Travel – Page 13 – Whatsittwoya

Summary

Well, just idling around here for a few days, I did a few little trips. Two days ago I tried to get to the Parque National Soberania, but about 40 km away at a gas station I discovered that I had left my money at the house…So I gave the poor guy my camera and went back to get the money. In the long run, I ended up driving 160 km to go get gas because by the time I returned to the gas station it was too hot already.

As it turns out, that afternoon Jana and Moa returned from Panama City, and Moa decided to come with me for the next attempt. We made it the next day. It is just over an hour from here and, as with most things tropical, best done first thing in the morning.

After crossing the Bridge of the Americas….

we got there around 9:30 and set out after messing around trying to find the best trail to walk on.

Incidentally, this is the park that contains the famous Las Cruces Trail, the one that Captain Morgan and his men built after ransacking Panama city from behind. It was used to carry all the gold from one coast to the other before they built the canal. If my facts are a bit off on that, let it slide, would you? |-| The trail we took was a mere 14km round trip, a decent hike uphill and through deeeeep jungle.

There were weird animals,

Dead monkey skulls,

The jungle itself,

Weird spiky trees,

And all manner of things you would expect to find on any given day in the middle of the jungle. This is another example of times when pictures just don’t do justice to their subjects. You need to actually be in the middle of it, take in that panorama, the quiet, and the smells, to appreciate it.

When I got back, I was told that during the wet season you would barely be able to see the sun under the canopy cover. What a huge difference between. I will have to come and see this one day for myself.

The next day I went on a hunt for another “private place” that locals know about. We didn’t have much luck but for getting into some nice scenery. The small trails that lead off the main highway get lost in a million different directions, and there is something to see at the end of every one. This is a shot from along the way.

Being somewhat bummed at not finding the “rocky falls”, we went to Punta Barco, a beach with ritzy resorts along its shore. The tide was out and there was an army of people hammering oysters off the rocks. The surfers complain about this sort of thing because if they wipe out in this sort of area, not only do they get pounded on the rocks, but they get sliced up by all the razor sharp shell-halfs that are left on the rocks.

When I got back to the house again, the sea had a swell going. It was high enough to hit the sea-wall of all the houses along this beach, sending showers 25-30 feet into the air. It shakes the ground under your feet. Tomorrow morning it will be even higher and everyone around here is waiting… for the morning… nothing else matters at all.

Travel

El Valle

Today I went up the hill to El Valle, about 30 km up a nice twisty road on the side of an extinct volcano. The town sits in the flat bottom of the crater and is a laid back little place without all the commotion you would expect for a mountain town this close to Panama City. It was one of the first “luxury” locations in Panama due to its proximity, but because of its age (read “old money”), there isn’t the terrible looking crap that most speculators are putting up all over the rest of the country. “We don’t need that here” was the response from one of the locals in town, who has had land here for over 70 years.

In town, there are a few things to see. There is a “mud bath” that isn’t even worth mentioning, really. There is a waterfall that wasn’t too bad, but I think that was only because it was the dry season. In the rainy season it would probably be thundering and too loud to talk over.

But the best part of the visit was for free. If you continue on up the road out of town, it turns to gravel, but it is well kept. On and on and up and up, past several chicken fincas, and at the end (or where I stopped), was the head of this trail.

All around the town there are high ridges of the old crater wall, covered with thick jungle similar to Volcan Poas, and this trail led up to the top of the ridge, and went along it for a ways with down down down on either side of you. The fist picture in this post is from the mirrador on the one side, and this is looking the other way.

The road on the way up had nice houses on either side, and there was this weird looking little place.

Ok, so when I say that a road is nice and winding…that means that you have to take it slow.

A pile of folks have showed up at the house today when I returned. Long time friends of the family. This place never ceases to amaze me.

Travel

The Surf Show

Last night we had a few new arrivals here. One, is the national champion for womens’ surfing, and the other is number 4. They are a sight for sore eyes. Sorry, no pics. If you were here you could see for yourself.

They are friends of the family, which we all seem to be part of, and everyone seems to be a friend to, and spent the night so they could go out surfing today.

Accompanied by the film crew (a guy named Vampiro with a waterproof cam-corder), they hit the point here, Playa Palmar.

I went down to the end of the beach and just watched these girls in action. They don’t mess around. I have seen lots of guys surfing along the way, and these two put them all to shame. Except for the guys from here who went with them… It seems everybody here has been surfing since rocks were new. Just trying to follow the lingo here can be a challenge.

I had the pleasure of watching one of the videos that Vampiro put together yesterday. This guy is good, and the video looks like what you would expect to see on TSN or something like that. He says he just puts them together to offer to producing/advertising companies to use for footage in commercials or backgrounds in ads. IMHO, I think he is selling himself short and should be making surfing movies.

The number and character of people that seem to gather on a daily basis sets me back in my chair a bit. A tattoo artist from the states who did the tats on Robert DeNiro for Cape Fear (who happens to be on the 5th page of the tattoo mag I was just flipping through…and his wife is on the front cover (no shit)), a real-estate developer putting in a subdivision up in the hills, surfers from Hawaii down on vacation, older folks from just down the lane who bought here in ’71, etc… Everybody is welcome. I think you would just have to be here to understand the feel of the place.

The girls from Sweden are heading off to the city tomorrow to party for the weekend, and are in the middle of getting a lecture about what to do, what NOT to do, and how to be safe about all of it. I’m sure they have heard it all before, but they seem to be bearing it ok.

What a cast of characters…

Travel

Now, Where Was I??

After a few days here I forgot where I left off, but you haven’t seen the place yet, so here it is.

Everybody hangs out on the porch. That’s the owner, Russ, leaning on the column.

And, I know there were better waves than this, but this is what I caught on the camera. The swell is coming in now, and this place is getting busier and busier as word gets out. We have camera men getting their gear ready, there are boards everywhere you look, and the talk is “all surf”.

Another claim to fame is that during the filming of “Survivor Panama”, the Swiss team came here to stay for a while. The owners’ son, Ray, was part of the studio crew for that season, so that is how they heard of this place.

Today, for a break, we went up the volcano here to a place they call “Laguna”. Just a little spot the locals know, and don’t tell too many people about. We went in Phil’s 4×4, as there was no way I would be able to get there in my car.

What a cool place. Way up in the mountains, at the end of some really bad road, was this.

A quiet little lake sitting in the bottom of the old crater, all you could hear was the sounds of the land around you. There was a little bit of garbage, but not much, and there were some fish in the lake that sat near the shore until you walked close. Then they would all squirt away in a frenzy.

It was a helluva drive to get up there, but I’m glad we went (as usual).

Not much else to add today. Just chillin’.

Travel

Playa Palmar

So, that is what this place is called. I was in the water here this morning and the surf is actually SURF. Jay, Russ’ son (one of the owners), was stoked that later in the day it was going to be “just pumpin'”. The waves come in good sets and are fast . There isn’t much time to turn around after diving under one wave before you get pounded by another. I love it! I am going to HAVE to get on a board here.

Have to.

There will be more pictures of this place later on. I have to go right now. You will understand, won’t you?