Panama - Family, Forests, and Beaches

 

Wonderful Cousins

For a trip that was almost completely unplanned it was amazing how busy our days were and how fast it went.   We literally had zero time to process all of things we were doing.  This is not a normal situation.   Janette’s large family, by way of her Aunt on her mother’s side and an eclectic collection of  cousins would literally take the shirts off their backs to help us.  

Being pampered the Latin way does come with some challenges.  For example, we had no idea that our Aunt was planning to pick us up from the airport until two days before the trip.  Lunch and dinner plans for our first day in Panama might have been planned but not communicated to us until the day of.  And a two day adventure to El Valle de Antón and la Playa Santa Clara was brainstormed hastily during a pool BBQ that was... you guess it, organized at the last minute via a flurry of WhatApp chats.  A fastidious “Type A” planner could not handle this.  Luckily, JZ and I are accustomed to it and always enjoy the unpredictable and amusing time we spend with this side of the family.

Link to full screen video

Our first full day in Panama City was a down day.  This was the plan because we knew that we would need some time to settle in to our new place compliments of AirBnB.  Also, while it is important to keep the boyz busy and entertained, everyday can´t be travel travel rush rush.  All we did on day one was a little grocery shopping, rented our car, had lunch and dinner with family and played with a lot of Legos provided by Panamanian cousins.

  

Day two was a full day in the Panama Canal and the Gamboa Rainforest.  I think the video I posted last week does the best job of telling that story [link to video].  The museum at the canal is not big but it does a nice job of displaying the history in a fun interactive way that the boyz could enjoy.  The Gamboa rainforest resort was similar in that it was not overwhelming in size but the sloth, frog and butterfly exhibits were perfect for an afternoon.

Jan 9th, our third day in Panama, was Día de los Mátires, a national day of remembrance for 22 Panamanian protestors that died in 1964 fighting for control of the Canal.  Everyone in Janette’s family had the day off.  This worked out well because one of Janette’s cousins threw a lunch BBQ at the pool in her building that ended up lasting until 9PM at night.   

It was a wonderful and relaxing day with family.   The boyz had a blast in the pool playing with their 2nd cousins.  It also gave Janette’s cousin Esther a chance to work out the details of her proposal for our two day excursion complete with restaurant suggestions and place to stay.  After the lunch BBQ ended, the evening BBQ began and more family arrived.  One of the few things that I think the boyz will really remember about Panama (for better or worse) will be playing SpiderMan on the PlayStation with Moshe, a “new” second cousin to the boyz!

The next morning, Day 4, we took every bit of Esther’s advice and drove to El Valle de Antón, a long extinct volcanic crater filled with a bunch of local tourist attractions.  To get there you have to drive West out of Panama City along the coast before turning due north via a windy road up the mountain before dropping down into the massive lush flora and fauna filled crater.  With stops, the drive took us a little over two and half hours.  It would have been too long for a day trip which is why Esther offered us her beach house not far from the Valle for the night. 

We spent our time in El Valle at two waterfalls.  The first one, el Chorro Macho was pretty easy to find because it showed up in my Google maps.   I just went right to it.   It wasn’t the most magnificent water fall in the world and you couldn’t get that close.  Nevertheless, we had fun on the short hike through the jungle.  If the boyz had been a little older they could have done the Canopy tour through the trees that ends with a zip line right over the waterfall.

We spent most of our time in a natural pool that the boyz enjoyed once they overcame the fact that I hadn’t brought their swim shirts with me on the short hike.  As we packed to leave,  an afternoon rainstorm rolled over our little oasis.   We hid under the jungle foliage and didn’t feel a drop of rain.

The second waterfall wasn’t as easy to find.  We saw signs for it but Google maps told us to go to a completely different place.  Having had little luck with signs since we arrived in Panama we chose to trust Google.  Big mistake.  We ended up on some mountain road that lead up to what appeared to be nowhere.  We gave up.  But as we descended we saw more signs and ultimately did end up at the entrance to the trail that took you to the water fall.   It was after 4 by now so we hopped out of the car with the hope of getting to see the waterfall before dark.  We did and when we arrived there was almost 100 kids playing in the pool at the base of the waterfall.  It was a summer camp excursion.  We didn’t think we would have time to get wet so we didn’t even bring our swim suits.  The boyz played with tadpoles instead while I walked a little further down the river where there was another waterfall and pool that was more spectacular but not accessible without climbing equipment.

We got back to the car in time to get some nice sunset views as we drove out of El Valle to Santa Clara and Ester’s house.  The drive was highlighted by wild peacocks blocking our way at one point and a guy on a longboard with wheels skating down the mountain easily going 40 miles an hour.   When we arrived at the restaurant that was recommended we were ecstatic to see that they had fried fish and plátanos a perfect meal before our day at the beach.   

It was late and dark by the time the boyz finished their ice cream but we still had to find Esther’s house just ten minutes away.  There was no street address or a way to put it into Google maps.  The directions I was given were. “It’s on the main road in Santa Clara on the left between the Episcopal Camp and the Baptist Camp.  Believe it or not these really were the only directions we needed.  We pulled up to a house that looked exactly as Esther had described and honked our horn twice at the gate.  As we were told, Horacio the house caretaker, opened the gate and let us in.   We all went right to the shower and then to bed.

Day 5 began with sun coming in through the window and waking me up. I snuck downstairs quietly before the rest of the crew woke.  I was greeted by a magnificent patio complete with a Pool and a large palapa.  The women who tends to the kitchen had already started coffee.  I enjoyed a quiet cup until I heard the patter of feet and my boyz shouting let’s go swimming.  

Since we had arrived in the dark the night before we had not seen any of this.  To wake up to a private pool and kitchen staff was not something any of us were used to.  We all enjoyed a lazy morning before packing our things into the four seat all terrain vehicle - La Mula - and headed to the beach.  Horacio led us on his motorcycle to a beach restaurant that let us drive through to water.  From there we had the whole beach to ourselves.  We drove a few hundred yards away from the restaurant’s palapas and carved out a little slice of paradise until we had to leave.

We would have happily stayed in Santa Clara for another day or two if we had the time but our time in Panama was up.  We had to make it back to the city.   We had been invited at the last minute to join the Zebede family for a Shabbat dinner which was actually a celebration for a wedding.  Tío Joey’s Grandniece - his brother’s granddaughter was getting married. 

Spending Shabbat dinner with the family was high on my list of “must dos” for the trip but going to someone’s wedding celebration was not what we had expected.  This little twist meant that we to upgrade our wardrobe significantly.  Once again - family to the rescue.  The boyz pieced together nice outfits between a few things they brought and borrowed clothes from young cousins.  I was able to get almost everything I needed from cousin Enrique.  And Janette had actually purchased a dress and shoes in Miami on the way to Panama.  We looked dashing!   EVERYONE we knew in Panama was at that event.  It was our opportunity to say goodbye to everyone at the same time.  

The only thing in our way was the traffic in Panama.  For some reason the route that Google wanted to send us, which would have taken us only an hour and a half to get home was closed.  The route we ended up on added almost an hour of traffic delay to our return trip.  By the time we made it back to our apartment we had very little time to get ready and the boyz were pushing behavioral boundaries.  

We seriously considered scrapping the whole idea.  The problem was that it really was the only way for us to spend a little more time with the family and say goodbye.  So we pushed all rational thought aside, forced the boyz into their fancy clothes and marched out the door about 20 minutes late.  Karen was waiting for us at the agreed meeting place and we made it to the dinner.  Albeit there was a search party being formed to see what had happened to us.  They were standing at the elevator when it opened.     

That was how our Panama experience ended.  With an amazing meal and more time with family while our boyz went crazy drinking coke and bouncing on a trampoline until 10:30 at night.   How could that possible affect our 6AM wake up and trip to Cusco?  That’s the next chapter.