Wandering Through Panama (Day 9) Drive to Pedasi

We left David at a reasonable time Sunday morning for the drive to Pedasi.  We stopped off at the little beach town of Las Lajas. As we got close to the ocean, there was a roadblock where they were asking for a $1.00 contribution to the beach.  Since there was a Polica standing there, I assumed it was legit.  I think it is good that they want to care for the beach, but I wish they would use some of the money for a clean up the trash campaign.

Since it was Sunday, the beach was crowded.  It seems like every beach in Panama is crowded on Sunday, I think a lot of people work on Saturday so Sunday is the only real day off.  The beach was nice and I would like to go back on a weekday and experience the beach without all the people.
There was a 5 car traffic jam of people trying to get thought a gate to what I assume was a beach club.  There was an awful lot of confusion for what seemed like a fairly simple exercise.  I almost didn't get back out from the side road I parked in because the 5 cars were 3 abreast trying to push and shove their way into the compound.  Not sure what that was all about but in Panama, especially in the citys, there is a lot of pushing and shoving on the streets by cars trying to got somewhere.

Like most intersections, the intersection of CA1, Panamerican Highway,  & CA3, National Highway, was not marked but it was kind of obvious that this was the road down through the Azuero peninsula to Pedasi.  Pedasi is in the Los Santos province.  There are two major towns you have to go through to get to Pedasi, they are Chitri and Las Tablas and we got lost in both towns.  The GPS decided to not work for a while.  There is a bypass for both towns but again they are not marked very well.  (On the way back we managed to find the bypass for both towns and the ride was much quicker).

Our destination, Casita Margarita in Pedasi:

Our hosts, Jack and Sue:

The main drag in Pedasi:

Wandering Through Panama (Day 8) - Playa Barqueta

A short trip on day 8 to La Barqueta for a quiet beach day.  Leaving Gran Nacional, make a right out of the parking lot and a right at the first street and it is a straight shot to the beach, about 15 km.
We were a few minutes down the road when Sally asked me if I have my passport.  I said no and it was not 2 minutes later that a member of the Policia Nacional was standing in the middle of the road checking IDs.  I told him that we were told to never carry our passport (actually we should have had a copy - that is what was recommended in Costa Rica).  He was cool. I said I could easily go back to the hotel and get the passports but he said not to worry.
Anyway, when in Panama it is recommended to carry your passport or even better,a copy of your passport.

We stopped at the Las Olas resort on the beach just to look around.  We had planned on staying there for 3 nights but then decided that staying in a "resort" is not the right way to see a country.

A picture from the beach in front of Las Olas

This was a spectacular beach, several miles of nothing (to the East) but sand.  The water was beautiful and a little cooler than the water around Coronado.  It was refreshing but not cold.  The water actually reminded me of the water at Daytona Beach, with a nice offshore break and good waves for body surfing.  The only knock on the beach is the sand is dark as opposed to white sand.

Just down from the resort were a couple of restaurants.  We met the owner of the one where we ate, Benny's Place.  Benny was an interesting guy.  When I told him I was thinking of moving to Panama, he offered to rent me a room in his house, right on the beach.  He also offered to sell me one of his trucks.  It was a nice offer but I think I will be better off making my own arrangements.

A couple of pictures from the restaurant:

The beach to the West of the restaurant had gated community of upscale beach houses (this is where Benny lives).

 Anyway, it was a nice relaxed day at the beach in preparation for a drive to Pedasi the next day. 

Wandering Through Panama (Day 7) - Boquete & Volcan

Today we drove up into the mountains, to one of the most talked about areas of Panama, Boquete.  Leaving the hotel, we went left and took a right at the first intersection and technically it was a straight shot to Boquete.  When we got to the Panamerican Highway, we did have to go right to the next intersection and then go left because we could not go straight across but it was not real painful.  Remember that very few streets are marked so you need a GPS or good directions.

It is a pleasant drive to Boquete, they were working on the read so when they finish that, the ride will be very easy.

The road to Boquete:

Here you can see the new section of road, this will be a divided highway soon.

It was cool in Boquete and when the sun was blocked by a cloud, I did have to put on a long sleeve shirt.  There was also an occasional sprinkle in the form of a mist.

A picture of the square in Boquete.  All towns have a square and it seems like every square has one spectacular church.

This seemingly out of place golf community was only a couple of blocks off the square and we would not have found it if we had not been told it was there.

 I did talk to a fellow Gringo in the square, he was just sitting there and enjoying a cup of coffee and watching the goings on for at least an hour.  He told us about the large x-pat community there.  He also gave us a tip for the ride to Volcan "follow the yellow line", more on that later.

Next we drove to Volcan.  We took the new road.  We were told to go back towards David about 15 km and then go right at the Shell station.  We were also told the road was not marked so the only way to know if you were still on the right road was to "follow the yellow line".  Once or maybe even twice I drove right past the turn thinking I was on the right road only to have to back up to take the turn so I could "follow the yellow line".  Well it worked, we did get to Volcan and I would not have made it if I had not followed the line.

Volcan was a nice town but did not have near the charm of Boquete.  We did not do too much exploring around Volcan, we just kind of drove there, drove thought the town and then turned around and went back to David.

The road to Volcan

We saw this accident on the way to Volcan.

Wandering Through Panama (Day 6) - Drive to David

We drove to David, about 350km.  The road was good until we passed Santiago and then it became 2 lanes and some mountains and one stretch of about 20km was really pretty bad.  But all in all, the trip went well. 
We did detour in Penonome to La Pintada to visit the Cigar Factory.  The only maker of  "premium cigars" in Panama.

The factory:

On the inside:

Sally and the Owner:

I bought a box of 25 for $60.  The first one I had was a couple of night later and it was a little dry.  When I got home and put them in a Ziploc bag with a wet paper towel, after a couple of days I had another cigar and it was excellent.

We ate lunch at the little place next door to the factory, I think the owners might have been related to the cigar lady.
Picture from in front of the cigar factory:

Picture of the cigar factory in the background with our rental car parked in front of the factory.

The lunch was soup, and rice and chicken.  I asked for a beer and they did not have any.  About 5 minutes later their son got on his bike and rode off, I was not sure where he went but I suspected.  He came back 5 minutes later and a couple of minutes later, they brought me out a cold beer.  Now that is service.  The whole meal, including beer was somewhere between $4 and $5, I forget exactly how much.  The lunch was very good.


We got to David in the late afternoon, the GPS was off by a couple of blocks or it thought I meant Banco Nacional when I actually wanted to go to Hotel Gran Nacional.  Anyway, we went around in circles for about 1/2 hour till we got directions. The hotel was only2 blocks away and strategically placed.  Leaving the hotel, it was one turn to Boquete and going the other direction from the hotel it was one turn to go to Playa La Barqueta.  So, after we got to the hotel, we had no traffic issues.

Gran Nacional:

Picture of the room:

Picture from the window:

This was one of their junior suites, the room was great but it was in the front of the hotel across the street from the casino.    The noise went on till early early morning. 

One thing I noticed in all locations we visited, the young men of Panama are very proud of their sub-woofers.
Boom, boom, boom, boom till late in the night.  Just something that goes with the territory.

Wandering Through Panama (Day 5)

Today we decided to stay close so we could make it an early day in preparation for our 350 km+ drive to David tomorrow. 
We drove west 30 or 40 km to Playa Blanca.  The area is pretty much dominated by 2 gated communities, one is Playa Blanca and the name of the other escapes me right now but it is very large.  These are both havens for big Gringo money from up North. 

We drove out through the small ocean side town of Farallon to a really great place on the water called Pipas.


The view from Pipas:

Lunch at Pipas:

Back at Costa Grande, our last evening before traveling to David:

Wandering Through Panama (Day 4)

Still in Gorgona staying at Costa Grande.

Picture from in front of our unit towards the pool and the ocean.

  Today we visited a little mountain town called El Valle.  It was cooler than in Gorgona because of the altitude but not so cool that we needed long sleeves. 

We visited an interesting church, located on the far side of town.  This is a good place to turn around because there is really no town left after this point.

While in El Valle, we visited the zoo which started out as an animal rescue facility.  Interest and well worth the $2 or $3 dollar price of admission (I forget exactly how much).

One of the birds in the zoo

It was hard to take pictures because just about every animal was in a cage.  This is one of the few unobstructed pictures.

Interesting rock placements (this is part of the zoo).

El Valle is definitely worth visiting and the zoo is very impressive.  The zoo is hard to find and the road is bad but worth the trip.  On the way out of town, turn left at the police station and follow the road and you will arrive at the zoo.

In the center of town there was also a nice little craft area where you can purchase souvenirs.

In the evening we had dinner at Rincon del Chef, an interesting restaurant in Coronado.  Turn off the Panamerican Highway at El Rey heading towards the Pacific and it is about 1/4 to 1/2 km on the right.  The Salmon with Pesto was probably the best Salmon I have ever had.  Seriously, you have to try it.