Discovering Panamà
Panamà is a small country. But for a strange reason in its 75,515 km2there are several and different interesting sites to visit and live. I took the advantage of a break in Andiamo’s schedule part of the country.
When you leave Panama City you have the impression there’s nothing out of it. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Milan, where you can’t notice many differences in landscape while driving out of the city. Italy is over constructed and over populated and Panama is (for the moment) kind of virgin land out of the capital city.
At one hour and fifteen minutes (Panamanian time) by bus you arrive in San Carlos, the capital of omonimous district. I decided to take some surf lessons here in El Palmar, one of the last free beaches in the Area (big resorts all over) and perfect spot for beginners like me, due to reasonable dimensioned waves and for the perfect sandy bottom with no dangerous obstacles. I never been on a surf board before and always thought surf is for lazy californian teenager (or lazy young-looking adults). But if you live on the sea like me you should know how to use the resources (wind, waves & similar..) to have fun and do your workouts. Everyday there’s a lot and nothing to do at the same time.
- El Palmar, San Carlos
I booked two classes with Flor Villareal, owner of Panama Surf School that was recommended to me by Andiamo’s guest Mariano that also learned surf in El Palmar. The first day I was taught by Nino, San Carlos native instructor working with Flor for more than 5 yrs. I started with a long soft board, practicing stand ups and wave catching and helped by Nino for timing and pushing. When I kept practicing alone I was not able to catch one single wave and really exhausted. Surf is for sure funny but is also damned hard work! I had all my muscles hurting and abrasions on knees for board friction but the sensation of control when I rode my first wave was so exciting that I’m motivated to go further in this activity. Next day I was with Flor on the other side of the beach, this one with more stones but nothing dramatical. After sun salutation to warm up the body I worked with her on timing and paddling. I did some progresses and started to think about turning as well. In the afternoon I practiced alone and rode three waves and that gave me lots of satisfaction.
Friday was really bad for waves so I decided to take a bus to El Valle de Antòn, a town that sits in the crater of a dormant volcano. Before going I knew that was a good site for hiking and thermal baths and also a very fertile land. Once I was on the road to the village I started noticing some characteristics: wood and flowers, green all around, water.
And water on ground and from the sky, heavy rain all over me while visiting the surroundings, climbing small mountains, visiting waterfalls, slipping from muddy rocks. I rented a bicycle just to go faster in between sites and to run in the middle of the lovely village now sadly littered only with rich people mansions while the locals moved up in the mountains due to the increasing cost of land. I visited la India Dormida Mountain (with the profile of a lying indian woman), bathed in thermal waters an climbed up to a mirador (but really poor visibility).
Exhausted after cycling and hiking when I get back to La Casa de Juan (cheap and warm hostel) I was involved in the pizza baking for dinner. All the guests of the house gave a strong hand for the preparation, a nice way to know each other and enjoy good food under the sight of Juan (hostel director) who promoted the event with genuine generosity.
Back to the city next day I was surpised how fast I got back to the apartment (2hrs and a half in total, with 2 buses change and 1 taxi). I’m sure this combo is perfect for weekends and days off, quick and effective, and two destinations to see for any travellers in Panamà.
0 Replies to “Discovering Panamà”
I discovered your blog while “Tag Surfing” WordPress, and having been a professional sailor myself I’m looking forward to spending more time wandering through your blog. I left the sea and now live in the mountains of Chiriqui province in western Panama. No, NOT Boquete which, like El Valle is over run by gringos. (By gringo I mean anyone whose native tongue isn’t Spanish, so you’d be considered one, too.)
One phrase you used tickled me. You said El Valle de Anton “sits in the crater of a dormant volcano.” I live in the shadow of Volcan Baru, Panama’s highest peak, also a “dormant volcano.” Since the word “dormant” means “inactive” or “sleeping” we can only hope. Doesn’t mean they’re extinct, only just dozing. Things could change. Would love to see what happens to all those gringo houses if El Valle decides to wake up suddenly.
Hi Oldsalt (what’s your name?), thanks for your comment. I was just discussing with a friend of mine about the opportunity of build your own house in the crater of a Volcano. But as we’re here only for a while and volcanos and mountains for way longer I suppose it’s all a matter of luck to chose the right time to live in or beside a Volcano. I’m italian, and we have the example of Pompei in our mind. Anyway if you do you can enjoy good climate and fertile land, and for the possible dangers you will be quite sure they won’t build a big city in the nearbies..
I just started my professional sailor job and I would like to exchange experience and informations about it. If I look forward the only place where I can see me living is the mountain (first love of my life in terms of priority). When you experience living in the sea is impossible to come back to live in a city.
My name is Richard. I am currently house-sitting just below the pueblo of Potrerillos Arriba about 36 K from David, Panama’s third largest city. (That’s kind of a laugh. Population about 85,000 and there are only three traffic lights in the city. But Panama IS a small country and half of the population lives in Panama City.) The house is at about 1,000 meters and when I sit on the front porch in the morning with my cup of coffee I look down at the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
I have a lot of photos and videos of the area on my blog:
http://oldsalt1942.wordpress.com/
The Panama stuff starts in earnest in posts from June 2010.
I worked as a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain for nearly 20 years on yachts and small commercial craft and then spent another 15 years repairing and restoring yachts before retiring. Most of what I ran were power boats. Crew boats in the oil fields off the coast of Louisiana, as mate on a tug boat in the Mississippi River for a while. I raced (as crew) on large sailboats in the mid ’70s and was captain of a 26 meter ketch over in Antibes, France, for nearly three years before sailing it to the U.S. in ’91. I then bought a small sailboat of my own and single-handed her from the States to Mexico, Belize and the Rio Dulce in Guatemala on a nine-month trip.
Never made much money working on boats, but there’s an old saying that money is a poor measure of a person’s wealth.
Thanks again Richard, for your story. I’ll keep one eye on your blog, there’s always o learn.
As you can read on Author page on this blog I started as a psychologist, with group dynamics specialty, but then I discovered this wealthy life and I’m currently in it. I’m quite pessimistic about doing much money in general, and when I try to figure out how my future will be there’s a big question mark on money matters. But for the moment I’m concerned in gaining more experience on board after getting my RYA (u.k. Coast Guard license) Master of Yachts 200gross tons. I’m captain on a 50ft. sloop in San Blas, doing group sailing trips ( http;//theandiamo.com ). Before I was working in Venezuela, Curaçao and Dominican Republic as first mate and captain, doing charters and mantaining a sailing yacht (Beneteau Idylle 51ft.).
My dream is to buy a 35ft boat and make her my house, working temporary to get some funds to use for travelling all around the world with that boat. But I will do it with time, to test if is the thing I really want and to be a more expert sailor (and with few more money).
Cheers!