Trip to Seagull Cove and Bambito

After getting back from Karen and Dave's wedding in the Domincan Republic, we headed West for an extra long weekend to see a few other areas of Panama.  We rented a car and headed to the Boca Chica area to a very cool resort called Seagull Cove.

Seagull Cove is truly nestled in the steep hillside overlooking a quiet bay with several islands out in the distance.  The views are stunning and the resort workers (especially Marcelo) and the owners (Jim and Sue) were very friendly and helpful.  We rented a guided boat for one day and headed out to several islands to snorkel and relax.  The water right in Seagull Cove bay is dark and muddy, but 1/2 hour by boat to some incredible spots.  We snorkelled in some clear blue water that had quite a variety of small fish.  We were all alone until 2 water taxis came in with about 12 people who were on a trip from Boca Chica.  They had lunch set up for them and they were swimming in the crystal clear water on a nice white beach.  We swam there too for a while and then headed to another island for our own lunch.

The resort had made us sandwiches and packed water, wine and beer for us to refresh ourselves with. We swam some more and just relaxed, it was great.  From there we went to another island for more snorkelling.  The very 1st spot was the best for fish, but each spot we stopped at was pretty cool.

The bar at the end of the pier.  Only open Saturday, so we missed it.

 The view from the pool.

 My wonderful family.

 The resort from the water.

 Another shot of the bay from the bar on the pier.

 Just so beautiful.

Snorkelling 

 Some are better than others.

 Bright sun, but good picture of the kids.

My beautiful daughter.

So from Seagull Cove, we went with a Realtor named Dick who showed us a place in Boca Chica and then a very nice house in La Barqueta.  If only we had the money just lying around to buy that place down here.  Beautiful house with fruit trees, a nice pool and quiet beach.  Oh well, someday maybe.

We headed up to Bambito, which is just a little higher up the volcano from Volcan.  It is a very pretty rain forest that is very relaxed and laid back.  We stayed at the Bambito Resort, which had a nice restaurant and several cool cabins that had lots of space.  The area is very cool compared to the beach, so we actually had to wear jeans and T-shirts instead of just swim suits.  The rooms did not have air conditioners, and we woke up each morning to a cold room, brrr. (I know wimpy Canadians can't take the cold anymore)

The path to the restaurant.  Huge tree in the back. 

 Rain forest lady.

 Waiting for a horse ride appointment.  The person never showed.

 This is a tree that grows up on and around a palm tree and eventually chokes it out (the palm is in the middle).

 The kids in their room chilling out.

 The grounds of Bambito

More of the grounds. 

While at Bambito, The kids did homework (yeah I know - evil parents) and Karen and I went on a coffee plantation tour.  Apparently The Geisha coffee beans from Panama are the best in the world (voted the top coffee last year).  We went on a tour and saw first hand a coffee plantation that had the plants, processing plant and roasting plant.  Our guide was a little white Panamanian.  His family is Dutch and His grandparent bought the farm/plantation in the 50s.  Our guide was born in Panama, but  with blonde hair and blue eyes, he did look like any other gringo here.

We did the full tour and at the end had a cup of locally grown Geisha premium coffee.  The perfect amount of freshly ground coffee was put in a coffee steeper and water that was the perfect temperature was put in and left for exactly 1 minute.  Ok, so here is where I was expecting something absolutely incredible to happen in my taste buds, but for me it tasked like any other cup of coffee and I actually prefer the local cheap Duran coffee over the really expensive stuff we got.  Karen and I both agree that we are totally not coffee aficionados (or coffee snobs if you prefer).  I am glad to have been on the tour and seen first hand the effort it takes to grow coffee, but I will still not pay big bucks for a cup of coffee.

These are commercial grade coffee plants and are full and leafy. 

 This is our tour guide and the Geisha plant.  It is skinny and not nearly as lush as the commercial plants.

Leif, our guide, did know his stuff and was very proud of his heritage.  Their family had been farming this area since the 50s and had always employed the local tribespeople to help out.  They stayed in their village and only interacted with the owners through their chief and only when needed.  They were paid by the bucketful of coffee beans and so they tended the plants very well and made sure that everything was perfect.  It is a good relationship and allows the locals to maintain their ancient way of life in their own area, while still providing a service and making money to cover their needs.

This is the view from the coffee plantation coffee house.

The West side of Panama is much less developed than around Panama City, but there is just as much natural beauty there as the rest of Panama.  We realized how sweet we have it in the Arco de Seco (dry arch) part of the Panama Gold Coast.  It is relatively expensive for Panama, but still pretty cheap for Canada and has the best climate ever!

Stew.

April 24th

I need to talk about our trip to the Dominican Republic.

It was one of the best holiday's I have ever been on!  Karen and Dave's wedding was beautiful, I was a little stressed with being the photographer....but Karen and Dave are so easy going, they were just thrilled I was able to do this for them.   They took the pressure off, and I had a lot of fun photographing for them.

The week in Punta Cana was full of laughs, drinks, and relaxation by the pool, my body is still trying to recuperate from last week......although I think I maybe back to normal now...maybe!

Stew posted about the stress we had coming back to Panama......I am very happy to say that we were refunded completely!!!!!!!  Talk about relief!!!  I am just glad this is all behind us now.

Stew also talked about how we are driving back to Calgary......i know I had said in my point of view that I was totally done with riding back!   Well, I guess I am a slow learner, for I was the one that suggested we ride back.  Figured it would be great to go full circle.....ride here and back home again.
We know what to expect now, am ready for those 3 hour border crossings, and I don't intend to eat at any road side stands!
Stewart has gotten so much better with his spanish...me, I just rely on him!  We will see some areas a little better, since near the end of the trip coming to Panama, we just wanted to get to our destination.
We can take our time going, the kids will be done with school, and once we get back into the States we can move a little faster to get home.

Brandon will fly back to Calgary and stay with friends for the month of June.  He doesn't really want to ride back, saying it is more fun to drive than to be a passenger, so when we would talk about the days drive, Brandon felt he couldn't contribute to the conversation......thing is, I thought he could have contributed more, since he didn't have to concentrate on the road, he could look around and see the sights so much better.  Oh well, he can fly home with the school books, and anything else that we don't want to take with us.....driving home, we should be a whole lot lighter than when we arrived.

with that, I will sign off for now, but I will add some photos of Punta Cana and some photo's of Karen and Dave's wedding.

ciao
Karen

 Hotel in Panama city....spent the day at immigration

 Jada and Brandon being silly at the airport in Panama

 First night in Punta Cana

 Our great Friends...Karen and Dave

 We even have mutual friends...Dave Essiltine, who we knew from Rainbow Lake

Waiting for Karen and Dave to arrive

 Stew and I walked downtown....too far to walk back, we caught a ride

three of us on a motorbike.....I laughed pretty hard

 David's birthday party

 The two Karens'....

 Dave and Stew.....he is in much better shape than when he was in Panama

 My wonderful awesome family!!!  Love you guys!

 Jada and Karen

 the stag,  stagette party

 mother and daughter....having a blast as always together

 Dave, Stew and Karen

 Dave, Me, and our waitress Maria

 The Ladies

 Jada and Karen's daughter Katie

 Karen, Curtis, (karen's Son), and Brandon

 I took over 700 photos of the wedding, only posting a couple

 Mr and Mrs. Fraser

 Karen and Dave

 our waitress, Maria, gave me a necklace

all for now......will have Stew post when we get back from our little mini trip this weekend.

Leaving and getting back into Panama - Spoiler, not as easy as you might think!

We have been in Panama for 6 months now.  I still can't believe it has been so long!  Panama only allows you to be in Panama for 180 days before you need to leave for 72 hours.  No problem since we wanted to go to Karen and Dave Fraser's wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, which is right at the 6 month mark.  So this is where I mea culpa for not calculating correctly and booked the flights out at 184 days.  I really didn't think it would be a problem until I dug into it.  If you try to leave, they redirect you to Immigration to pay a fine for staying too long.  No problem if you know ahead of time.  If you don't take care of it before you hit the airport then they won't let you out until the fine is paid.  This can really screw up travel plans because it takes a few hours to pay the fine.

So, with the knowledge that we had to pay fines at Immigration, we headed to Panama city a day earlier than our flight to Punta Cana.  We checked in to our hotel and headed to the immigration office. We went to go in the office and were not allowed to go in.  I had forgot that hospitals and office buildings do not let you in as a man with shorts on (long pants are required) and as a lady with your shoulders showing.  So we walked for 10 blocks in the afternoon sun to Price Smart (Costco) and bought some pants and a shirt for Jada.

We got into the immigration office and went to information where we took a number and waited our turn.  It only took about 1-1/2 hours of waiting to get to talk to an immigration officer who started the paperwork and sent me out to get passport photocopies.  There was a crappy little van parked outside with a photo centre and copiers, so I got the documents copied and headed back inside (80 cents for copies).  Back to the lady with the copies, who did some more work and then sent us outside for pictures (now I knew why the van did copies and photos).  We only needed Karen's photo and got it done in 20 minutes for $3.00.  

We headed back into the office and a new guard followed Karen downstairs to the immigration office.   I was following too and he was trying to get her attention for something.  I asked what the problem was and he asked me to stay where I was and pointed to my feet.  We were both wearing flip flops, which is another no no.  The 1st guard let it slide, but this fellow was not happy about it.  By the time he reached Karen, she was back with the immigration officer and he was talking fast to here in Spanish and seemed pretty upset (probably because she didn't stop for him).  The officer was very good and she talked to the guard who then let us stay.  At this point all we had to do was pay the $55 and then get the final paperwork copy, so 10 minutes later we left with everything in hand.  Note that I was not over the 180 days (I had gone back to Calgary for a weekend to get the kids schoolbooks) and the kids were minors and did not have to pay the fine.

That night we had a good supper and then hit the VIP theatre for the new Captain America in English with Spanish subtitles.  In the morning we headed to the airport and had no troubles getting on the plane (phew!).

We will cover the wedding in Punta Cana in another post, other than the return flight, which fits better in this post.

We arrived at the airport in Punta Cana after the wedding about 3 hours before our plane was to take off (lots of time right?).  The lines were short, so we got to the COPA (Panama Airline) ticket counter fairly quick and she pulled up our itinerary and tagged our bags.  She then asked for a copy of our return flight information, which we didn't have because we are driving back to Canada.  She would not let us board without a plane ticket out of Panama!  This is a tricky policy with Panama Immigration.  

You need to supply proof that you have at least $500 in your account and a purchased plane or Tica bus ticket out of Panama, so that they knew you would not be a drag on the economy and would be leaving before the 180 days are up.  When we entered Panama, was able to talk to the Immigration officer at the border crossing, who let us in without a return ticket, because I had said we were driving out.  It was not that big of an issue at that crossing.  At the airport, I couldn't talk to an immigration official and the COPA airlines ticket lady had to stick by the rules.

So we left our baggage with her and rushed to the other terminal where there was free wifi so I could purchase tickets to leave Panama that we will never use!  I was so pissed at myself for thinking I could work it out with the immigration officer this time, not thinking that I would't be able to talk to one.  I thought it would be handled in Panama at the Immigration checkstop and not in Punta Cana at the ticket agent.  Another case of fuzzy rules in Central America causing us some problems.  All because we drove in instead of flying in.

We found the free wifi zone around a coffee shop, so I got a coffee and the internet information (free wifi - yippee).  We tried multiple devices for about 20 minutes to try to get connected with no luck whatsoever.  Add to this that the airport had lots less workers in it for Holy Thursday (shops and the media centre shut down for the holiday here).  I was really thinking we would miss our plane.  I asked a lady for some help and she spoke enough English that we could get our predicament across.  I had asked if we could pay to use her phone as a hotspot to buy our tickets.  She would not take any money, got us connected to her hotspot and left her phone with us as she went to work.  She asked that we leave her phone with one of the other workers when we were done and did not seem worried one bit about leaving here phone with strangers.  Really goes to show you that generally people are willing to help wherever you go.

With our internet connection I tried to book us on the TICA bus from David to San Jose Costa Rica (cheap bus tickets).  The TICA bus booking system kept freezing on us and kicking us out.  When I finally thought I had it ready to purchase, the system would not allow me to book.  This wasted another 20 minutes, so time was running short for us to catch our plane.  Stress levels increased and I finally gave up on TICA bus and went to Expedia to find flights.  I found some refundable flights for the whole family and booked the tickets.  I emailed them to the COPA ticket lady and we headed back to the other terminal to finish getting our tickets.  Before we left, we could not see the lady who lent us her phone or the other person we were supposed to give it to.  I found another officer and tried in my broken Spanish to explain that we needed to get the phone back to the lady.  It took a while, but another agent came by and seemed to know what was happening and took the phone.  I hope it made it back safely, because the lady saved us big time.

We made it on the plane and back to Panama with about 30 minutes to spare!!!

When we drive out, I have to remember that there will be issues, but that there is always a way around them.  Hopefully we find all the ways around issues that are not expensive.  

ttfn
Stew

What do we do all day?

Ok, so we had the last of our visitors head back to Canada.  It was sure nice to have all our guests visit.  It really lets us re-discover this wonderful country and forces us to go see good friends (when we take people to see the jungle in Altos Del Maria).  It also gets us out of our comfort zone here in Panama.  I wouldn't cal it a rut, but will call it a routine that is good to disrupt from time to time.

Here is a typical day for us here in Panama:
 - Get up around 6:00 to get the kids ready to head to school.
 - Make some coffee and drink it on the deck watching the sunrise and the fishermen go about their day. (There is one older man who paddles his small boat heaped up with nets so full that he has to stand, so it is like his own paddle board)
 - Cut up some Papaya and sometimes some pineapple for breakfast on the deck.
 - Get the kids on Jada's motorbike and off to school at 7:00 (school starts at 8:00, but it takes 40-45 minutes to get from door to door and the kids like to be early)
 - Once the kids leave, Karen and I go for a walk on the beach for an hour or so looking for shells and people watching.  We go either left or right with enough beach each way for a good long walk.  We make sure to go through the resort beach (Decameron resort) on Sundays because the other way has a lot of local people partying from before sun up, so it can be loud and makes us uneasy.
 - For a couple months we would most often stop and see our friends Ross and Debra at another condo complex for coffee and a swim in their pool.  Since they left back to Regina, we have to entertain ourselves. (We both miss our time with them)
 - By the time we get back from our walk it is time to have a snack and catch up on email or do some reading before lunch.
 - Lunch is usually a salad or soup unless the kids are home when it switches to baked ham and cheese sandwiches (yum).
 - The afternoon's bring another walk or a run into town on the motorbikes for groceries.  Often we hang out by the beach or pool.  Karen works on her tan and I people watch.
 - We spend too much time on electronics like our iPads reading news and playing games.  Although I have probably read 30 books down here and watched a dozen documentaries.  Most of the reading lately has been about health.
 - We have also spent quite a bit of time researching places to buy to retire and vacation.  There are some pretty cool places in Central America for reasonable prices (at least compared to Calgary).  I am really looking at catamaran cruisers as an option too.
 - The kids come home around 4:00 and do homework until supper. I wish they would spend more time in the ocean, but they don't go out unless I go out (so I guess that means I need to be more fun for them).
 - Supper is mostly fish or chicken with steamed vegetables.  The odd night we have spaghetti or tacos, but the beef down here is not great and we try to keep away from red meat most of the time.  There is a fish market really close and the fresh sea bass is very cheap and really good.  They catch the fish right out front of our condo, so we know it is wild and not farmed fish (so much more healthy).
 - In the evenings we play cards or more often watch tv or a movie.  Although a lot of evenings Jada has homework so she puts her headphones on to concentrate.  We have our apple tv box here, so we can get any tv show or movie we want to watch.  It is tough to spend evenings out because it gets dark at 6:30 so even though it is warm, we tend to stay in the condo.

 - When the kids have no school we tend to do more exciting stuff like heading to El Valle for lunch and the fruit/veggies market (my favourite).  Or surfing, or visiting friends or trying a new restaurante in the area.
 - The kids tend to stay up late and get up late on their days off (typical teenagers).  They also do homework if needed.

Here are some pictures of our beach area.
ttfn
Stew

 The view from our deck to the beach

 Just a cool sunrise picture

 A couple cool kids

 Nice sunrise

A resort boat that they use for booze cruises

Karen and Dave Fraser's wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic