Scouting Panama - Day 16 - Moving to downtown Boquete
Hello from Downtown Boquete!
Today I thought I would send you a photo of local handicrafts. We stopped at this stand on the side of the road near the high-altitude coffee plantations, and next to the river. You can see that at the front are children's dresses and tops, and towards the rear are hammocks. On the table are beaded bracelets and necklaces. Behind the children's clothes, you can see in the center-left women's dresses with embroidered necks and bodices (a bright red one is prominent), and in the back to the far left are some hanging woven shawls and what I would call ruanas. I bought a bright red ruana that is woven with black on the back so it is reversible, and interwoven are beautiful patterns in brilliant color. and the loom threads are turned into fringe on the edges I wore it to the farewell dinner last night to high compliments, and it will well fit my red and black theme at home, too!
Our new hotel is right in the center of town, on a side street off the main road, and two blocks from the town plaza. It is small with only 12 rooms, the internet is weak, the room is very clean and has a beautiful wood-worked ceiling, parquet flooring, and a corner "closet" of wood. The staff is delightful, and we can walk to everything. Hot water is not common in Panamanian homes, and most small hotels have "on-demand" heaters set up at the shower faucets, with a 3-minute wait for warm water. Tonight, Miguel took a shower and had warm water for three minutes, and then it went cold/ambient temperature ("cold" here is relative - the ambient temperature is 68 at 9:15/21:15). This was a huge complaint of most of the people on the tour at the last hotel we stayed at, but it doesn't bother me or Miguel much. The hotel costs $60 per night and includes breakfast. No air conditioning, but we have a fan like the one we use at home in case the breeze through the ventana windows is not enough in mid-afternoon; the temperatures are delightful to both of us, but the intensity of the sun in the mid-afternoon is causing my skin to react and my energy to sap out like pine resin - gooey, melty, sticky Bea. I had a similar reaction in Hawai'i, and the answer is to just avoid the intense sun from 11:00 to 4:00/16:00.
Just two blocks away is a well-stocked gym and we found that first - even before checking into the hotel. Miguel joined for two weeks for $24, and promptly after checking in at 3:00/15:00 this afternoon, he went down to work out for the first time since we left Panama City. He was getting quite cranky, and apparently, the woman at the gym recognized the symptoms, as first thing in the door, she asked if he was going through withdrawal. The answer was "yes!" from both Miguel and me!
An interesting thing about Boquete is that we both feel very safe here. Miguel is quite paranoid about personal safety, especially mine, and he is always taking extra precautions and not wanting to be out after dark because of that paranoia. I feel very safe here - the crimes are mostly those of opportunity; leave your iPhone charging on the table by an open window, and a teenager might grab it on the way by, though they are likely to disconnect the cord rather than crawl in the window to pull it out of the wall. Everyone we have talked to said that the teenagers who have been out of school since Covid hit are the opportunists, and if you don't dangle your unattended electronics in front of their nose, or leave your money sitting unattended, they will not confront you to take your stuff. The city is creating more youth opportunities during the day to give the teens more to do - activities at the stadium and jobs picking up litter are among the low-Covid risk efforts to keep the opportunistic thefts low and the kids occupied. Miguel and I were out walking this evening around 9:00/21:00, and people who passed by wished us "buenas noches" and responded when we greeted them, and several responded readily when we asked for directions and recommendations.
An amazing thing, when sitting by the Plaza for dinner, was that there were a bunch of different birds in the trees, singing and calling and raising a joyous ruckus in the dark! I have never heard such a variety of birds chattering away after dark. There were some lights in the Plaza, but it was definitely not anything like daylight. I tried to record it to send to you instead of a photo, but passing cars and people calling to one another were closer to my phone and picked up better than the birds, so it didn't meet my high standards for your entertainment. Suffice to say, I was delighted and had a great desire to join in, though sitting at a restaurant, I kept my bird mimicry to a minimum.
We have no plans for tomorrow yet, other than to see more of town. There are many tours available for low prices - bird watching for $35, mountain trails, waterfall trails, mountain climbing, coffee plantations, zip-lining, white water rafting, as well as trips to both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. There is so much to do, and learn, and we have 11 more days to just enjoy!
Buenas Noches, and may it be a peaceful one!
Mary Bea y Miguel