El Valle

It’s been a busy and tiring couple of days. I even missed a day’s blogging. Sorry to those who may think we’ve dropped off the planet. Here’s the catch up.

On Wednesday morning we were up bright (actually dark) and early and managed to get into our hire car by 6:45am. We were soon off and crossing the Bridge of the Americas and heading west along the highway. Driving in Panama does take a lot of concentration as the roads are rough and the other drivers rougher. After approx 100km we found the turn to El Valle and took the windy road up to the crater in which the town nestles. As we ascended the weather became gloomy with spatters of rain.

Our first target was the 3 hour hike up the ‘Sleeping Indian’. Missing one vital sign we ended up at the jungle canopy tour. At that point we weren’t sure if this was the right place but after some asking we realized we had to turn around. After 2-3 more wrong turns we arrived at the base of the hike.

We were charged $1 each to enter the trail which I guess is not too bad. Practically the first thing we came upon were some petroglyphs on a rock. There was no information on what they were so we could not tell if they were ancient or recent graffiti.

We continued our hike upwards. The dampness and occasional rain made the path muddy and quite slippery in places.

We came upon a point where we had a choice to head up a steeper path or continue up the path we had been climbing. Consensus was to try the steeper path. This took us, after some time, to someone’s dwelling as well as another steep upward path. We asked where the “Sleeping Indian” was and were directed down again but to keep left. Downward was actually taking us down the outside of the crater so at least we had reached some part of the rim. Keeping left we were soon on a steep upward path which took us to a tree covered peak with a spectacular view down into the crater floor.

We didn’t think this was the highest point around and felt with some exploring we could find a higher point. However, some were for heading back down including me as I had the wrong shoes on and was developing blisters.

From where we were we hiked back down into the crater assuming we’d come out somewhere near the car. We met our upward trail at a point where none of us realized there had been a choice and made it down albeit gingerly as the slipperiness was harder to deal with descending.

Next we headed for the zoo which we found after having to ask directions just once. We had to drive along about a kilometer of unpaved road to get there. The zoo wasn’t the best kept but they did have an interesting collection of animals set in wonderful grounds. They had many types of birds, reptiles and mammals (including monkeys which delighted Annie). Their showpiece was their golden frogs which are an endangered species.

After the zoo we dined at the pizza restaurant in ‘town’. For very little we each had our own 12″ deep crust pizzas which were quite filling. Over lunch we discussed our options for the afternoon. There was not a lot of interest in the horse riding. We thought it might be worth looking into the canopy tour followed by the hot springs / volcanic mud bath.

We drove back to the canopy tour. It turned out that for about $50 we would get to ride 4 zip lines. This was a rip off because normally for that price you get about 10 or more so we passed on that and headed off for the hot springs. We decided as a consolation to go out for sushi in the evening. Having arrived and paid to go in we discovered the hot springs were barely warmer than cold and that the volcanic mud, which smelled like the mud we sometimes pick up on our anchor, came in plastic containers.

Not to be put off by this we went for the full works and covered ourselves in smelly mud before washing it off in luke cold water. Living on a boat one can at least appreciate abundant water regardless of its form.

Then came the drive home. I was exhausted and struggled to stay awake at the wheel. As soon as we found somewhere to get coffee John went out to get some while I took 10 minutes to close my eyes which I find makes a huge difference while driving. (By this I mean while parked to rest during a long drive.)

Refreshed we continued on and soon passed a Rey supermarket which we took the opportunity to visit and load up some more provisions.

Back in Panama City we drove up the causeway to a sushi restaurant Annie and Sam were keen to visit where we ate 9 orders between us. Oddly, here in Panama, they seem to like putting cream cheese in their sushi. At first I didn’t notice as I was so hungry but towards the end I really found it distasteful.

Back on the boat everyone crashed to their bunks and were soon asleep. Except for me as I think the coffee kicked in and kept me awake for a few more hours.

The next morning Helen and I headed into Panama City to do another provisioning run, find some propane and visit the chandlery / fishing shop if we had time. We soon made a wrong turn and in correcting we found ourselves passing by the chandlery so we stopped and shopped there. Next stop was the propane store where I learned they would not fill our fiberglass tanks without some sort of printed specification. Final stop was another Rey supermarket where we did successfully provision. Time was ticking. We had to rush back to the boat. Get everything loaded onto a cart. Have a fellow take the cart to the launch dock. Unload everything off the cart. Load everything onto the launch. Get out to Dignity. Load everything onto Dignity. I then headed back in the launch to get the car back to the rental company before 2pm. I just made it.

I still needed a replacement fishing road so I took a taxi from the rental agency to the fishing store at the end of the causeway and walked back to the boat from there. The day was almost up. Annie made us all a vegetarian appetizer which went down very well. Soon we were off to the Balboa Yacht Club for the evening meal and a few beers.

Helen and I retired for the evening but the kids got ready for a night out. They must have had a good time as they arrived as it was getting light this morning.

Today is our last full day together as Annie and Sam need to return to the US tomorrow. I doubt if we’ll see much of them as they have some sleep to catch up on. Tonight we’re having our final curry together. There is an Indian restaurant in town. It’s a toss up between there or Helen’s curry. We’ll let Annie and Sam decide.

This morning my blogging was disturbed by the launch driver demanding we went to the dock. Helen and I quickly pulled ourselves together so I could sort whatever this was out and she could do some laundry (we’re running low on water on the boat). It turned out there was a UPS guy with a package for us. We are expecting our mail to be delivered here but was surprised it was so soon. I soon learned that the package was stuck at the airport awaiting clearance but that for $30 the UPS guy could smooth the way. I was outraged. In the end once we got into the argument that my package did not weigh 21kg I learned the guy had the wrong boat and the wrong marina and furthermore, our package would be too small to warrant greasing of the palms. Life in the third world.