Friday, January 15, 2010
Today was strictly kids play day. We had a delicious pancake and eggs breakfast by Liz while sitting out on the front patio. A bit later we loaded up and went to Charley’s house about 4 km back towards the South east, but on the same road. Charley is a friend of Jim and Karen Dertien that we met while at their house in Panama City. He was very kind and generously offered to let us go use the pool while we in Portobello. He has at least an acre of beach front well manicured property and a perfect swimming pool in the middle of it all. The kids were in heaven. We swam for at least 5 hours and the kids never got tired of it. He also had internet so I got caught up on some emails which is always bitter sweet. I still dread checking all my voicemails despite my message that I would be out of the country.
For lunch I ran next door to ‘Octopus Garden’ for some cheeseburgers and chicken fingers. We all wolfed it down in a flurry of grabbing hands. When we were ready to move on, we drove into Maria Chiquita for a few grocery items and then found an inviting dirt road headed east into the mountains along a large river. About 2 miles up, I stated that a rope swing on that river would be a ball. 10 seconds later we pulled over next to a huge tree with a great rope swing begging for some fun. I took a few turns out and back and finally dropped into the river. Moriah was next and swung out but dragged her legs (and butt) and fell into the shallow. We all laughed. Next she got to the high perch and I moved the wood handle up 6 inches so she wouldn’t drag. Sadly, it slipped a bit when she took off and caused her to slip off and land face down in the very shallow water. She slammed her knee into some rocks and got a good gash as a result and a dozen more scratches down her leg. She screamed enough to wake the natives ¼ mile away who were looking from their houses wondering what was going on. She was brave however until we got the rubbing alcohol and cleaned it up when she screamed and moaned all over again.
We made spaghetti again tonight with some French bread and made Flan for dessert. By 7:30 we are all tired and ready for bed. Poor Kennedy took a dive off Liz’s bed onto the tile floor headfirst again and is now sporting a golf ball size bruise on her forehead. Right now the girls are reading their books while Liz and I try to relax a bit before dozing off for the night.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
We drove out to the city of Colon on the Atlantic side and close to the Gatun Locks on the Canal today. We stopped into a large shopping center where we found some delicious pizza, roasted chicken and milk shakes. The kids had a ball on some coin operated stuffed animals with wheels that they drove around the place. They ran over my foot two times with the thing while I was filming which was not so fun.
We drove over to the Gatun locks which lie on the Atlantic side of Panama and drop the ships 85 feet in 3 chambers back to sea level. It just worked out that our good friend Jim Dertien was piloting a ship that was coming through. We waved at a giant cruise ship as it passed and dropped through the chambers. Then Jim’s cargo ship came along and he walked out onto the front bow to wave to us. He walked the entire length of the ship talking to me while the ship taxied into the second lock. He has been a tremendous friend to us and has made this adventure so much more than it would have been otherwise. He has let us use his car, his beach house on the Pacific, the beach shack on the Atlantic, a local cell phone, and an internet phone while we have been here. Most of all perhaps is the 2-3 phone calls every day to check up on us, tell us where to go and not go, and recommend restaurants and sites to see.
After the locks we drove through the dense jungle out to Fort San Lorenzo built by the Spanish to protect the Chagres River from Pirate invasion. All the gold coming out of Peru was being trekked across Panama and shipped from the Atlantic shores to Spain which attracted all kinds of riff raff as you can imagine. I read that 1/3 of the entire worlds gold passed though Portobelo Panama at one time.
The fort was amazing. It sits on a 150 foot cliff jutting out into the bay in front of the mouth of the giant Chagres River. The river is the same that was damned in the early 1900’s to create the tremendous Lake Gatun, one of the largest man made lakes in the world. The fort was attacked and taken 3 times by various pirates and finally the British Fleet. The underground chambers are at least 20 feet high and wide enough to drive a semi truck through. It was a little unnerving to have the little kids there with the huge 20 foot moats, 150 foot cliffs, and many other hazards surrounding the place. As impressed as we were, we had to hustle away as it was incredibly muggy and hot. On the way out Liz spotted a monkey in the trees and soon we were watching a small family of spider monkeys just 30 feet away. They are more difficult to find apparently, but not as fun to listen to as the howler monkeys we saw in Costa Rica.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sunday we decided to head on to our next destination. We drove to Panama city and then west on the main highway to El Palmar to rendezvous with the Dertiens at their beach house and drop off the kayak. They made us lunch and begged us to stay the night before continuing on but we wanted to make good time so we continued driving. It took us some 5 more hours of driving to get to Boquete and we were exhausted and ready for bed by arrival. The town lies high in the mountains skirting the Volcano Baru and right on the Caldera river. It’s quaint and hosts dozens of tasty restaurants, but doesn’t offer a whole lot to do for a family with small kids. The mountains surrounding the valley are overgrown with huge trees and jungle vegetation. The jungle is cut away on the steepest slopes it seems for the acres and acres of coffee farms checkering the landscape. They also grow cabbage, onions, and strawberries on the hills which seems odd to plant on such severe slopes, but must have benefits I’m un aware of, or perhaps the land is cheaper.
Our hotel is called Villa Marita and lies on the North end of town overlooking the valley. The grounds are marvelous and the cabins are small but cozy. Ours walks out onto a balcony that drops a good 100 feet down a vine covered slope to the valley below. Kennedy has stayed away from the edge so far! The room includes a delicious breakfast and best of all, they have a hot cocoa machine that we’ve all but depleted in the days we’ve been here. I think the hot cocoa is the only thing keeping Liz from throwing in the towel on this vacation after 2 full weeks!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Today we had another great breakfast here at the Villa Marita Hotel in Boquete. We then loaded up and drove south a ways to a small town called Caldera right on the Caldera River. In just 10 miles the scenery changed significantly and we drove through vast fields of dry vegetation. The acreages were surrounded by hand stacked lava rocks for miles. When we crossed the first river we came to, we pulled off and found a trail down to the river about 100 feet below. The water was crystal clear and the gorge was smothered with tropical vegetation. Elijah, Moriah and I hiked down and Moriah waded across the river to stand under a chilly water fall for the camera. She is a brave soul that little girl! Such a good sport about jumping into ice cold rivers, daringly attempting a good size rope swing, and more. She is certainly fun to be around!
We then continued our drive out through the small town of Caldera. There was no garbage on the streets! It was as if we were in a new country. We took a dirt road out to the Caldera river and drove across a cable suspension bridge that had us all a little nervous. From there we took the trailhead about ½ mile to some farmers land and a couple of very hot, but otherwise not too impressive springs. After less than an hour we made our way back to the car and down the road a ways to a sandy beach spot on the gorgeous Caldera river. Moriah and I jumped into the river a couple of times and swam around in the cold water. Elijah and Dresden soon joined in. The kids then discovered hundred of tiny toads hopping about and collected about 40 of them in the fold of Moriah’s shirt. As we loaded up to leave, Liz realized she had left her backpack at the hot pots parking lot so we hustled back for it, but of course, it was gone. We searched around and asked a few people about seeing it, but with no luck. We are happy there wasn’t anything too valuable in it, although Liz was sad to have lost a few bracelet souvenirs, a baby carrier she had recently bought, and some miscellaneous clothes. Worst of all was we had no more diapers for the two babies and they had to ride without bottoms for an hour till we made it to the market to get some more.
We got some more food at the cafeteria in town (rice, beef, chicken, fried bananas, etc) and then just relaxed back at our bungalow for the rest of the evening. Moriah took Kennedy up to the main house to get some hot cocoa and Kennedy pulled the cup over on herself. She let out a loud scream but wasn’t burned luckily. The kids were otherwise good and without too many mishaps today.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Today we had breakfast and drove a gorgeous and steep loop up onto the slopes of the Volcano again. It’s hard to hike with the two small kids so we had to choose not to do “the quetzal trail” which ascends up to 3 large waterfalls in the mountains. Maybe nextime. We did still drive past a giant fall and an amazing rock climbing cliff where we messed around with the kids. We also stopped off to wander around Jim’s property along the river. It was all manicured and had it’s own stream running through it. We picked a few oranges and played in the stream with the kids.
We had lunch at the Boquette Bistro and were all quite pleased. The owner, an American, took Kennedy the entire time we ate and put her to sleep which made lunch that much better. I had a fantastic Blue Cheese burger with bacon that I want to go back for already just 3 hours later. She makes her own blue cheese and dressing and it was mouthwatering!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
We decided to leave the perfect weather and climate of Boquette in search of more adventure. We packed up and drove down the mountain to the city of David where we walked the Baru Shopping Mall to stretch our legs. Moriah and Dresden each got a pair of shoes for $5.99. We hoped to see a Matinee of Avatar, but it wasn’t till later in the afternoon. With some good snacks from the grocery store we left David and headed for the Caribbean side of panama once again. The highway traversed the gorgeous mountains of panama winding back and forth again and again. There was significant road work being done to repair the washed out roads and bridges from severe flooding. We failed to snap any pics, but the damage was incredible. Rivers seemed to have washed out entire valleys taking everything in their path with them. Boulders the size of trucks had been rolled down and deposited everywhere. Luckily they had made good progress and we were able to get past every section of damage without having to wait.
We passed through Fortuna National Forest and the Fortuna Reservoir which was created as a huge hydro electric dam. As we descended off the mountain we suddenly hit stopped traffic. I talked to a few people who explained that the local ‘Indians’ were holding a strike and wouldn’t let any traffic pass. We waited about 30 minutes till it finally subsided and we could continue on. We stopped at a roadside buffet and had more Panama style food. It was all average except for the fish called “Dorado” which was delicious. After some 4 hours of driving we finally arrived in the small town of La Mirante where we secured a water taxi to transport us to Boca. We parked our car with most our luggage in a fenced in yard and paid $3 per day for a woman to watch over it and the other vehicles packed into her little fortress. After I dropped the car and hustled over to the taxi, I found Liz and the kids being pushed onto the already packed full taxi boat with some 30 other passengers. She had a horrified look on her face as we loaded up with the rest and smashed our backpacks into any nook we could find. The taxi drive was quite nice I thought as we passed from the mainland between various Islands in the massive bay of Chiriqui. Moriah sat on my lap, Dresden was up one isle between a kind local and his young daughter, and Liz held the two babies just behind me. At one point the water spray was high and Elijah was laughing hysterically as it slapped off his outreached hand. I looked back to realize he was drenching the man behind him. I couldn’t help but bury my head into Moriah and have a good laugh with her.
In Bocas del Toro we unloaded the boat and hoofed it down the main road passing every kind of tourist and local on the busy street. Most of them are surfers come to check out the scene. We checked into our hotel ‘The Swans Cay” which is one of few with a pool and therefore our first choice. We got two rooms adjoining each other and poolside making for some very happy kids. They were in the pool in 3 minutes flat where they stayed for at least 2 hours. The kids were super troopers today and did a great job at keeping busy in the car reading books and playing games.
Today was strictly kids play day. We had a delicious pancake and eggs breakfast by Liz while sitting out on the front patio. A bit later we loaded up and went to Charley’s house about 4 km back towards the South east, but on the same road. Charley is a friend of Jim and Karen Dertien that we met while at their house in Panama City. He was very kind and generously offered to let us go use the pool while we in Portobello. He has at least an acre of beach front well manicured property and a perfect swimming pool in the middle of it all. The kids were in heaven. We swam for at least 5 hours and the kids never got tired of it. He also had internet so I got caught up on some emails which is always bitter sweet. I still dread checking all my voicemails despite my message that I would be out of the country.
For lunch I ran next door to ‘Octopus Garden’ for some cheeseburgers and chicken fingers. We all wolfed it down in a flurry of grabbing hands. When we were ready to move on, we drove into Maria Chiquita for a few grocery items and then found an inviting dirt road headed east into the mountains along a large river. About 2 miles up, I stated that a rope swing on that river would be a ball. 10 seconds later we pulled over next to a huge tree with a great rope swing begging for some fun. I took a few turns out and back and finally dropped into the river. Moriah was next and swung out but dragged her legs (and butt) and fell into the shallow. We all laughed. Next she got to the high perch and I moved the wood handle up 6 inches so she wouldn’t drag. Sadly, it slipped a bit when she took off and caused her to slip off and land face down in the very shallow water. She slammed her knee into some rocks and got a good gash as a result and a dozen more scratches down her leg. She screamed enough to wake the natives ¼ mile away who were looking from their houses wondering what was going on. She was brave however until we got the rubbing alcohol and cleaned it up when she screamed and moaned all over again.
We made spaghetti again tonight with some French bread and made Flan for dessert. By 7:30 we are all tired and ready for bed. Poor Kennedy took a dive off Liz’s bed onto the tile floor headfirst again and is now sporting a golf ball size bruise on her forehead. Right now the girls are reading their books while Liz and I try to relax a bit before dozing off for the night.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
We drove out to the city of Colon on the Atlantic side and close to the Gatun Locks on the Canal today. We stopped into a large shopping center where we found some delicious pizza, roasted chicken and milk shakes. The kids had a ball on some coin operated stuffed animals with wheels that they drove around the place. They ran over my foot two times with the thing while I was filming which was not so fun.
We drove over to the Gatun locks which lie on the Atlantic side of Panama and drop the ships 85 feet in 3 chambers back to sea level. It just worked out that our good friend Jim Dertien was piloting a ship that was coming through. We waved at a giant cruise ship as it passed and dropped through the chambers. Then Jim’s cargo ship came along and he walked out onto the front bow to wave to us. He walked the entire length of the ship talking to me while the ship taxied into the second lock. He has been a tremendous friend to us and has made this adventure so much more than it would have been otherwise. He has let us use his car, his beach house on the Pacific, the beach shack on the Atlantic, a local cell phone, and an internet phone while we have been here. Most of all perhaps is the 2-3 phone calls every day to check up on us, tell us where to go and not go, and recommend restaurants and sites to see.
After the locks we drove through the dense jungle out to Fort San Lorenzo built by the Spanish to protect the Chagres River from Pirate invasion. All the gold coming out of Peru was being trekked across Panama and shipped from the Atlantic shores to Spain which attracted all kinds of riff raff as you can imagine. I read that 1/3 of the entire worlds gold passed though Portobelo Panama at one time.
The fort was amazing. It sits on a 150 foot cliff jutting out into the bay in front of the mouth of the giant Chagres River. The river is the same that was damned in the early 1900’s to create the tremendous Lake Gatun, one of the largest man made lakes in the world. The fort was attacked and taken 3 times by various pirates and finally the British Fleet. The underground chambers are at least 20 feet high and wide enough to drive a semi truck through. It was a little unnerving to have the little kids there with the huge 20 foot moats, 150 foot cliffs, and many other hazards surrounding the place. As impressed as we were, we had to hustle away as it was incredibly muggy and hot. On the way out Liz spotted a monkey in the trees and soon we were watching a small family of spider monkeys just 30 feet away. They are more difficult to find apparently, but not as fun to listen to as the howler monkeys we saw in Costa Rica.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sunday we decided to head on to our next destination. We drove to Panama city and then west on the main highway to El Palmar to rendezvous with the Dertiens at their beach house and drop off the kayak. They made us lunch and begged us to stay the night before continuing on but we wanted to make good time so we continued driving. It took us some 5 more hours of driving to get to Boquete and we were exhausted and ready for bed by arrival. The town lies high in the mountains skirting the Volcano Baru and right on the Caldera river. It’s quaint and hosts dozens of tasty restaurants, but doesn’t offer a whole lot to do for a family with small kids. The mountains surrounding the valley are overgrown with huge trees and jungle vegetation. The jungle is cut away on the steepest slopes it seems for the acres and acres of coffee farms checkering the landscape. They also grow cabbage, onions, and strawberries on the hills which seems odd to plant on such severe slopes, but must have benefits I’m un aware of, or perhaps the land is cheaper.
Our hotel is called Villa Marita and lies on the North end of town overlooking the valley. The grounds are marvelous and the cabins are small but cozy. Ours walks out onto a balcony that drops a good 100 feet down a vine covered slope to the valley below. Kennedy has stayed away from the edge so far! The room includes a delicious breakfast and best of all, they have a hot cocoa machine that we’ve all but depleted in the days we’ve been here. I think the hot cocoa is the only thing keeping Liz from throwing in the towel on this vacation after 2 full weeks!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Today we had another great breakfast here at the Villa Marita Hotel in Boquete. We then loaded up and drove south a ways to a small town called Caldera right on the Caldera River. In just 10 miles the scenery changed significantly and we drove through vast fields of dry vegetation. The acreages were surrounded by hand stacked lava rocks for miles. When we crossed the first river we came to, we pulled off and found a trail down to the river about 100 feet below. The water was crystal clear and the gorge was smothered with tropical vegetation. Elijah, Moriah and I hiked down and Moriah waded across the river to stand under a chilly water fall for the camera. She is a brave soul that little girl! Such a good sport about jumping into ice cold rivers, daringly attempting a good size rope swing, and more. She is certainly fun to be around!
We then continued our drive out through the small town of Caldera. There was no garbage on the streets! It was as if we were in a new country. We took a dirt road out to the Caldera river and drove across a cable suspension bridge that had us all a little nervous. From there we took the trailhead about ½ mile to some farmers land and a couple of very hot, but otherwise not too impressive springs. After less than an hour we made our way back to the car and down the road a ways to a sandy beach spot on the gorgeous Caldera river. Moriah and I jumped into the river a couple of times and swam around in the cold water. Elijah and Dresden soon joined in. The kids then discovered hundred of tiny toads hopping about and collected about 40 of them in the fold of Moriah’s shirt. As we loaded up to leave, Liz realized she had left her backpack at the hot pots parking lot so we hustled back for it, but of course, it was gone. We searched around and asked a few people about seeing it, but with no luck. We are happy there wasn’t anything too valuable in it, although Liz was sad to have lost a few bracelet souvenirs, a baby carrier she had recently bought, and some miscellaneous clothes. Worst of all was we had no more diapers for the two babies and they had to ride without bottoms for an hour till we made it to the market to get some more.
We got some more food at the cafeteria in town (rice, beef, chicken, fried bananas, etc) and then just relaxed back at our bungalow for the rest of the evening. Moriah took Kennedy up to the main house to get some hot cocoa and Kennedy pulled the cup over on herself. She let out a loud scream but wasn’t burned luckily. The kids were otherwise good and without too many mishaps today.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Today we had breakfast and drove a gorgeous and steep loop up onto the slopes of the Volcano again. It’s hard to hike with the two small kids so we had to choose not to do “the quetzal trail” which ascends up to 3 large waterfalls in the mountains. Maybe nextime. We did still drive past a giant fall and an amazing rock climbing cliff where we messed around with the kids. We also stopped off to wander around Jim’s property along the river. It was all manicured and had it’s own stream running through it. We picked a few oranges and played in the stream with the kids.
We had lunch at the Boquette Bistro and were all quite pleased. The owner, an American, took Kennedy the entire time we ate and put her to sleep which made lunch that much better. I had a fantastic Blue Cheese burger with bacon that I want to go back for already just 3 hours later. She makes her own blue cheese and dressing and it was mouthwatering!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
We decided to leave the perfect weather and climate of Boquette in search of more adventure. We packed up and drove down the mountain to the city of David where we walked the Baru Shopping Mall to stretch our legs. Moriah and Dresden each got a pair of shoes for $5.99. We hoped to see a Matinee of Avatar, but it wasn’t till later in the afternoon. With some good snacks from the grocery store we left David and headed for the Caribbean side of panama once again. The highway traversed the gorgeous mountains of panama winding back and forth again and again. There was significant road work being done to repair the washed out roads and bridges from severe flooding. We failed to snap any pics, but the damage was incredible. Rivers seemed to have washed out entire valleys taking everything in their path with them. Boulders the size of trucks had been rolled down and deposited everywhere. Luckily they had made good progress and we were able to get past every section of damage without having to wait.
We passed through Fortuna National Forest and the Fortuna Reservoir which was created as a huge hydro electric dam. As we descended off the mountain we suddenly hit stopped traffic. I talked to a few people who explained that the local ‘Indians’ were holding a strike and wouldn’t let any traffic pass. We waited about 30 minutes till it finally subsided and we could continue on. We stopped at a roadside buffet and had more Panama style food. It was all average except for the fish called “Dorado” which was delicious. After some 4 hours of driving we finally arrived in the small town of La Mirante where we secured a water taxi to transport us to Boca. We parked our car with most our luggage in a fenced in yard and paid $3 per day for a woman to watch over it and the other vehicles packed into her little fortress. After I dropped the car and hustled over to the taxi, I found Liz and the kids being pushed onto the already packed full taxi boat with some 30 other passengers. She had a horrified look on her face as we loaded up with the rest and smashed our backpacks into any nook we could find. The taxi drive was quite nice I thought as we passed from the mainland between various Islands in the massive bay of Chiriqui. Moriah sat on my lap, Dresden was up one isle between a kind local and his young daughter, and Liz held the two babies just behind me. At one point the water spray was high and Elijah was laughing hysterically as it slapped off his outreached hand. I looked back to realize he was drenching the man behind him. I couldn’t help but bury my head into Moriah and have a good laugh with her.
In Bocas del Toro we unloaded the boat and hoofed it down the main road passing every kind of tourist and local on the busy street. Most of them are surfers come to check out the scene. We checked into our hotel ‘The Swans Cay” which is one of few with a pool and therefore our first choice. We got two rooms adjoining each other and poolside making for some very happy kids. They were in the pool in 3 minutes flat where they stayed for at least 2 hours. The kids were super troopers today and did a great job at keeping busy in the car reading books and playing games.
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