Lisa's Parents Visit Panama

We have just seen Lisa’s parents off to the city. Chuck and Carole are heading home after a week plus here in Panama, and we had a great time. They arrived in Panama City and worked their way through customs and immigration alone because the buses running from the national terminal got Lisa and I to the airport a little late. The city buses don’t even drop people off right out in front; you have to get off several hundred yards away on the passing highway and hoof it over to the building.

The parents brought us a new computer that we’d decided we just had to buy to facilitate our Community Economic Development work; even though we don’t have electricity in our site, we can work on things offline and upload or email them when we get out. It should save us valuable internet café time. Ever generous, they also brought us an extra battery, purchased insurance for us, packed in an optical mouse, and picked up and arranged a new pelican case that will protect against nearly everything.

We stayed around the Panama City Causeway for the first couple of days. Originally, the parents had set up a tour of an Embera village on Good Friday, but the coordinator called and postponed it for the holidays. How Panamanian? Schedule a tour for the biggest day of the Holy Week of Christianity and then have to change it at the last minute. Nevertheless, we were able to set it up for a week later.

During our days in the City, we went to the Canal Museum, took a boat from Gatun Lake through the Canal’s Pacific locks, ate some excellent food, and enjoyed the comforts of a great hotel. Mostly we stuck to the Canal and Causeway side of the city. Even with a rented GPS, getting through the many construction changes and disruptions in a fast paced, rules-be-damned downtown is sometimes a harrowing experience.

After Panama City, we got on the Interamericana and drove all the way across the country to Boquete. A stay at another first-rate hotel allowed us to see much of the beautiful mountain town. The highlights for us were a tour a world class coffee farm and a walk around an exotic animal rescue center. At the coffee farm, we got to the see entire modern process from start to finish, marvel at the oldest drying/roasting machinery in Panama which is still functional, and learn about and try to cup some of their best coffee.

At the rescue center, Chuck and Carole, who are raptor enthusiasts, got to see macaws, parrots, toucans, owls, and many other large and small birds of which I cannot remember the names. They flittered and fluttered, screeched and cawed. A toucan decided to taste our toes, following us all around the bird-house enclosure that shelters many of the smaller birds. We also got to interact with several types of monkeys, see three large cat species (margay, ocelot, and puma), walk around their new picturesque Japanese gardens, and watch a baby anteater feed on some milk.

From Boquete, we began to work our way back to Panama City. In David, we picked up some food supplies and magazines. In San Felix, we got some plastic chairs and rope. After strapping the chairs to the roof of the Suzuki, we were ready to make the ascent to our site. Through hill and dale we rode, stunned by the steepness of the slopes and the rugged loveliness of the communities. For Lisa and I, it was kind of like seeing it all again for the first time, this act of showing off our new environs. We could point out things like fellow communities and volunteer sites, but much of the ride was silent.

At home, we introduced Chuck and Carole around to our neighbors and friends. We drove up to higher villages to see the eastern valleys and ridges spread out below us. We could just make out the ocean, but it was a bit hazy that day so we had to settle without it. We presented our new kitten, Felix, to them (he’s still living with Meligo). A short hike below our house brought us to a ridge where you can see all the way down the western side of our ridge. With Chuck, I hiked up a small hill outcropping to see it from a new vantage point that really opened it all up. We could even see the beach that we would be visiting later that day.

Down at Las Lajas, we stayed in the new Beach Resort that was just completed by an American ex-patriot. The Pacific was like bathwater with surf. The beach was fine sand crawling with snails and crabs. The pool was comfortable and fairly clean, except for the suicidal beetles. The food was delicious, as it was at all the tourist spots we enjoyed in Panama. I lost the room keys in the ocean, but not until we were nearly checked out.

To get back to Panama in time to meet up with Embera tour group the next morning, we had to skip out on our El Valle de Anton plan, but we had fun at the now familiar hotel by the Causeway. The next day, Vladimir picked us up and drove us out to the Chagres River National Park. The Embera village providing our excursion lives upriver and in the park, which means that they cannot farm, fish, hunt, or otherwise affect the natural environment. Panama cannot afford to have anything disrupting the natural watershed that supplies the water for the gravitationally powered canal locks.

We worked our way up a very low river, low because it is the end of the dry season here. At many places, the outboard had to be lifted to get through a shallow spot. We were delivered to a tributary and lead up the river bank to a gorgeous waterfall. Had it been the rainy season, we could have been dropped off right at the base of the waterfall’s pool. As it was, we had a short hike.

After the waterfall, the dug-out canoe took us back down river a ways to the village itself where we were allowed to wander around. We looked at their artisan crafts, thatched homes on stilts, and striking bead clothing. The people also presented us with a dance and an explanation of the works. Afterwards, we purchased a few items, ate a normal local fare of fried fish and patacones served in a rolled-leaf cone-bowl.

Back in the City, we relaxed at our hotel and had a few more norteño meals. We played some more cards, as we had done about half of our evenings (I won the last game). For our last day, we visited Albrook Mall and National Terminal. From there, after a little shopping and lunch, we said goodbye to our family. They used the GPS to work their way back to the airport and Lisa and I caught a bus west. It was a great visit, especially for us to get to see more of the country while enjoying the company of Chuck and Carole.