Pacific Beaches and the Misty Mountains of El Valle

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After leaving Bocas, we still had a day to kill before going to El Valle to visit some of my dad's good friends, so we decided to try Pacific Beach life, to contrast it with our Caribbean experience.  We picked a little beach that got a small write up in Lonely Planet, and we were not disappointed.  We had taken the night bus from Bocas to Panama City, and then, after arriving in the City at 4am, we had to wait until 7 before we could catch a bus out in the beach's direction.  Called Santa Clara, it was close to the turn off for El Valle, so we decided it would be a good place to relax.  We got there at 8am, and instead of napping, we decided to explore the beach.  It was brilliantly beautiful, and lacked the crowds we found in Bocas.  The weather was perfect, a nice Pacific wind blowing gently, and the sun was not too hot in the early morning.  We had the entire beach to ourselves, despite a few fisherman preparing their boats for their daily departures.  At the end of the beach, we reached a rock formation, which we climbed around on, making our way around the corner.  Although it was a little bit nerve-wracking, me with my worn out sandals, and the tumultuous Pacific crashing violently below us, eventually we sort of bouldered our way to another beach.  We went searching for something to drink at what looked like a bustling beach town, and found it to be a massive resort.  Although no one looked twice at the two dirty vagabonds that just wandered in, it took us a good hour or so to find our way out of the maze of pools, bars, restraunts, and over 600 hotel rooms.  We eventually made our way back to the beach we started on, and even in the late afternoon on a Friday, it was fairly empty.  We did the normal beach activities, frisbee, reading, napping... and then proceeded to our expat-run campground called XS memories.  It was a cute little place with plenty of well-cared for parrots, and despite the mass amounts of mosquitos, we had a good time.  We were well cared for by a nice man named Denny who had come to help take care of the place, since the owner and his wife were recently in a car accident.  We had a  nice chat over dinner in the evening, continued over coffee the next morning when we left for El Valle.

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We arrived in El Valle, and I immediately called my Dad's friends, Royce and Sunnee.  Sunnee answered the phone, and after I told her where we were, we were given strict instructions to stay put and not talk to anyone.  She arrived shortly to pick us up, a small Thai women in a large Montero Sport.  We cruised around town for a few minutes, running errands, and Sunnee reminded me a lot of my dear grandmother, who knows everyone in town, and has something to say to everyone.  Sunnee has a laugh and a smile which can certainly brighten anyone's day, and we had fun driving through El Valle with the windows down, her honking and waving to half the people we saw.  She took us back to her house, where we met Royce.  My dad has known Royce and Sunnee for many years, and the more I got to know Royce, the more I saw how him and my dad get along so well.  We were shown are room, and given the tour of the perfectly sized house, set beautifully among the mountains surrounding El Valle.  Their backyard is a paradise unto itself, and we spent quite a long time wandering through the mass of lemon, orange, lime, and banana plants, admiring all the fresh produce that must be available during the non-rainy season.  The citrus fruits still had some fruits on their trees, and Sunnee kept tricking Jon into trying the "oranges" which were actually lemons.  He fell for it three, yes, three times.  She got such a kick out of it, and it certainly made the rest of us crack up.  Sunnee is an amazing cook, and we were cared for like royalty while we were there.  Although we did spend some time wandering through El Valle, to the market, to the handicraft stores and booths, to the little zoo, to the gormet coffee shop and the delicious bakery we frequented, the afternoon rains turned into all-day rains, and we decided against a hiking adventure.  We had fun getting to know Royce and Sunnee, especially as Jon's and Royce's senses of humor seemed to be on the same exact page, they hit it off from the start.

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They were headed into Panama City to catch a flight to the San Blas Islands, so we caught a ride with them, stopping for breakfast along the way.  It was great to have a ride that wasn't in a crowded and hot bus!  We've been finishing up our time in Panama with a trip out to the Causeway, a bar-and-restraunt-lined road connecting three islands, and a view that affords a beautiful view of the city, and the ships headed into the canal.  We had a lovely dinner watching the sunset, and catching one last view of the city at night.  Tomorrow, bright and early, we are headed to Mexico, for tacos, Dia de los Muertos, and surely numerous other adventures!