Wandering Throught Panama (Day 3)

Today was spent becoming more familiar with the Coronado area.  Across from EL REY grocery we discovered a brand new shopping center -The Village.  The shops were very upscale...a four story building containing everything from groceries to electronics and household goods. You could outfit a whole house from this store.  While there we shopped for groceries.  This was the day of the "beer fiasco".  We picked up 6 bottles of Balboa Beer from an open crate. At checkout it became apparent that there was a big problem.  The machine could  not ring them up.  After a 10  minute "convention" of about 6 of us and mutual attempts to communicate in both Spanish and English we finally understood we could only buy the 24 bottles in the crate...or none at all.  No problem as there are lots of little tiendas where we can buy individual bottles for about 45 cents each. Everyone in both large and small shops/grocery stores are eager to be helpful and appreciate our attempts at Spanish.

 We drove about 50 kilometers west on the main highway (Carretera Interamericana)  sightseeing and searching for a little cafe for a beer ... we found a cute place, cute little girl (about 11) who cheerfully waited on us, but no cervesa.....wine worked out just as well. In a local cafe, beer is usually about $1.00 and wine is $2.00 to $2.50. We ended the day with a walk on the beach and visiting with our neighbors in Costa Grande.

Wandering Through Panama (Day 2) - Costa Grande

  On our first day here our big adventure was a trip to REY, a large local grocery store.  We walked on the beach (salt & pepper....partly white and partly volcanic).  The local fishermen come into the bay close by.  We tried to buy some fish but the sight of all those fish in the barrel just really wasn't too appetizing so we cooked in our little galley kitchen in the villa.

The villas are nice. There are about 15 units which overlook the beach.  Our neighbors are mostly Canadian but there are also Panamanians who own units here.  Staying here gives a sense of community vs. being in a hotel. For anyone interested in travel to the Coronado/Gorgona area of Panama (about 1 1/2 hours west of Panama City) we would recommend Costa Grande.  The contact person is Mayela and she was very helpful in arranging our stay and sharing information about the area.  mayela@panamarealestatepros.com

Panama - (Day 1) - Travel

We drove from Daytona to OIA (MCO) early and flew through MIA to Panama (PTY).
Major hassle at the car rental place, I got most of it straightened out there and will contact Thrifty and get the liability insurance overcharge worked out.

Sally  and I in the airport in Miami, waiting on the plane ( it was late ), You can tell we are having a great time.

A picture of where we are staying from the beach the morning after we arrived.

The drive from Tocumen airport to the city was terrible, lots of traffic on a Saturday afternoon, almost like it was rush hour.  There was a lot of trash on the side of the road, not a pretty site (the airport area is a good place to stay away from.

New Year's Day at the Beach

A Great Day at the beach, 75 degrees, sunshine, and a fair amount of people at the beach, lots of activity.

Not sure I have ever seen this, fishing from a kayak.

Originally thought this was someone para sailing but it turned out to be a weight.
Guess they were advertising.

A couple of fishermen, watching the para sail, guess I should have taken the time to zoom in on this one.

Interesting beach attire, I am pretty sure these two young girls were Amish.

A guy on a jet ski, This guy was pretty good, I watched him and his buddy for a while.