A couple days after Karen's sister Sharlene left, Nan and Bob arrived for 10 days. It was great to have them here, but 10 days just does not seem to last long enough!
We had them take the Decameron shuttle which stops very close to our house. While it is not as good to be met at the airport by family, it is pretty cool to be met by someone with a "Robert Schneider" sign.
1st day needed to be a relax day, so we hung out on the beach and headed to Woody's Canadian bar, which is a 5 minute walk down the beach. Something about drinks by the ocean that makes them taste better.
Slight difference in tan shades. I wonder why?
Big difference in tan shades here.
Once they got in, got rested and got settled, we took them to El Valle for the morning. It is a very beautiful community up in a caldera of an old volcano. We took them to the zoo to see lots of birds, monkeys, frogs (including my favourite poison dart frogs caught in the area), jaguars, ocelots, rodents and the reclusive sloth. The cages are small and I feel bad for the animals, but it is a great place to see the local animals.
So after the zoo, we went to our favourite restaurante called Bruschetta's. After our meal we walked across the road to a museum by a church. The museum was locked but the grounds were beautiful, so we were lounging around taking pictures when the fellow above came over and let us into the museum for a guided tour. It was pretty expensive ($4 total for all 4 of us) and he didn't speak any english, but between my broken spanish and charades, we figured everything important out.
Karen's new bush man!
Nan and Karen posing by a really old rock.
Next we were off to the El Valle local market. They sell crafts, fruit, veggies, knives and cigars. The lady above is a typical Panamanian indian in traditional dress. Just a note that the true Panamanians are very short. This lady's husband (I think) was about the same size as her.
This is one of the street signs leading from El Valle to Altos Del Maria! The rental Toyota Corolla almost powered out in 1st gear going up the road and a couple parts of the paved road had to be poured concrete because the asphalt kept flowing down the hill!
The road was so bad that Karen and Bob had to calm their nerves with some local beer in the back seat. Note that as long as the driver is sober, it is ok to drink in the vehicle down here.
We took a day with Cholo fishing on Lake Gat ún. He has a pontoon boat and knows the lake. The lake was created when the river was dammed in order to supply water for the Panama Canal, so there are stumps and snags everywhere.
A very pretty Karen at the front.
A little wind that day.
Happy kids, They missed the 1st time we went fishing here.
Bob looking pretty Suave.
This is Cholo, Our guide for the day. He captains the boat, supplied all the gear, put minnows on the hooks and pulled the fish off the hooks for anyone who wanted help. Full service fishing! They even allow live minnows, which have been banned in Canada for quite a few years now.
Brandon's first Peacock Bass!
Jada's First Peacock Bass too!!
The peacock bass are like our perch back home (maybe a little bigger). It takes lots of them to make a decent meal, but they taste really great!
This was a Blue Gill that Nan Caught
Lounging at the front was ok, but...
Swimming was better!
Although there was time for a siesta.
or two.
A couple happy muchachos.
Expensive to have someone clean the fish for you. $4.50 for 30 fish. Not too bad.
She did a great job and was really quick.
On our way through Coronado we stopped by the Novey, which is like our Canadian Tire's back home.
The next morning, Bob looked pretty relaxed with his morning coffee watching the sunrise over Farallon Island.
But we couldn't just sit around all day, there was playing on the water to do!
This fellow rows out to drop his nets and pick them up in this boat that looks like it is about to sink. He does this several times per day and always makes it to and fro.
For a change in pace Nan, Bob and I drove from our place to La Barqueta by David. It is another beach area about 4-1/2 hours from here. Their friends from Cold Lake have a house there where they spend the winters. It is a gorgeous bungalow with a nice pool and great ocean view. The water is a 1 minute walk down their path to the fine sand beach.
This is the workmanship of their ceiling tiles. This was all through their house. Incredible!
Their beach view looking West.
Their beach view looking East. Notice all the people. Me either.
This area is not nearly as developed as where we are and their development takes up the whole beach area for about a mile, so there will never be the big crowds we get here in Miramar.
A nice beach walk in fine volcanic sand. It is almost as soft as dust and a little darker than normal beach sand, but it didn't get as hot as our beach.
The waves are bigger here than where we are. Not as great for swimming, but surfing looks awesome!
They are in a great area that is secluded but also only 1/2 hour from David where there is good shopping and medical. My favourite store here is "Price Smart" that is the same company as Costco and everything is exactly the same including Kirkland bulk brands, which I love.
The rest of their trip was relaxing with some meals in nice restaurants and a couple of fresh caught fish frys. We drove them into Panama City to the Miraflores Locks on the canal. Everyone who comes here has to see the locks, they are very cool to see and the displays are very well done.
From the canal to some shopping and off to the VIP theatre to see the Wolf of Wall Street with Spanish subtitles. We all had sushi that we ordered right from our chairs (which recline totally flat). After that, they went to their hotel by the airport for the night.
Sad to see them go, but we had a pretty good time with them.
Stew.
