Panama 2015 Week 8

You are all probably asking "Garbanzo! Where have you bean?"

Well Chicas, chicos and chickpeas, I apologize and thankyou if you have checked everyday for the update. 

Week 8 started off uneventful as we were staying close to the condo due to high traffic on the roads during the 4 days of Carnival. We had already stocked up on groceries and wine to keep us going until Thursday, when we jumped into our rusty-orange coloured Kia Sole and hit the PanAmerican highway and headed west.

The PA hwy has been under major construction for years, widening 2 lane sections to 4 lanes and when completed this will be a lovely drive to link Panama cities. In the meantime, we faced bumpy, potholed sections and lane restrictions that slowed our progress but (except for Bill, who had to keep a steady eye on the road) the mountain views and lush green vegetation was almost worth each and every bounce and jolt.

Cold drinks being delivered to road crew.

7-1/2 hours later we reached our destination - the bio-diverse region of Boquete (bouquet-ay), flower capital of Panama and largest expat community of Panama. A travellers paradise 4000ft above sea level, surrounded by views of rain forests, volcanic peaks, parks, and coffee plantations. 

Gardens of orchids and magnificent colours of bougainvillea were everywhere.

In the evenings, a mountain mist called "bajareque" (baw-haw-RAY-kay) decended on us and we were rewarded with full spectrum rainbows and clean fresh air. 

On Saturday, we were on the road again, only this time to the surfing town of Bocas Del Toro (mouths of the bull).

After a brief stop for directions at the local police station in the town of David (Dah-veed) we resumed our trip. For anyone not familiar with travelling on Panamanian roads, street names, major intersections and most roads are missing from the map. There are very few, if any, road signs to assist with directions or names of towns. In fact we saw our first traffic light when we were lost in downtown David. Our GPS was a great help although we lost satellite reception on numerous occasions.

Narrative of Bocas and our return to Boquete to follow in week 9 blog.