canal run by the US from 1914 until 1977, when Jimmy Carter agreed to gradually give it back. Panama took total control in 1999.
When it was determined that the Canal was becoming obsolete due to the size of newer container ships, larger locks were added on both sides of the originals, just like adding new lanes to the Interstate. The upgrade was completed in 2016.
We’ll, that was quite an education. Thank you, Morgan Freeman!
As it didn’t take too long to see the Canal, Jim had a plan for our afternoon. There is a park / bike path called Cinta Costera that runs right along Panama Bay, providing us a scenic, semi-shady walk. To get there, we had to walk by all the posh skyscraper hotels.
Jim had the idea to walk into the tallest hotel and ride the elevator up to the top floor to see the view. We boldly strode in with our shorts and walking sticks, right past the staff in their formal dress.
Unfortunately, once upstairs, we found just a hallway with no windows, so Jim sweet-talked a maid into letting us into the Royal Suite!
Jan 20 – Today we took a municipal bus across the city to see the ruins of Old Panama. The bus uses the same Metro card we purchased yesterday, and whether you choose the subway or the bus, the cost is 35 cents. The bus was just as nice as the train, and allowed us to see different parts of this big city.
When we were three stops from the one that Google told us was ours, an old man in the seat in front of us started pointing and indicating (in Spanish of course) that we should get off. Sure enough, there was a building that said Visitors Center, but just as we saw it, the bus moved on. Better to trust Google, we thought.
We jumped off where Google suggested, and we were indeed at Old Panama – we could see it through the fence. We tried to walk through the gate, but a guard pointed back up the road – no admission here. We had to walk 20 minutes back down the busy highway until we got to the stop the old man had indicated. Nice Person of Panama, and Google, you let us down!
Once through the proper gate, we hopped on a tram that took us to a small museum.
Inside, we learned some of the history of the Spanish conquest of the area in the early 1500s, the establishment of the first European settlement on the Pacific Ocean in 1517, and the ultimate destruction of the old city in 1671 by the infamous buccaneer, Sir Henry Morgan. He took all the silver and gold, and burned the city down. The Spanish reviled him, but the British knighted him for his deeds.
When we were ready to go home, we hopped on the bus, only to discover that our metro card was out of funds. What to do? The card can only be refilled at a subway station. We offered cash to the driver, but he just waved us onto the bus. Another Nice Person of Panama!
After an afternoon swim, we sauntered over to Concolón, a restaurant that promised authentic Panamanian street food. Unlike other central and South American countries, we have encountered no actual street food here, much to Jim’s dismay. Jim ordered a plantain lasagna and I chose chicken with macaroni, neither of which sounded like street food. Jim’s came in a tiny bowl, and mine on a huge platter – one to feed a chihuahua and one to feed a Great Dane! We were so flabbergasted that we forgot to take a picture. Suffice it to say that both were delicious, liberally seasoned with culantro (the national herb here, with a much stronger taste than cilantro) and between us, we managed to make all the food disappear. A satisfying day!
Taking Our Time 