Journey to Panama & Beyond

Bella Vista After a few days of resting and  exploring the immediate area where our flat is we settled into a daily rhythm.  Turns out we could not have picked a better location in the city or a better Airbnb!  A few minutes walk from the flat is a Supermercado, two pharmacies, a public park and dog park right across the street and several major hotels should we need any pampering.  Our attorney's office is a 15 minute walk. The Bella Vista/Congrejo area of the city is relatively safe and an interesting mix of new high rise condos and old style Spanish houses. The views from the taller buildings is desirable and the prices go up with the floor number.  Lots of construction is going on throughout the city and Bryant took an interest in the various job sites as we walked or drove by.  Heavy construction was going on in 88 degrees at 90% humidity.  Walking is an effort in these conditions much less physical labor! Our flat has a Mezuzah at the do...

Raine was to leave on the noon flight for Tampa and the morning was busy with her organizing, packing and giving Vicki last minute pointers.   We had our coffee in the ranch house and stayed out of the way.  Joel invited us to have dinner with them and we offered to pick up wine and a few additions for the leftover turkey to round out the meal so we set off to Bocas Town.    The morning was proving to be very hot and we quickly finished our arrangements for transport the following day back over the continental divide to David Airport where we would pick up our rental car and head to Boquete.     We visited the gourmet kosher store (yes, you heard right… a kosher store in Bocas) and selected a couple of bottles of wine, scooped up a few vegetables at one of the super markets and hailed a cab back to the casa. Bocas Town Waterfront We deposited our purchases in the ranch kitchen and returned to our casita for a quick freshe...

We were seated in Economy Plus and I tried to listen for any dog barking.  Nada.  Maybe it was good that I couldn't hear anything and maybe they weren't barking.  I doubted that.  Bear makes her displeasure known. Wheels down at 5:40P Panama time, 3 hours late!  I hoped Paola of Panama Pet Relocation Services would still be there waiting for us...and she was! With reinforcements. We found her before our luggage appeared and she was already with the dogs, having provided water and reassurances.   I was still in the secure area and could not get to the crates but I could hear Bear and Max barking..and it wasn't happy barking.  I could not hear Tasha and that sent a stab of fear through me.  As a 15 1/2 year old dog with a heart condition and COPD I wasn't sure she should even go on this journey.  After consultations with her vet and a cardiologist, all were certain that Tasha would be just fine.  Tasha was the first question I had for ...

Wheels down at 6:05A Houston time. We had heard the weather in Houston was getting nasty.  We were told that international flights had priority meaning that we would land and take off even as domestic flights through Houston were being cancelled.  My concern was for the dogs..I did not want to overnight in Houston nor did I want us to be on a different flight from them.  Although they were in Cargo and I couldn't get to them, knowing they were on the same plane was an ounce of reassurance. I asked the flight attendant about the dogs and she reassured me saying that although the captain could not say whose dogs were in cargo, the fact that the crew was alerted to 'animals in the galley' meant the dogs were on board.   They were the last to be boarded in LAX and the first to be off in Houston. The last to be boarded in Houston and the first to be off in Panama City. Once we landed and were sufficiently caffeinated, I guided Bryant over to the United Customer Servic...

Planning the departure and actually working out the logistics are TWO different activities.  With our 9 trunks for baggage, 2 carry aboard bags each and 3 dog kennels, Uber just wasn't going to cut it.  Bryant rented a cargo van the night before with a schedule return once our cargo and baggage was dropped at the two different locations as required by United. After a bon voyage meal with cousin Malori, we loaded up the van at 8P, added the bewildered dogs (who were typically asleep at this hour) and rolled slowly to the airport. We arrived at Cargo 4 hours ahead of departure.  After all, that is what the PetSafe employee had told me during my pre-journey visit the week before. Our dear friends from Irvine, Linda and Michael, joined us at Cargo after insisting we needed their help and we certainly did!   Linda's career was customer service for American Airlines and she knew LAX and all about airline rules and regulations.  Michael is a former teacher and h...

My eyes opened to a grey sky.  Rain was playing with the metal roof and the sound was both comforting and disappointing.  What would we do with a rainy day?  After breakfast with Raine, Carlos, Joel, Vicky, Kitty Girl and Oliver, we lingered over coffee and decided to take the bus over to Drago Beach on the mainland-facing side of the island.  Carlos had said that Starfish Beach, a short hike from Drago Beach, was a nice place to spend some time with a view of the Panama mainland and the mountains of the continental divide. The rain stopped and it looked as if the sun was making an effort.  We walked a short distance from the casa to the local stop and waited for the bus.    It was a national holiday, some sort of independence from something or other, and the buses ran frequently.  We sat for about 20 minutes on a broken and rotting wood bench completed with a tin canopy overhang and tried to avoid staring at the soppy garbage on th...

Our mornings start out with a late roll out of bed and a stagger down our casita stairs, a few steps through the garden path and then a turn into the main ranch house.  I can smell Raine’s coffee brewing before the screen door bangs shut behind us.  This morning Carlos and Bryant were heavy on debate about religion, politics, anything.  The two are well matched in verbal sparring and they get a kick out of the intellectual wrestling.  That leaves Raine and I to roll our eyes at one another and beat an exit into a far corner to huddle quietly sipping our coffee or to exit into the garden where Raine rails at the leaf cutter ants for chewing apart her beautiful crotons. Water Taxi Around 11A, the weather looked as if it would hold to partly cloudy and we set out for Red Frog beach on another island, Bastiamento.  We promised to return by 4P as the new owners were due in and Raine has set about fixing another Thanksgiving dinner to welcome them. ...

Well, not exactly… If Los Angeles or Irvine or Carmel is a melting pot of cultures, then Bocas is the granddaddy crock pot! We invited our friends, Carlos and Raine, to have dinner with us in Bocas Town.  After some consideration they declined.  We will have dinner together here at the casa tomorrow night when the new owner arrives.  Joel, his girlfriend Vicki and Joel’s chihuahua Oliver, who caused a delay in Panama City because some doggy document was not in order. So we struck out to Bokart, an eclectic restaurant that we had eaten at last year.  We remembered they had great sangria and I could eat there without getting poisoned by gluten and our Bocas friends knew the chef, Juan (pronounced Jew-on).  We arrived and the place was mostly empty.  Quiet evening for an open air restaurant with calm breezes flowing through and a house cat that moved under the tables looking for handouts.  Artsy fartsy decorations adorn the support po...

This series of December 2016 posts were in the form of emails to my auntie Gerry, 91 years old at the time, now deceased.  She would comment on our adventures and looked forward to the daily communication.  We hope you enjoy our travel log as well. --------- We arrived in Panama without incident or delays despite hurricane Otto having swept the area north of Bocas Del Toro.  Everything went as planned with our plane trip through Panama City and on to David where our guide, Raul, with Cloud Forest Tours would meet us and drive us over the continental divide with a few planned stops.    Raul met us at the David airport right on time.   We loaded our gear, adjusted for the warm and humid day and we were off toward the mountains! Nature Preserve Entry The road through the forest was extremely steep and very twisted.   I was surprised to see very big trucks navigating the lanes and moving freight between the Caribbean and Pacific sides of the...