Monday, April 19, 2010
Indian Guides fish the pond
The April Indian Guides meeting was held at a friend's property in Volusia county, where we fished and conducted a gun safety and orientation lesson for the tribe. Alot of fish were caught, and alot of lead was put downrange. Rachel, Ryan and Dylan all had a blast!!
At the triathlon finish
Cocoa Beach Triathlon, the innaugural event, and the 1st stop in the SurfCoast trifecta series. My kids came to cheer me into the finish
Sunday, April 4, 2010
A sunset at Playa Tetas
We observed this beautiful sunset as we caught our final waves on our first surf session at Tetas
Friday, April 2, 2010
Good Friday in El Valle
April 2, 2010We woke up early in El Valle to the sound of the rooster’s call. Now I know why Panamanians cannot sleep in. I took a quick run up the hill, which amounted to a 25 minute ascent, and a 10 minute descent. It felt really good in the cooler air here in the crater of the El Valle mountains. We all sat around for breakfast which was gratis at the Los Capitanos hotel.
Our plan for today was to do a bit of hiking and go to the town zoo. We set out for the Hotel Campestre at about 9:00 with all 16 of our group, and our friends Nick and Maria and their two boys. Behind the hotel is the footpath which leads up to the square trees. They are trees which grow with square trunks. Along the way we passed lots of local flora which was marked with their names. It is just a short hike to the turnaround where the trees are located. At this turnaround, we took a lot of pictures, and headed back down the hill. At the foot of the trail, where the hotel lies, there is an interesting sluice runoff from the creek that actually provides the water for the hotel’s pool. Everywhere around us we viewed the near vertical sides of the tree lined crater.
After the hike to the trees, we loaded up both vans again, and headed to the local zoo. It is a fairly well maintained zoo which contains many of the Panamanian rainforest animals, including monkeys, birds, large reptiles, mammals, and big cats (ocelots/jaguars). It was very interesting for Ryan as he had just completed a report on the animals of Panama. The center piece of the zoo’s displays is the golden frog exhibit, an endangered frog which is central to the sacred powers of Panama’s early indigenous Indian tribes.
No visit to El Valle would be complete without a stop in the souvenir shops. That was our next stop, and the kids bargained for their favorite souvenirs as Rebecca bought family gifts. They all learned about negotiating, and thoroughly embarrassed Rebecca with their bargaining prowess. I was especially embarrassing but managed to negotiate a few sweet deals, saving pennies in the process.
The afternoon we spent just chilling around the hotel, having a relaxing lunch, and reading. It wasa nice to finally have a bit of down time, especially since the temperatures here are so comfortable.
Richard and I also used this time to do some auto body repairs on the vans I had dually side swiped a few nights ago. A little rubbing compound made the appearance of these scrapes much better, and I can only hope for a merciful rental car agent to avoid a true Panamanian fleecing.
Just before dinner, we loaded up the crew and headed to the home of a Grimison family friend, Bruce Quinn. He gave us a tour of his home, and before our herd could become overwhelming, we whisked them off to Pinocchio’s pizza. We had a very nice and affordable pizza dinner at the pizza place, and just as the sun set, and darkness descended on El Valle, we finished dining and headed into town for the Good Friday procession.
As we walked down the main street of El Valle, the crowd was already assembled for the procession and the policia was blocking the road from vehicular traffic.
Nearing the center of town, the procession had begun, and was heading our way. It is a very sacred and reverent procession honoring this holy day, Good Friday. The procession was led with the Priest and the altar servers adorned in beautiful white robes. Following the Priest’s group was the first cart which was a wheeled cart with a half scale statue of Christ engaged in activities of this holy week. The carts are beautifully adorned with many local flowers, and skirted with silk cloth. They are also lighted with white lights powered by batteries or small generators. The procession contained 7 of these similar carts, all including scenes depicting Jesus on the cross, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Christ in a glass casket.
Each cart was followed by many of the faithful Catholics of this small town, and as the procession neared the end, our entire extended family joined in, walking in near silence, the only sounds being the sounds of shuffling feet, the mountain wind through the trees, and an occasional crying baby as the drum and horn band provided the cadence for the march. A very impressive display of Catholic faith in this small remote town in Panama. We were all awed by the opportunity to participate in the procession this Good Friday.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Venao to El Valle
Panama April 1, 2010
Today we have transited from Venao to El Valle, but first we experienced a full day’s activities prior to our departure and drive to El Valle.
Our plan was to wake up early to catch the mid tide for surf, but as we had a major wave day yesterday, that plan was a bit delayed. I took the early opportunity to bang out a session of Rodney Yee’s Power Yoga on the beachfront bohio. It must have been comical for the Panamanian cleaners to watch this middle aged gringo practicing yoga as the sounds of the waves coming into Achotino Bay highlighted the beautiful seaside morning.
When we were able to motivate, Richard loaded Tommy, Sophia, and Carly, and I took Ryan and Dylan over to Venao to surf. Sadly, the swell was kicking, but the tide was so low that the resultant wave was a thumping close out. I never attempted a paddle out, but Tommy and Ryan both had somewhat harrowing experiences in the shore pound. Luckily, we got multitudes of great surf yesterday, so we can leave Venao with our surf smiles onJ
After a quick milk shake in the Bohio Venao, we made our way back to La Playita, where the kids had been looking forward to low tide in the Achotines Bay. When we got there, the tide was perfectly low for tide pool exploration. Dylan turned over every rock he could find, and was rewarded with many specimens from eels to starfish to sea urchins.
Ryan and I made our way directly across the reef flats of the Bay to an island which creates the barrier for the lagoon/bay. Our intent was to climb the hill out on the island, and we made our best effort. However, as we climbed the hill, the higher we got, the looser the rock surface became, and the less our flip flops were effective. Additionally, as we neared the peak, the offshore winds of the Panama dry season kicked in, and we both called it quits before making a full frontal ascent of the island hill. We did get some great views out into the Pacific, and the waves crashing on the seaward side of this island.
On the way back to La Playita, Ryan found a beautiful helmet conch in the reef flats, and once arriving at the resort, Rebecca had already packed us up. We showered, paid up, and headed out onto the road.
It was about a 4 hour drive from Venao to El Valle, and it appeared as though the whole city of Panama was evacuating for the holiday weekend. The traffic inbound to the interior of the Azuero Peninsula was bumper to bumper, and the policia nacional had what appeared to be observation posts literally every few miles. We only made one significant stop at a favorite restaurant in Las Tablas, very affordable typical Panamanian food.
As we made our way up the access road to El Valle, we transformed from lowland dry season climate to a more temperate one, and descending into the world’s 2nd largest volcanic crater, we were awed by the cloud shrouded peaks and trees of evergreen.
We found our accommodations at Los Capitainos, a great family hotel owned by a German who himself was once a sea captain, hence the name. It appeared that we pulled in at almost the same time as the Grimison and Scott families, and the cousins had a joyful, exciting reunion after being apart for 4 hours.
I am feeling a little fatigued from the drive, especially the last 30 km on the serpentine, up and down road which leads us into this crater village of El Valle. A cool breeze negates any need for air conditioning, and we are all excited for a couple days of Panamanian mountain activities.
Today we have transited from Venao to El Valle, but first we experienced a full day’s activities prior to our departure and drive to El Valle.
Our plan was to wake up early to catch the mid tide for surf, but as we had a major wave day yesterday, that plan was a bit delayed. I took the early opportunity to bang out a session of Rodney Yee’s Power Yoga on the beachfront bohio. It must have been comical for the Panamanian cleaners to watch this middle aged gringo practicing yoga as the sounds of the waves coming into Achotino Bay highlighted the beautiful seaside morning.
When we were able to motivate, Richard loaded Tommy, Sophia, and Carly, and I took Ryan and Dylan over to Venao to surf. Sadly, the swell was kicking, but the tide was so low that the resultant wave was a thumping close out. I never attempted a paddle out, but Tommy and Ryan both had somewhat harrowing experiences in the shore pound. Luckily, we got multitudes of great surf yesterday, so we can leave Venao with our surf smiles onJ
After a quick milk shake in the Bohio Venao, we made our way back to La Playita, where the kids had been looking forward to low tide in the Achotines Bay. When we got there, the tide was perfectly low for tide pool exploration. Dylan turned over every rock he could find, and was rewarded with many specimens from eels to starfish to sea urchins.
Ryan and I made our way directly across the reef flats of the Bay to an island which creates the barrier for the lagoon/bay. Our intent was to climb the hill out on the island, and we made our best effort. However, as we climbed the hill, the higher we got, the looser the rock surface became, and the less our flip flops were effective. Additionally, as we neared the peak, the offshore winds of the Panama dry season kicked in, and we both called it quits before making a full frontal ascent of the island hill. We did get some great views out into the Pacific, and the waves crashing on the seaward side of this island.
On the way back to La Playita, Ryan found a beautiful helmet conch in the reef flats, and once arriving at the resort, Rebecca had already packed us up. We showered, paid up, and headed out onto the road.
It was about a 4 hour drive from Venao to El Valle, and it appeared as though the whole city of Panama was evacuating for the holiday weekend. The traffic inbound to the interior of the Azuero Peninsula was bumper to bumper, and the policia nacional had what appeared to be observation posts literally every few miles. We only made one significant stop at a favorite restaurant in Las Tablas, very affordable typical Panamanian food.
As we made our way up the access road to El Valle, we transformed from lowland dry season climate to a more temperate one, and descending into the world’s 2nd largest volcanic crater, we were awed by the cloud shrouded peaks and trees of evergreen.
We found our accommodations at Los Capitainos, a great family hotel owned by a German who himself was once a sea captain, hence the name. It appeared that we pulled in at almost the same time as the Grimison and Scott families, and the cousins had a joyful, exciting reunion after being apart for 4 hours.
I am feeling a little fatigued from the drive, especially the last 30 km on the serpentine, up and down road which leads us into this crater village of El Valle. A cool breeze negates any need for air conditioning, and we are all excited for a couple days of Panamanian mountain activities.
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