talk about lucky!

Today is a holiday for Panama, since the actual Independence date fell on a Sunday.  Must be nice to be an employee here because there sure seems to be an abundance of holidays!

We aren't sure if there was anything going on in town today, as we didn't walk in.  We thought we heard music coming from that direction earlier in the day, but weren't too sure.  We heard that the parades yesterday didn't end until 11:00 at night!!!   It was amazing that it never rained at all yesterday - today it was sunny until the early afternoon and then the rains began.  As Guillermo and I were headed out for a walk around here in the early afternoon, it did look like the clouds were starting to form.  By the end of our walk we were walking in that fine mist that happens so much around here.  A little while after we got back home, it started raining much harder.  So, all the parade participants and all the people that were out celebrating the holiday yesterday were lucky that the celebration fell yesterday and not today!  But I guess around here, the people are used to just doing things in the rain.  We've seen school kids out waiting for their school bus just standing out in the rain as if nothing.  We've seen kids walking home from school, in the pouring rain just chatting and laughing as if it was a regular sunny day.  So, there surely has been many a parade where it rained the whole time and the parade just went on as usual!!!

                                        Here is a picture taken out our front window of the rain:

Looking from our balcony towards the back

This is from our balcony also, and if you click on the picture, you can see the rain falling.

Big Independence day here

Today is a big day in Panama - their independence from Spain.  There supposedly are parades ALL DAY LONG here.  We believe it - we got downtown around 10 this morning and the parade was already in full swing.  We found a good place to watch the parade under an awning, in case it started raining.  Of course, we forgot our cameras, and after missing several good shots, Guillermo decided to just walk back to our house and get the camera.  It took him 35 minutes to get there and back.  So, here are a few shots now that we had the camera.

This picture is taken in front of the grocery store we shop at all the time - Romero.

This group was marching like in slow motion.

An Indigenous group with a political message.

After watching the parade for about 3 hours, we walked across the bridge to get some lunch.  This is the view from the bridge.

The main plaza in Boquete.  Fixed up very nicely in just the last few days.  The cobbled street you see was just done a few days ago.  We used to drive on it, but it is now a pedestrian zone.  We like that much better.

The dresses of these Indigenous women are so colorful!

This is the last scene we saw as we headed back to our house.  That machine just to the right of center is a mobile ice cream cone machine!

It never did rain once today.  The sun shone down on Panama today for their Independence Day celebration!

At 4pm, we could still hear drums and music going down in the town!

Set through next month

Well, after looking at countless places to live here in Boquete and a few places in a neighboring town, we have made the decision to continue living in this nice place for one more month.   It's been a tough few days, trying to get this figured out, because December is a busy time around here.  Not only have most places been filled and booked for the Christmas season, but most places jack up their rates for this month.  We were afraid the place we live now was going to raise their rate for December way out of our price range, but they were very fair with us, so we decided to stay.

It was hard, because a few places that we looked at yesterday would have been nice to stay at, BUT there was always SOMEthing about each place.  We looked at a very cute little place out in Volcancito, it was two apartments behind someone's house.  Their whole yard was walled, so it seemed like it would have been a safe place.  We liked the upstairs apartment a lot - it had a nice balcony, the only thing is it looked out to pine trees???  Anyway, it was still a nice view, BUT the two biggest obstacles with that place were that there was no washer or dryer, and Volcancito is quite a distance from Boquete.  So, we would have had to take taxis or the bus a lot, lugging our laundry, and either waiting around in Boquete for the laundry place to finish our clothes or take a taxi back home and come back in a taxi a few hours later to get our clothes and go grocery shopping.  Then take another taxi back home!!  Yes, it was do-able, and the price was VERY good, but.......

Then we were shown this other place just 4 blocks from downtown Boquete - when we heard it was so close we had such high hopes.  It also was a cute little place, a little more expensive than the one in Volcancito but cheaper than where we are at now.  BUT, they did not yet have TV or internet set up there although they promised it'd be up by the time we moved in.  The apartment was part of the owner's house and so of course, they lived RIGHT THERE, which could be ok if they're nice quiet people.  So, the washer and dryer belonged to them, and we would share it.  Not a big deal, at least there was one right there on the premises.  When we walked out the back, I thought how lovely, we'll have a back yard, until I realized that the back yard was THEIR backyard, and they, their kid and their dog would be in it all the time.  We liked the little patio in the front of the house and we thought, hey, we could sit out here and watch the rain come in - until we heard that the owner parks his car in the spot right next to where we'd be sitting on that patio.  Would kind of detract from the view.  The yard was fenced, so it seemed fairly safe there also and it was so close to town!!! We were so tempted, but after all was said and done, we decided it'd just be easier to stay here.  No packing everything up and getting into an unknown.  At least here, we know the internet and TV are good, we feel safe, it's a lovely place to take our walks in, it's a decent walk to town and so on.

Pictures from Guillermo's Camera

Finally downloaded Guillermo's pictures from his camera and resized some of them for this blog.

Clay Colored Robin - all these bird pictures are taken from our bedroom window.

Blue Gray Tanagers

Same Tanagers

Sheri's Tanager

We just LOVE seeing the clouds like this.

Brugmansia flowers

Hanging from a nearby house

Torrent Tyrannulet - this picture was taken along one of the streams here.

Great Egret, taken by a pond on the golf course

....And we got the rental car for one more day, since there are several places we wanted to look at today and tomorrow morning!

Volcan and Cerro Punta

Last full day with the rental car, so we thought we'd take advantage of it and drive out to Volcan and Cerro Punta.  Everyone was telling us to take the "new" road that cuts across to Volcan, instead of driving all the way down to David, across to another city where we would then make the turn back up towards Volcan.  That's a much longer drive, and fortunately yesterday, when we went to David, we saw where the new road goes to Volcan, so today we were able to get on that road with no trouble at all.

It was a beautiful day today.  This new road to Volcan is quite an interesting drive.  First of all, there are many turn-offs on this road, but one person told us, make sure you stay on the road that has the yellow line going down the middle.  That was such good advice, because there were several times when it looked like we could go either way, but the yellow line was the clincher.  The road twists and turns a lot and has plenty of steep grades, but all in all, it's a much much nicer drive.  There are hardly any cars on this road which makes it even better.  There was one part of the road where we thought we were going through some sort of national park or something, since it was so beautiful.  We decided to stop and ask what that place was.  While Guillermo went to ask, I went over to the bridge and was amazed by what I saw.  (We actually stopped here on our way back.)

A river running through this deep canyon that was just spectacular!  When Guillermo got back, he told me that they said this was part of a hydro-electric plant.  That was surprising to us.

This was a little canal running along at the top of this canyon.

Once we got to Volcan, we were disappointed to see that the restaurant we ate at last year, called "Fernando" was closed.  We had planned on having lunch there.  So, we drove on through Volcan to Cerro Punta and then on to Guadalupe.  It was still a little early for lunch, but we had decided we'd have lunch at the Quetzales hotel so to use up a little time, we drove on up through Guadalupe a little past the road that turns off to the Quetzales cabins.   This is what the hills look like around Guadalupe.

Then we turned around, parked at the hotel and went upstairs to have lunch.  What we ordered was absolutely delicious and what I had (an eggplant dish) was far and away better than the pizza I had last year.  The sky started clouding over while we were having lunch, and it actually started sprinkling.  By the time we left the hotel, the skies were looking a lot heavier and darker.  We spent a little time back close to Volcan looking at a few houses that we had seen on the internet for rent.  But nothing worked out.  Everything looked a lot worse in real life than it did on the web.

Driving back to Boquete was nice, but it was a lot harder because it was rainy and foggy.  As we got closer to the highway back to Boquete, the rain was coming down in buckets and it was really slow going almost until we got to Boquete.  Surprisingly enough, in Boquete it was dry!

Yesterday, we walked into town, to the visitor center to pick up our rental car, which we're going to keep for the next 3 days.  We're going to use it to drive around and look at what our other options might be for places to stay for the next month, just in case where we're staying now doesn't work out for past December 8th.

So, with the car it was a little easier to go grocery shopping and stop into different stores for different things.  We also ate at that German restaurant that we tried to eat at last week.  This time we got there earlier, and had no trouble getting a table.  The food was very good - I had roast pork, and Guillermo had roast chicken.  The potatoes on Guillermo's plate were very good, mine were good also, but not as good as his!!  The man who owns the restaurant (and does the cooking) is from Germany and most of his customers speak German, so it was nice to sit in there and listen to them talk.  The owner sounds just like Uncle Bruno!!

After dropping off our groceries and things back at the house, we drove out in the direction of David to look at some places we had seen advertised for rent out that way.  Wow, we had no idea we'd be driving as far as we did!!  We drove out to Caldera because there was a place out there that seemed interesting.  The drive out there was kinda ugly, but amazingly enough, after this one curve on the road, the scenery changed completely.  And it was right about there where this place was.  The gate was open so we drove in!!!  A guy met us outside one of the houses there and then the owner came out and invited us into his house for a few minutes.  Very nice place he has - and he was obviously very proud of all he's done with his home and with the entire property.  He walked us around the property, showing us all the work he's put into it and it really is amazing.  His house is up on top and down kind of in a canyon is the Caldera River, which runs right through his property.  We were hoping he'd show us the cabins he has there for rent, but he ended up showing us every cabin and then almost the entire property!!  It was nice.  All the cabins are precious except for the one right on the river.  That one would be too worrisome.  Then we walked with him along a trail that kind of follows the river and it was just so beautiful.  His place is a paradise, but we don't think we'll be staying there.  It is very far from the nearest good size town, (we'd have to be taking taxis a lot), the cabins are pricier than we'd like (and besides they're booked for the time we want) and if we DID stay there, that's pretty much where we would stay all day long every day - unless we caught a taxi to the nearest town.  For a vacation spot, though, this place would be fantastic!!!!!

Today is Tuesday, and right after we got up this morning it started raining and it is now noon, and it has been raining the whole time.   Tuesdays are market days down in Boquete, so thankfully we had the car and were able to go.  We picked up a few things and drove right back - it was just too rainy to do anything else.

BUT, since we have a car, we didn't want to waste it, so even though it was raining, after lunch here at the house, we got in the car and drove to David - this time getting all the way to David.  Guillermo had been told that there was a good pharmacy and lab in a medical center in David, so we first went there to check on the medications that he needs.  It seemed very promising that he could get what he needs there, and that he'd also be able to get his blood checked in a few months in the lab.  So, with that taken care of, we went to the little mall in David that is right on the highway to Boquete.  We enjoyed looking around in those HUGE department stores where they have just about anything anyone could want, and then we visited the El Rey supermarket, which compared to the stores in Boquete is just far and away so much better.  We picked up a few things, then picked up two sandwiches for dinner at Subway and then drove back home, and by then, it wasn't raining anymore.

Rain again

We had lunch for the first time on our balcony today, and we decided we need to do more of that!  It was so pleasant out there, there were no flies or bugs or anything and it was so nice to watch the clouds in the distance.

Later, we were planning to walk around in the valley here, but somehow or another got stuck on the computers longer than we had planned and it's a good thing, because the next thing we knew, it was pouring rain outside.  It lasted quite a while, too, so if we had gone out when we first were going to, we would have gotten soaked.  Umbrellas and all.  No matter where we go outside, or for how long, we always take our umbrellas, because rain can pop up at anytime, and it sure did today.  We were happy to be dry inside looking at the sheets of rain drifting by in the valley.

When the rain stopped, and it looked like the sky wasn't immediately threatening anymore, we decided to take advantage of the lull and go for our walk.  But we stayed close to buildings we could duck into if the rain started up again.  It never did, though, and we had a good walk.

Don't know if it's going to make it here, but on the weather map, it looks like a WIDE area of rain is building up and heading our way.  Costa Rica also seems to be covered with rain right now from a different system.