Life is Good at the beach: October 2013

Old and new in Casco Viejo

Musings on our time in Panama….a vacation to the city and mountains for us beach dwellers! We spent 3 days in big Panama City. We spent a whole day at the Panama Canal watching big ships come through and seeing the museum that included information not only about the building of the canal but also about the expansion that is taking place. Fascinating! To avoid rush hour, which is horrible here, we spent a couple hours at a huge American style mall eating in the food court and window shopping. Very surreal after our quiet life on Roatan! We visited the old section of PC, Casco Viejo, that is undergoing a gentrification. It is very dramatic with ramshackle buildings right next to boutique hotels. The area has an incredible view back to the skyscrapers of the city. Lucia’s favorite part of the PC was renting a 4 seater bike and riding out the Amador Causeway with the city on one side and ships exiting the canal on the other. Beautiful and a workout for the parents since we did most of the pedaling!

Off on a bus blaring Spanish language music videos for 4 hours and then a smaller bus packed to the gills, all so we could spend 3 nights in Santa Fe, Panama. We first checked in out because of the name and then realized it was the kind of place we wanted to visit. A quiet mountain town of 3000 people nestled in greenery and low clouds. We stayed at a lovely place with a friendly owners that took us on a hike to a waterfall and the National Forest. Our favorite activity in Santa Fe, other than our rainy afternoons having siestas, was floating with tubes on a beautiful river that we walked to from our hotel. We spent a glorious sunny morning floating down, hauling back up, and swimming. The water was clear and not too cold. Something we will remember for a long time. We also had a memorable meal at the local diner at the bus station where the power went out and the meal was served with a pause. A rainy walk to the hotel to play charades by flashlight.

Our trip home to Roatan was memorable for the wrong reasons! It took us 25 hours to travel 700 air miles. The airport was full of angry Central Americans all with rapid fire Spanish, free potato chips and soda, huge lines for everything even the bathroom, and 4 hours sleeping in a hotel! The upside (there is always at least one!) – we were all REALLY happy to come home to our sweet little wooden house in Sandy Bay and to miss a day of school.