Welcome back to Life is a Beach and the final segment
of our Panama experience. Above you see a map of the isthmus of Panama. An
isthmus is a narrow strip of land that is bordered on two sides by water and
connects two larger land masses. Great places for canals. Mouse over the map
and you'll see the routes Lori and I took. This posting covers our adventures
from Boca Chica, down the Azuero Peninsula to Pedasi and then along the Pacific
coast finally ending up in Coronado, where we stayed for a week. You'll see
Lori's photography showing beaches, landscapes and Panamanian building styles.
As always, you can click on the imagery to see the individual pictures in a
full page format. Many are well worth enlarging. Some of the pictures with
a common theme I've bunched together in a slide show so as to save endless
scrolling. The last part of this posting is about Coronado and surroundings.
It is here that we were looking for property and it looks like we may have
found some!
The interior of the Azuero Peninsula ... rolling hills
and grassland
The hostel in Pedasi where the $30 room included internet and
breakfast! That is me filling my face at the table... the old bald guy among
all the surfer kids.
Who has the right of way? They do!!
Surfer beach at the tip of the Azuero
Peninsula. One of many in this undeveloped area of Panama.
We fell in love with the architectural style of the homes being
built at the Azueros Villas.
Lori was busy with her camera in an effort to capture some of the beauty
of the construction and also to have a record of what we like. One day we
will show our own builder some of these ideas. We found that the Panamanians
are fantastic craftsmen and build beautiful furniture from Teak which seems
to grow everywhere.
Because labor costs about $18 per day and a craftsman charges $28, one
can afford the beautiful tiled floors, granite countertops and custom made
cabinets and furniture.
If you look at our route on the map, you'll see a slightly
convoluted path. This was mainly because we got lost and ended up on
side roads that were not in the best of shape (pot holes the size of
bath tubs). This slowed our return to the Pan American Highway considerably.
By the time we reached our next destination, that being Playa Blanca,
it was late at night. So rather than search for inexpensive lodgings,
we booked into an all inclusive resort for two nights and indulged ourselves.
At right is a picture Lori took of the Playa Blanca at sunset. It was a
very nice two day stay of rest (recovery) and relaxation.
On the third day we headed South to what turned out to be our final destination
.... Coronado.
When we arrived in
Coronado, we were fruitlessly searching for lodgings when we met a couple
on the road who actually spoke English. It turned out that they had a "casita" available
at very reasonable rent. the owners, Richard and Lise, became good friends.
Above is
the casita where we stayed for nine days. The swimming pool is just to
the right. The beach was just across the road.
Lori checks her email.... the sun is shining and it's getting
hot. The afternoon rain will cool things off.
We spent the next week looking for property to buy. We also
checked out all the different building styles in the Coronado community. Check
out the wall with pots!
Many of the colorful homes were beautiful. All were gated
villas and all with their own style.
We had to take a picture of this unique gate made of beams
and rock. You can see the house inside is also faced with rock.
While staying at Coronado, we visited all the surrounding communities
and beaches. Above is myself on the beach at San Carlos, checking out the vultures.
Click on the picture to see the whole beach.
The American Black
Vulture is everywhere, and is quite graceful really. In the heat of the
day, it will find a high perch and spread its wings to cool off. It
is a scavenger and
feeds on carrion, but will
also eat eggs or kill new born animals.
Another community just down the road towards Panama City is
the fishing village of Santa Clara. This is where one goes for fresh seafood.
Pictured at left is Lori as she walks over to check out the boats.... always
looking for that special image.
At right is another
picture of San Carlos beach, where a river empties into the Pacific. The
figure in the distance is a fisherman who was catching fish with a throw
net.
This picture is another "must click" to see it in a larger format.
Pictured above is the
view across what we called Crocodile Lake (Yes, it contains them), from
the back of the piece of property we want to purchace. On the other side
of the lake is the Coronado Golf Course.
In this little slide-show, you'll see the property we are negotiating
to buy. By clicking on the arrows at the bottom of the images, you can control
or stop the images.
The property is about 1500 square meters which is really quite large. Although
it is a long piece of land, its actually 80 meters wide... lots of room for
our dream villa.
Dealing with the local sellers is difficult
to say the least. As soon as they realize it's an ex pat that is interested
in their property, the price jumps considerably. The best way is to
have a Panamanian do all the negotiating for you.
Coronado is a large gated community which contains a golf
course and club, equestrian center, restaurants, a very modern supermarket
and bank and lots of people like ourselves (Who speak English!) There is a
new state of the art medical clinic being built in Coronado and Lori tells
me that a hair cut, color and manicure costs $40. Then, of course, Coronado
is on a long stretch of white sandy beach, accessible by paths from every block.
We met many ex pats living here and all were very enthusiastic about retirement
in Panama.
OK .... this is the end of the whole three part posting on
Panama. If you remember back to September's posting, there was a bit
about the "Blue Ross" painting I had done of myself in Bermuda :) Well,
because Panama has many craftsmen of wood, I had an exact replica
of myself carved in Panamanian Teak. Looking at the picture at left,
one can easily see the resemblance. We'll display this in the garden
in our front yard... another discussion piece!
At right is what Lori calls; "The tree of pain". Click on it for a close
up and you'll see the many thorns growing out of the bark. Funny thing is,
I couldn't see any prize at the top if one "did" attempt to climb this beast.
So that is all folks! Hope you enjoyed the pictures (and
my commentary). Stay tuned for more postings to.... "Life is a Beach!"
