Alright, so I still haven't experienced the Panamá nightlife, but I did get out of the house and had what I'm going to classify as an adventure. So while we were out at the President's casa, Vanessa told us that she had to visit an Eco-tourist resort the next day and invited us along. I don't know why she had to go. I suspect she's location scouting for places to take the next group of students. Anyway, I wasn't exactly sure what one was supposed to do at an Eco-tourist resort, but it sounded very un-lazy and she said we could swim afterward so I was down.
For those of you that don't know, Panamá is split up into nine provinces. Right now I'm in Panamá City which is in the Panamá province. The resort is in Penenomé which is in Coclé, the next province over. The other student going (the third guy didn't come with us) made sure to ask whether we were going east or west of the canal zone. More Panamá fun facts. Once you start preparing to go to Panamá, you have to get shots and all of the doctors will ask you the same question. "East or west of the canal?" Apparently east of the canal zone is bad news. If I remember correctly the conversation went something like this:
Don't go east of the canal zone. Ever. You will get Malaria and die. Now take some diarrhea meds.
Luckily for us we were going west. The resort we were going to was about two hours away. So we had a lot of time to talk. We learned all kinds of tidbits about Panamanian culture and I got to practice my Spanish quite a bit. Also we got to see the real countryside and, Jesus, was it beautiful. It was really stunning, I tried to take some pictures, but as usually that didn't work out well. The other student, resort buddy now, pointed out a picture wouldn't do it justice anyway.
It was immediately apparent when we stopped being in the city. For one thing there was less traffic, and it was more peaceful in general, but also we started seeing more animals, chickens, turkeys, horses, cows. Oh! And speaking of cows.
Every time I see a truck with animals in it, I have to lean over and look into it, it's just something I do. So when a truck of cows passed us, naturally, I looked. Unfortunately, Vanessa drove a bit too fast so she passed it and it looked like I was just blatantly looking at the driver. He noticed and apparently thought that it was real funny and beeped his horn. And of course Vanessa was driving too fast for me to pantomime "I'm not checking you out, I'm just looking at your cows!" Then for the rest of the trip, the truck would catch up to us or we'd catch up to it, and either the driver or his passenger depending on which side we were on would look in our car and smile and wave and beep their stupid horn. Each time I thought we'd lost them, there they'd be again. It was so embarrassing! And I kept thinking, "Leave me alone, I just wanted to look at some damn cows!"
Eventually we got off of the highway and we parted ways. When they left did that stupid triple beep and I was like, "No. You did not earn that. We are not pals, you do not get to triple beep at this car."
So now we were in the town. We had to ask directions a few times and then take some back roads. Well, I mean, I guess they weren't technically back roads, but we were in the middle of nowhere so every road seemed like a back road. It was all twisty and unpaved so same difference. There were roosters and turkeys running around, but my absolute favorite thing about this place was that there were dogs literally everywhere. Some of them had owners, but most of the were just walking around on their own like they were going to work or something. There are as many dogs in the country as there are cats in the city, I guess. I suspect there was some great war some years back to account for the divide.
Finally, we arrived at the resort, La Iguana, and everything was so very green. The first order of business was getting lunch. We ate at this adorable little restaurant that had these awesome chairs.
All of the food was delicious. I got corvina, although I don't usually order fish, because it was on my food list. I also got something that I think was called a Boca Tonic (don't worry it was after noon) which tasted pretty similar to the secco. It was also good because drinks make me more comfortable speaking Spanish so I was able to make small talk with the people that worked at the resort.
So after our wonder lunch (con helado) it was time for adventure. I don't know what ecotourism generally entails, but at La Iguana it means hiking in la selva (that's Spanish talk for jungle). Even though they assured us a million times that it wasn't going to rain, I was pretty sure it was. Either way my spirits weren't dampened (puns!).
Shortly after our hike began I found this stick.
Also it did start to rain, luckily I had my umbrella. Now you might think an umbrella is cumbersome for a jungle hike but I wasn't about to get my hair wet.
We had a guide for the tour, an old-ish man with a sweet mustache.
I could understand a bit of what he was saying. Mostly he was pointing out different trees and plants. At first, I would stop to take pictures but as the rain started to fall harder and the hike got more intense I just gave up.
This path lead to a river and the plan was to cross the river and see some waterfalls, unfortunately we were hiking in the middle of a thunderstorm and it was decided it would be too dangerous. But on the way we did get to see this little building that I guess was some sort of old timey hotel.
The guide knew the whole place like the back of his hand so he was moving through pretty easily. We had to match his pace and it was quite a workout. Parts of the path were steep and uneven. We had to make use of several natural staircases with wood railings that looked pretty unsteady. There were plenty of hills and all of it was muddy because of the rain. I was sweating buckets and panting like crazy and it was glorious. I felt so alive. It was one of the most exhilarating things I've ever done. If you told me I'd have to do that hike in the rain everyday, I'd be on board. And this is coming from someone who thinks the five minute walk from my dorm to my class was too much effort. So when we were finally back at the beginning and we were asked if we were up for another hike, I was being completely honest when I said, "sure".
The next hike was a bit shorter and less intense than the last one but there was also more to see. In the middle of our hike we found this small enclosed area. I didn't think anything of it, but the guide and Vanessa were saying there was a crocodilo (that's crocodile for all you cognate fans) in the water. It was pretty hard to see because it was such a dreary day, but I saw what they were pointing to. It looked like tree bark to me and I told them so. They kept insisting it was a crocodile though. To settle things the guide went to the other side of the gate, found a giant stick and starting poking at it. At first it just sort of sunk, adding to my tree bark theory, but then, all of a sudden, there was movement and it snapped at the stick!
It was a pretty small crocodile, but still, you know, a crocodile. He quickly got bored and went further under the water so he wouldn't be bothered. Since I thought all I was going to see was tree bark I didn't have my camera out, so I asked the guide if he minded poking the creature again. So he got a bigger stick so he could annoy the crocodile in the depths. At first the croc was reluctant, but then it came out swinging, so to speak. It was the same kind of sleepy rage I feel when someone disturbs my slumber. He naturally went up on the land to get away from the stick.
And I know you're thinking, that's lame, you can barely see the thing. Never fear, for I have video. Though a warning I'm about as good at taking videos as I am with taking pictures. I recommend you watch with the sound off so you don't have to hear me talking I believe I am telling the crocodile to come over and play because I thought I'd become some sort of jungle expert.
Then the hike was over. I took more pictures of the resort and then we went back to the restaurant.
At this point we were all pretty exhausted so they offered us some special fruit drink. I'm not sure what it was but my brain decided it was just like a Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade so it was gone in about 15 seconds. So when the woman turned around to ask how I like it, it was gone. They thought this was pretty funny and I sheepishly asked for another.
Then it was time to depart from La Iguana. We left the backwoods part of Coclé to go to the tourist heavy area. It's where all the beaches and resorts are including the famed Playa Blanca. We headed to a pocket beach, that I guess Vanessa knew about, and I thought of how amazing it must be to live somewhere where you have your pick of beaches.
This beach was in a more residential area and you could tell it's where all the rich people retired to. Also I saw a miniature schnauzer, which in addition to being the best breed of dog is also the first dog I've seen with a breed I could easily recognize.
The beach was completely empty, which I though was cool. Tide was working on coming in and it was about to simultaneously rain and get dark so we didn't stay at the beach long, but it was still pretty nice. Vanessa never actually got in the water because she doesn't like the beach, but it was still super sweet of her to bring us just because she knew we wanted to go.
The sky started to get grey and when we looked at the horizon we could see the rain getting closer to the shore, which was pretty trippy. And so our trip was coming to an end. We got the car and came back to the city.
So my plan to have an un-lazy weekend was a success, and one of these days I'll get to the nightlife. Until next time here's a picture of Courage the Cowardly that I found in the library.
I'm going to cause trouble.
Every time I see a truck with animals in it, I have to lean over and look into it, it's just something I do. So when a truck of cows passed us, naturally, I looked. Unfortunately, Vanessa drove a bit too fast so she passed it and it looked like I was just blatantly looking at the driver. He noticed and apparently thought that it was real funny and beeped his horn. And of course Vanessa was driving too fast for me to pantomime "I'm not checking you out, I'm just looking at your cows!" Then for the rest of the trip, the truck would catch up to us or we'd catch up to it, and either the driver or his passenger depending on which side we were on would look in our car and smile and wave and beep their stupid horn. Each time I thought we'd lost them, there they'd be again. It was so embarrassing! And I kept thinking, "Leave me alone, I just wanted to look at some damn cows!"
Eventually we got off of the highway and we parted ways. When they left did that stupid triple beep and I was like, "No. You did not earn that. We are not pals, you do not get to triple beep at this car."
So now we were in the town. We had to ask directions a few times and then take some back roads. Well, I mean, I guess they weren't technically back roads, but we were in the middle of nowhere so every road seemed like a back road. It was all twisty and unpaved so same difference. There were roosters and turkeys running around, but my absolute favorite thing about this place was that there were dogs literally everywhere. Some of them had owners, but most of the were just walking around on their own like they were going to work or something. There are as many dogs in the country as there are cats in the city, I guess. I suspect there was some great war some years back to account for the divide.
Finally, we arrived at the resort, La Iguana, and everything was so very green. The first order of business was getting lunch. We ate at this adorable little restaurant that had these awesome chairs.
All of the food was delicious. I got corvina, although I don't usually order fish, because it was on my food list. I also got something that I think was called a Boca Tonic (don't worry it was after noon) which tasted pretty similar to the secco. It was also good because drinks make me more comfortable speaking Spanish so I was able to make small talk with the people that worked at the resort.
So after our wonder lunch (con helado) it was time for adventure. I don't know what ecotourism generally entails, but at La Iguana it means hiking in la selva (that's Spanish talk for jungle). Even though they assured us a million times that it wasn't going to rain, I was pretty sure it was. Either way my spirits weren't dampened (puns!).
Shortly after our hike began I found this stick.
Also it did start to rain, luckily I had my umbrella. Now you might think an umbrella is cumbersome for a jungle hike but I wasn't about to get my hair wet.
We had a guide for the tour, an old-ish man with a sweet mustache.
I could understand a bit of what he was saying. Mostly he was pointing out different trees and plants. At first, I would stop to take pictures but as the rain started to fall harder and the hike got more intense I just gave up.
This path lead to a river and the plan was to cross the river and see some waterfalls, unfortunately we were hiking in the middle of a thunderstorm and it was decided it would be too dangerous. But on the way we did get to see this little building that I guess was some sort of old timey hotel.
The guide knew the whole place like the back of his hand so he was moving through pretty easily. We had to match his pace and it was quite a workout. Parts of the path were steep and uneven. We had to make use of several natural staircases with wood railings that looked pretty unsteady. There were plenty of hills and all of it was muddy because of the rain. I was sweating buckets and panting like crazy and it was glorious. I felt so alive. It was one of the most exhilarating things I've ever done. If you told me I'd have to do that hike in the rain everyday, I'd be on board. And this is coming from someone who thinks the five minute walk from my dorm to my class was too much effort. So when we were finally back at the beginning and we were asked if we were up for another hike, I was being completely honest when I said, "sure".
The next hike was a bit shorter and less intense than the last one but there was also more to see. In the middle of our hike we found this small enclosed area. I didn't think anything of it, but the guide and Vanessa were saying there was a crocodilo (that's crocodile for all you cognate fans) in the water. It was pretty hard to see because it was such a dreary day, but I saw what they were pointing to. It looked like tree bark to me and I told them so. They kept insisting it was a crocodile though. To settle things the guide went to the other side of the gate, found a giant stick and starting poking at it. At first it just sort of sunk, adding to my tree bark theory, but then, all of a sudden, there was movement and it snapped at the stick!
That's his eye!
And I know you're thinking, that's lame, you can barely see the thing. Never fear, for I have video. Though a warning I'm about as good at taking videos as I am with taking pictures. I recommend you watch with the sound off so you don't have to hear me talking I believe I am telling the crocodile to come over and play because I thought I'd become some sort of jungle expert.
Then the hike was over. I took more pictures of the resort and then we went back to the restaurant.
At this point we were all pretty exhausted so they offered us some special fruit drink. I'm not sure what it was but my brain decided it was just like a Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade so it was gone in about 15 seconds. So when the woman turned around to ask how I like it, it was gone. They thought this was pretty funny and I sheepishly asked for another.
This beach was in a more residential area and you could tell it's where all the rich people retired to. Also I saw a miniature schnauzer, which in addition to being the best breed of dog is also the first dog I've seen with a breed I could easily recognize.
The beach was completely empty, which I though was cool. Tide was working on coming in and it was about to simultaneously rain and get dark so we didn't stay at the beach long, but it was still pretty nice. Vanessa never actually got in the water because she doesn't like the beach, but it was still super sweet of her to bring us just because she knew we wanted to go.
The sky started to get grey and when we looked at the horizon we could see the rain getting closer to the shore, which was pretty trippy. And so our trip was coming to an end. We got the car and came back to the city.
So my plan to have an un-lazy weekend was a success, and one of these days I'll get to the nightlife. Until next time here's a picture of Courage the Cowardly that I found in the library.
Coraje
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