Photos are okay as far as they go, but videos give a better idea of a situation so I’m going to show you what it’s like where I live in Potrerillos Arriba.
The roof of the house extends about 10 feet from the sides and provides wonderful shade throughout the day. I like to sit and work at the back of the house and this is my view.
The house sits around 2,800 feet above sea level and when you look out the front of the house you’re looking south towards the city of David (Dah VEED), the third largest city in Panama, and the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
There’s a gate at the end of the driveway leading to a dirt road that goes out to the main highway. Coming in you get a panoramic view of the area.
Well, my first full day of being by myself in the Potrerillos house. Yesterday Jane, the owner of the house, went to the bank in Boquete and I went along to do a little bit of shopping there. It was just a little since the market wasn’t very large and what they offered was limited. This morning I went down to David to go shopping at the El Rey supermarket and to replenish my supply of Plavix. Catching the bus down to David wasn’t hard at all. Coming back was where the learning curve began.
I got what I wanted at Rey and then walked a couple of blocks to a fruit and veggie market nearby. I waited about 20 minutes for the bus to arrive.
What happened next is part of the learning curve of riding the buses here. As you come up the road from David there are two places where road forks. Bearing right at the first fork takes you to Boquete and the left to Potrerillos. At the second fork left takes you to Potrerillos ABAJO and the right fork leads to Potrerillos ARRIBA (don’t forget to roll that double R), Jane, had told me she had once taken the bus to Abajo and then had a couple of mile hike to get to the house.
Since I had two heavy bags full of canned good and other food stuffs I sure didn’t want to have to make such a hike and this bus was a bit different than the previous two rides I’d taken before. Different driver, different assistant (all the buses have a “conductor” to help people on and off the buses, take care of their bags and collect the fares (you pay when you get off) (the bus that is). Admittedly I wasn’t paying close attention to where we were and when the bus veered off to the left hand fork in the road I assumed it was going to Abajo and called “parada” to be let off. I paid my fare and as the bus left I realized I’d gotten off where the road branches towards Boquete. I then had to wait another 20 minutes to get on a bus to take me the rest of the way to the dirt road that leads to my house.
Now, as I said, one of the reasons I went to David and El Rey was to visit the pharmacy. Two months ago when I got my Plavix at Costco in the States it cost me $154! Here in Panama all medications, except narcotics, are over-the-counter, no prescription needed. Since I’ve been on it for nearly two years now my doctor in the States said I only need to take it every other day, doubling up on the aspirin on the days I don’t take the Plavix. And I know it’s working because I bleed like a hemophiliac at the slightest scrape and bump. Here in Panama they sell the Plavix in a box of 14 instead of getting a bottle of 3o. So, here’s the breakdown on cost. Fourteen pills list for $48.86. The Jubilado (that’s me) discount is $9.97, so the final price was $39.09. Roughly $2.80 a pill versus $5.14 in the States. VIVA PANAMA!!!
The Wardlaws, the people I’m house sitting for, are leaving for the States on Monday in the early afternoon. I wasn’t planning on coming to the house until tomorrow but that’s the day Panama is conducting its census and NO ONE is allowed to be out and about until they have been counted and given a pass. No church services tomorrow. No stores open, no taxis or buses. Nothing.There will be road blocks throughout the country and you will be detained for a bit, to be counted one would assume, and fined. I heard someone say there was going to be one census taker for every 12 people in Panama. If that’s true why not take the easy way out, then? Count the number of census takers and multiply by 12.
Since nothing is going to be moving until around seven in the evening I decided to make my move this morning after checkout time at the hostel. I also needed to find out how transportation thing was going to work. For such a small country there’s a lot of “the middle of nowhere” here and the house is in one of those places. As I’m sitting here writing this my closest neighbor is up the hill behind the house a good 300 or 400 yards away. Between the two houses there is a big meadow with five trees and three horses.
The buses run travel the 30 kilometers (18 miles) between here and David quite frequently judging by the number of buses I saw on the road when I was driving here last week that had Potrerillos on their front window but I can’t say yet how often they go. When I got off the bus I asked when the last bus left David in the evening. I was told 6:30 p.m. which seems quite early to me. I’ll have to ask again. The trip from the main terminal in David was on a 24 passenger bus, took 50 minutes and cost ninety cents.
When I got back to David on Thursday after returning my rental car to Panama City to avoid a $180 drop off charge I asked the taxi driver how much the fare was from downtown David to Potrerillos and he said $15. Some people said the “gringo” price was around $25 so I guess it depends on how well you speak Spanish. If the last bus out of David IS 6:30 I guess I’ll be either spending the money or save myself half that by spending the night in a dorm bed at the Bambu Hostel.
It’s the rainy season now and it’s three in the afternoon. Dark rain clouds are obscuring the mountains behind the house. A bit of a breeze has sprung up and it’s cool here compared to hot and sticky David 2,900 feet below.
The other day I met Jim “Jet” Nielson, holder of four world land speed records and getting ready to try for a fifth here in David on June 6th hoping to set a fifth at 500 mph. I’ll be writing more about him in coming days. Jim is a longtime friend of my friend Frank Hilson who, himself, was an up and coming race car driver in the Sterling Moss era until a horrible, fiery crash ended his career. Frank was the one who pointed me in Jim’s direction.
Jim is also a sailor. He grew up in Hawaii and at the age of 19 was delivering boats that participated in the TransPac races back to the States. He said he had a trimaran in the Port of Pedrigal only a short drive from David. I was down there on my last trip and decided, yesterday, to go scope out Jim’s boat.
Before leaving the States I bought a chip for my GPS with Panama maps. For some reason it wouldn’t accept Pedregal as a destination. So I went to Google earth, got the Lat/Long coordinates and entered those and received routing. The instructions told me to go to the end of the street where the hostel is located and hang a left. It directed me through a few city streets and within 15 minutes I was at the marina. During the drive I spotted several decent looking restaurants and thought I’d go have supper there. Now, I love eating at the tiny restaurant across from the hostel but their menu is extremely limited. A whole fried fish ($5), a fillet of fish ($3), and the best sopa de mariscos (seafood soup) ($2.25) I’ve had in all of Panama to date. But my mouth was telling me it wanted to taste some shrimp that evening.
Dinner time arrived and when I turned on the GPS I went to the “coordinates” and hit “Go” without verifying them. I figured they had to be the same, right? Wrong.
When I got to the end off the street this time it told me to turn right instead of left. Okay, a different route. I drove and drove through city streets I’d never been on, but who knows, right? Wrong. No more street lights and the road narrows every kilometer. Eventually the pavement ends. Now I’m on a dirt road but the checkered flag indicating the destination is visible up in the upper left corner of the screen. The dirt road kept deteriorating with huge rocks and pot holes filled with rain water. Even a four wheel drive would have been going along at the five kilometer per hour pace. The map indicated that the road would be making a couple of switch backs on itself and then I came to a huge iron gate with a massive chain and padlock. Nothing to do but turn around and go back the way I came.
When I finally made it back to the paved road I pulled over, plugged in for the destination for the airport. The road to Pedregal is right along side the runway. In under five minutes I knew where I was. I stopped at the “Mar y Mariscos” (Sea and Seafood) restaurant where I had Camarones Criolla (Creole shrimp) which was delicious. The waiter gave me the 25% Jubilado discount without my asking for it, too. I love Panama.
I am a strong believer in the notion that if you emigrate to another country you should learn the native tongue.
Living in south Florida it was not uncommon to be approached by someone who would say, “¿Habla usted español? This is what I would tell them:
“Si, pero no aqui. Es los estados unidos.. Hablamos ingles aqui.” (Yes, but not here. It’s the United States. We speak English here.)
The looks on their faces always made me regret not constantly carrying a camera everywhere I go,
I would sometimes continue with, “Cuando estoy en España, Mexico, Guatemala, yo hablo español, pero nunca aqui en mi país.” (When I’m in Spain, Mexico, Guatemala I speak Spanish, but never here in my country.)
Now, if you think that’s rude, you’re right, it is, but screw you. If those people can’t at LEAST learn the phrase, “Excuse me, do you speak Spanish?” in English they get what they deserve. That’s how I feel about it. And when I go to an ATM machine and it asks if I want to conduct my business in English or Spanish I want to put a brick through that little screen. I was never asked that question in France, Spain or any other country where the language isn’t English and it infuriates me that the U.S. bends over backwards to accommodate people who don’t learn English. As a country of immigrants the one cohesive bond of the polyglot is the English language.
When reading the Yahoo Groups about Panama, and I’m sure it’s the same for other countries as well, someone will, from time to time, post something like: “Is there a bar, etc. in (fill in the country) where I can meet other people who speak English?” My response, for which I take a lot of flack, is “if you want to sit around drinking beer with a bunch of people who speak English stay in the States.
WARNING: If four letter words offend you PLEASE don’t play this video.
My Spanish is FAR from being fluent. It’s beginning to approach being proficient, though and it will get better as the days and weeks go by.
When I first started mentioning that I was planning on retiring to Panama a lot of people said I would probably like Boquete since thee is a large contingent of English-speaking people who have settled in the area. I would tell them, as politely as possible that a bunch of gringos wasn’t a positive selling point for me. Another sales pitch is that at an elevation of 3,700 feet in the mountains to the north of David the weather is almost Spring-like the year around. It’s also a mini-business center for the residents of the mountains and one of the places where I would be able to pay my utility bills.
Well, today I decided to take my rental car and do some sight seeing and actually visit Boquete. You take the same road out of town as you do if you were going to where I’ll be living in Potrerillos. When you come to the town of Dolega the road vees off. To the left is Potrerillos and to the right is Bouquete. The mountain range is actually the continental divide and home of Volcan Baru, the highest point in Panama at 11,398 feet, and driving up there you get spectacular views of the mountain range with clouds obscuring the tops and descending into the valleys . Unfortunately the road doesn’t have shoulders so there’s no where to pull over to cop a couple of pictures.
When I finally got to the village itself and found a parking space at the central park I have to admit I wasn’t impressed with the place at all, and let me tell you while it was already hot and muggy down in David at 8:30 in the morning it was chilly up there. Like the first days of Spring after the Winter, not like the last days of Spring before Summer. I walked around a little bit, stopped at the Duran (Panama’s leading brand) coffee shop for a very nice cup of espresso. The Boquete area is Panama’s leading coffee growing district. I decided to drive a little further up into the hills beyond the town and a couple of miles up came to the Ruiz coffee plantation. From what I have read Ruiz gives tours and produced some of the finest coffee in the Republic. I stopped in and bought a large bag of espresso roast beans but haven’t tried it yet, and my grinder is at the house in Potrerillos.
Here are the photos for the day.
Volcan Baru and the village of Boquete from Wikipedia
The mountains around Boquete
The river that runs through Boquete
Last year the river flooded causing the banks to cave in and several homes, native places and expensive gringo McMansions were washed away. As you can see they’re working installing huge stones in an effort to forestall another disaster.
Another view of the mountains from Boquete
A field of yellow flowers outside a gringo ghetto development below Boquete
Practically everyone I know would hate the hostels I stay at. Most of them are pretty much dumps but the thing that makes them enjoyable, besides the fact that they’re cheaper by at least half than hotels, is the variety of people who patronize them. They’re especially popular with the young back packer set, but others stay as well. In hotels you really don’t get the opportunity to meet and interact with the other guests the same way you do staying in a hostel.
Last night the crowd here in David threw a barbecue. When the fish monger (great word, monger) came to the restaurant across the street some of the guests here went over and bought four beautiful, corvinas (sea bass) for less than five dollars a piece. They also went out and bought steaks, chicken and corn on the cob and then cooked it on the huge grill near the swimming pool. It was a United Nations of hostel stayers ranging in age from their early 20s to myself in my late 60s with some 40s and 50s mixed in. There were people from the States, Poland, Austria, Australia, China, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica and Slovenia.
One of the three Gringos was a Chinese guy from Toronto who lives and works in Springfield, Mass. He was riding his BICYCLE through Panama with a final destination of Texas. Robert is 41 years old and has cycled in a lot of countries, including Pakistan (which he said was the worst place) France, Spain and England. He’s cycled across Canada and the U.S. from coast to coast and his ultimate goal is to be able to say he’s biked around the world.
With all the Teabaggers and conservatives screaming bloody murder about the census in the U.S. people like Glenn Beck would have a cerebral hemorrhage (oh wait, that wouldn’t damage a vital organ with Beck) if they tried to do in the States what they’re doing in Panama with its census.
On Sunday, May 16th, Panama is holding its census and everyone is REQUIRED to stay home starting at 7 a.m. until the census taker comes to your door and you fill out a 12-page form. That means EVERYBODY including tourists. When the form is completed you will be given a “pass” so you can leave. If you’re caught outside without the pass you’re subject to a fine.
There’s not much to do even if you do leave the house since all stores and churches throughout the country will be closed.
Now, this means that I count as TWO PEOPLE. I filled out the census in the U.S. and now, since I am a resident of the Republic of Panama and moved down here last Thursday I’ll be counted here, too. Sort of like the old Chicago slogan of “vote early…vote often.”
Yesterday I got an email from a friend who lives in Panama with a link to a site I don’t often visit primarily because the person, Don Winner, who seems, to me, to be a major shill for the real estate interests there. I will give him credit, though, he doesn’t sugar coat a lot about the bad side of Panama reporting on crimes and murder as well.
The link my friend provided led me to this story:
By Rodrigo Campos, AFP Writer- Ciudad de Panamá – Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli signed into law Wednesday a controversial measure requiring all visa applicants to pass a Spanish test before receiving residency documents. The new law, which will go into effect when it is published in the government´s Gaceta Oficial early next week, will likely affect thousands of visa applicants who come from non Spanish speaking countries. The new rules require everyone requesting a new or renovated visa, including those already approved for permanent residency status, to pass a state issued test and demonstrate the grammar and speaking abilities equivalent to that of a 5 year old. The test, which is similar to the aptitude test given to preschool children before admittance into elementary school, will be created and administered by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with the Immigration office. The test will be half written and half oral, and will cost $30. Under the new law all applicants for non tourist visas, regardless of country of origin, will be required to pass a Spanish test before being issued their residency permits. The law covers nearly all residency statuses, both permanent and temporary, with the lone exemption being given to foreigners living in Panama under refugee status. Those either failing the test or refusing to take it will have their visa status downgraded to the same regulations given to those carrying a tourist visa.
The new rules come at a time where the Central American country is seeing an influx of foreigners who are moving there for retirement and investment. Proponents of the law say that the new requirement will assure that people who decide to move to the country can assimilate with more ease. Opponents say the law can cripple the real estate and investment market, still recovering from the world recession, by discouraging retirees and investors from moving there. For a complete transcript of the entire law translated into English, please visit http://tinyurl.com/2ht3po.
Now, I actually think this is a great idea. When I read posts on some of the Yahoo Groups I subscribe to and people are asking where they can hook up with other gringos I always tell them they need to learn Spanish and try and integrate themselves into the culture as much as possible or stay in the States. Lots of gringos there.
I wouldn’t have a problem with having to do what this new law proposes, but I did write to my lawyer in Panama City and asked her if she had heard anything about this.
She wrote back in about an hour and said: “I found the article in a yahoo forum and at the end there’s a link that will take you to the definition of April’s Fool Day? Do you know of this day?”
WHAT A CLASSICALLY GREAT JOKE. And I fell for it hook, line and sinker.
In all of the guide books and web sites on Panama they all advise the readers not to rent a car at the airport. There’s a very good reason for that…you probably won’t make it to your hotel or hostel alive. Nothing in your driving background has prepared you for the experience of driving in Panama City. New York City? Paris, France? Rome, Italy? Pussies one and all.
I took the following video one afternoon at about 2 o’clock on Via Argentina a couple of blocks away from my hostel. Cars coming in from the right and left have a stop sign, but it’s only a suggestion.
One of the main drags in the city is Via Espana and there is only one safe place to cross the street and that’s a bridge that crosses over the road. During my second visit to Panama a gringo tourist was killed trying to cross Via Espana and the stupid thing was he was only a couple of blocks away from the bridge.
One of the major hazards to traffic in Panama City are the “Diabos Rojos,” Red Devils, old school buses that were deemed unsafe to carry American kiddies to school are exported to Central American countries and either become “chicken buses” or Diablos Rojos. The Diablo Rojos are garishly painted but only cost 25 cents to ride.
Taxis are the way to travel in the city. They’re everywhere and they’re cheap. Cost is determined by how many “zones” you travel through but, in general, most rides are no more than a buck or two. Just make sure you confirm the cost before settling your butt inside. And DON’T TIP! It’s not expected and the natives hate it when gringo tourists tip because it makes it tough for them.
In spite of everything transportation throughout the country is quite good and accessible through an expensive bus system, and they aren’t chicken buses, either. Riding from the huge Albrook Terminal in Panama City to David (da veed) is done on large Mercedes Benz buses that put anything Greyhound offers ti shame. These buses are air-conditioned, super clean, and have t.v. screens where they show movies during the trip. With my Pensionado discount the six hour ride from PC to David costs $8.80. It’s $12 and change if you don’t get the discount, and there’s a half-hour stop for food in Santiago at the half-way point.
The further into the countryside you travel the buses get smaller. When I went from Santiago to Chitre it was on a nice, new, mid-size bus with regular seating for 30. The buses pick up and drop off passengers on the roadside along the route and until the regular seating filled up I didn’t notice there are “jump seats” that fold up into the aisle for the overflow.
When I decided to visit Pedasi the buses became 12 seat Toyota vans. The cost is reasonable. The nearly two hour jaunt from Las Tablas to Pedasi was $1.75 and the driver would leave the main road to drop passengers off in small towns along the way.
In all my bussing around Panama the only chicken I saw was this young man with his fighting cock at the bus station in Santiago.
One More Good Adventure 