Good Friday in El Valle

April 2, 2010
We 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.