Hi all,
Hope you are enjoying your summer so far. Heard it’s been a hot one. Thanks to everyone who has been in touch wondering if fell off the face of the earth. I’ve been a slacker with the update/blog.
Designated Drunk:
One morning at 9:00 Wayne drove by a cantina on his way to check on the boat. He noticed a guy sitting in the bar enjoying his breakfast of a bottle of Herrando (a sugar vodka) and a bottle of ice cold Panama. In Panama, it doesn’t have to be 5:00 somewhere. At around noon, Wayne drove by again and the same guy was now enjoying his lunch, which was a repeat of his earlier breakfast. At 2:00 it was our turn to stop in and quench our thirst. This time the guy was deep into his siesta. AKA: Totally annihilated and passed out. The bar tender, to our surprise, actually called a cab to come get the guy. WOW, this makes sense and how incredibly responsible!!!! The cab arrives. The driver gets out, walks over to the guy, starts shaking him and doesn’t give up until he’s got the guy upright and awake. Then he sits down and orders them both a beer. Not until after several more rounds does the driver load his pickled amigo into the car and takes him ‘safely’ home. Everyday, many times a day, we look at each other and say….can you imagine that happening in the states!!!!
Wayne’s fishing trip, by Wayne: In my adventures down here in Panama I have got to be friends with a guy who has a 29' Phoenix in the only marina on the Azuero peninsula,Which is private and there are only 2 boats at the Marina,It's at the ex-presidents house who is a woman and a avid fisherman that owns a 48' CABO!!!
We headed out around 6:00 A.M. to get some small baitfish (Green Jacks) that resembled a snapper blue that were plentiful and hit sabiki rigs like crazy..
Headed out about 10 miles to the Tuna grounds and put our artificials in and ran 5 rods. We had consistent action for a few hours and caught about 8 decent sized Mahi with my first Bull about 25 lbs!!
When the action slowed we headed over to Frailles rocks with live bait and tied on a wire leader and circle hook, The water had a nervous look to it and the local baitfish were near the top, Within 30 seconds of letting my bait out I had an incredible runoff on the Avet 30 reel so hard that it seemed like it was in freespool for a while,I got the fish close to the boat and saw it was a nice Wahoo but when he saw the boat took off for another nice run..After landing it I threw out another bait and had another great runoff that came unbuttoned and then came a good rain so we packed it in.
Tally 8 Mahi of different sizes up to 25 lbs. and a 45lb. Wahoo..
It was a great day on the water with Dolphins swimming along with the boat,Giant Leatherback turtles,and Humpback whales freejumping completely out of the water and exploding the surface when they landed!
Back at the dock on our return the Secret service guarding the property came down to check out what we caught toting a full auto machine gun but were very friendly (good thing!).
We are still looking for land or even a small house or fixer upper. We keep telling ourselves to go slow. Going slow won’t be a problem as we are having a tough time making contacts, getting people to call us back and getting to know what is and isn’t for sale. FRUSTRATING!!! We are getting dangerously close to biting the bullet and dealing with a so called real estate agency. This is our last resort though.
We leave our current rental at the end of the month. We decided against renting the beach house. WAY too much responsibility. The lease agreement stated that any damage due to rain or wind would be our responsibility. HELLO!!! I don’t think so. We found another rental...and get this, $200 a month plus electric. It's a typical style house. We can paint and do whatever we want to it. Of course at our expense but it doesn't need a whole lot other than cleaning and paint. We'll have to buy furniture but we'll take that with us when we get something of our own. It's actually in a part of town where they do don't a whole lot of bombings...that's always a good thing.
Took out Gato Solo Tuesday and yesterday with our friend Kevin. Tuesday Wayne caught a 5 foot black tip shark. Friggin wild!!!! He caught it on a FLUKE LURE. Go figure. Thankfully Kevin’s expert gaffing kept it from ever getting into the boat. It did break the gaff though and is swimming around with what probably looks like a huge silver cigar hanging out of his mouth. Then the only other thing caught was by Kevin, a trigger fish. Everyone is saying this week the tide is no good for fishing. We set up a trip for yesterday with a local fisherman to captain our boat. AWESOME trip. I caught an Amberjack and Cubera Snapper. Wayne caught a Red Snapper. Poor Kevin and Wayne had some BIG ONES that got away…so they say. It was probably bottom. What ever! :))
It’s just amazing everything we see from the boat but also just walking the beach, whales, dolphin, sea turtles, sea snakes (not good), all kinds of stuff.
I posted some pictures on the blog/snapfish. Enjoy. They will be last you see as I busted TWO, YES TWO cameras this week. WHAT THE *#&@. We've got a 3rd camera but your guess is as good as ours as to where it is.
Well big fiesta going on down the road. Bongo's were seen being brought into the canteen....WOW, LIVE MUSIC. This will be a first since we've gotten here. God please don't let there be any accordian playing or whistles.
Happy summer everyone. Be in touch. We love hearing from everyone back at home.
Hitched!
The knot has been tied
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Links to Tuna Farm and Crocs
For some reason I can't get the videos to download to the blog.
Here are the 2 links to see them on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B1nGoIOD5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB-U6wsNrYg
Here are the 2 links to see them on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B1nGoIOD5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB-U6wsNrYg
Bananama
Hello from Bananama,
Hope you are all enjoying your summer so far.
It’s a perfect day to finally get an update out. It’s raining, thunder, lightning and doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon. YAHOO!
Celebrated Wayne’s birthday on the 22nd. Our original plan was to go to the Auto Lava for a car wash, Cerviche (marinated seafood) and Cervesa (beer). I know what you are all going to wish for for your next birthday. It’s hysterical. All over the place you can pull in, get the car washed and vacuumed for $3 while enjoying an ice cold beer and cerviche. We ended up only at a place with beer and rum while you waiting. You can buy the whole bottle of rum for $2 (a small bottle). You bring along your own mixers and have a good old time! See, there are some things in this country that make sense!
We are spending our days looking at land. It’s pretty apparent if we are going to get screwed over by anyone, it will be a gringo. So we are trying to talk to locals instead which means there is a lot of grunting, drawing in the dirt, etc. Met one rice farmer who brought us back to his place. Amazing how simple they live. Met his wife and son and got to see his small rice production (Pictures attached on blog) As far as land, the prices are all over the place. No idea yet what we’ll end up buying.
Another farmer/bar owner we met showed off his crab harvest to us. Yummy! He gets them in the mangroves. Also while we were there an old man and woman showed up to sell their turtle eggs. Highly illegal to do. It kind of sucked to see it since the turtles are endangered. (pictures of crabs and eggs on blog). I guess they cook the eggs in tomato, garlic and onion and then suck the insides out. They claim it’s incredible. I think I might have finally found something I won’t eat!!!
Met with an attorney the other day. We knew immediately that he was going to be the attorney we use. He began by welcoming us to Bananama. Ain’t that the truth! He is 100% Panamanian. There are a few professions here that only Panamanians can hold, attorney being one of them. Then we noticed an autographed picture of Metalica on his wall. He got so excited when we mentioned it. He said he was a METAL lover. AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Kiss, etc. He even managed a band that covered Kiss and they won some kind of big award. When he goes to see AC/DC he dresses in a kilt. Yes, this will be our attorney, no doubt! We hear AC/DC will be coming to Bananama after their US tour. Excellent and we’ll probably go with our attorney.
Any way, found out good news. We don’t need to leave the country until November. A new law was passed giving tourist 6 months instead of 3. He also recommended that we don’t bother trying to become residents. Says it’s expensive and no need. As long as we leave every 6 months for 72 hours, we are fine. AND if we don’t really want to leave for 72 hours, he will give us a name of a guy at the Costa Rican border who will go ahead and stamp us in and out in a matter of a few minutes. I said ‘so we just ask for him and tell him who our attorney is’. He said ‘OH NO, NO, NO don’t give them my name!!!’
Went to a tuna lab the other day. Very cool. They do all kinds of research on tuna. They’ve got a huge tank with 15 tuna in it, the largest was close to 200 pounds. We wanted to bring our fishing rods as a joke but decided against it. (Pictures and video are attached on the blog)
We witnessed crocodiles being lassoed (pictures and video on the blog). At the tuna lab there is a pond and the crocs find their way there. They aren’t welcomed guests. The day we were there, they were trying to catch 2 of the bigger ones to move off the property and let them loose about an hour or so away.
Wayne has got almost everything he needs for the boat mooring. That only took about a month. I guess the biggest frustration here would be trying to get stuff and stuff that isn’t crap made in China.
So all in all, nothing too exciting these past 2 weeks.
Hope you are all enjoying your summer so far.
It’s a perfect day to finally get an update out. It’s raining, thunder, lightning and doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon. YAHOO!
Celebrated Wayne’s birthday on the 22nd. Our original plan was to go to the Auto Lava for a car wash, Cerviche (marinated seafood) and Cervesa (beer). I know what you are all going to wish for for your next birthday. It’s hysterical. All over the place you can pull in, get the car washed and vacuumed for $3 while enjoying an ice cold beer and cerviche. We ended up only at a place with beer and rum while you waiting. You can buy the whole bottle of rum for $2 (a small bottle). You bring along your own mixers and have a good old time! See, there are some things in this country that make sense!
We are spending our days looking at land. It’s pretty apparent if we are going to get screwed over by anyone, it will be a gringo. So we are trying to talk to locals instead which means there is a lot of grunting, drawing in the dirt, etc. Met one rice farmer who brought us back to his place. Amazing how simple they live. Met his wife and son and got to see his small rice production (Pictures attached on blog) As far as land, the prices are all over the place. No idea yet what we’ll end up buying.
Another farmer/bar owner we met showed off his crab harvest to us. Yummy! He gets them in the mangroves. Also while we were there an old man and woman showed up to sell their turtle eggs. Highly illegal to do. It kind of sucked to see it since the turtles are endangered. (pictures of crabs and eggs on blog). I guess they cook the eggs in tomato, garlic and onion and then suck the insides out. They claim it’s incredible. I think I might have finally found something I won’t eat!!!
Met with an attorney the other day. We knew immediately that he was going to be the attorney we use. He began by welcoming us to Bananama. Ain’t that the truth! He is 100% Panamanian. There are a few professions here that only Panamanians can hold, attorney being one of them. Then we noticed an autographed picture of Metalica on his wall. He got so excited when we mentioned it. He said he was a METAL lover. AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Kiss, etc. He even managed a band that covered Kiss and they won some kind of big award. When he goes to see AC/DC he dresses in a kilt. Yes, this will be our attorney, no doubt! We hear AC/DC will be coming to Bananama after their US tour. Excellent and we’ll probably go with our attorney.
Any way, found out good news. We don’t need to leave the country until November. A new law was passed giving tourist 6 months instead of 3. He also recommended that we don’t bother trying to become residents. Says it’s expensive and no need. As long as we leave every 6 months for 72 hours, we are fine. AND if we don’t really want to leave for 72 hours, he will give us a name of a guy at the Costa Rican border who will go ahead and stamp us in and out in a matter of a few minutes. I said ‘so we just ask for him and tell him who our attorney is’. He said ‘OH NO, NO, NO don’t give them my name!!!’
Went to a tuna lab the other day. Very cool. They do all kinds of research on tuna. They’ve got a huge tank with 15 tuna in it, the largest was close to 200 pounds. We wanted to bring our fishing rods as a joke but decided against it. (Pictures and video are attached on the blog)
We witnessed crocodiles being lassoed (pictures and video on the blog). At the tuna lab there is a pond and the crocs find their way there. They aren’t welcomed guests. The day we were there, they were trying to catch 2 of the bigger ones to move off the property and let them loose about an hour or so away.
Wayne has got almost everything he needs for the boat mooring. That only took about a month. I guess the biggest frustration here would be trying to get stuff and stuff that isn’t crap made in China.
So all in all, nothing too exciting these past 2 weeks.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Darkest Day Yet
My Darkest Day so far:
This might be my darkest day so far here in Panama. Yes, it’s true you can pretty much get anything you want in Panama City…electronics, appliances, good bread, CHEESE. However, in a small village like Pedasi, not so much. The local shrimp man came by today and I bought 10 big, fat langostino’s. Our landlady has a huge basil plant that she said I could help myself too..OK! I’ve got garlic, olive oil and pasta. What’s missing? CHEESE. It almost hurts to type this…..I went to the ‘Chino’s’ (The Chinese own most of the little grocery stores in small towns, called ‘mini/supers’) and purchased a GREEN CAN OF PARMASEAN CHEESE. Ok, I said it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
Wayne’s lost 23 pounds since we got here without even trying. I still look like a tick that’s been gorging on the family pet for the last week. WHAT THE %#$@!!!!!!!!!!!
So we almost flipped then sunk our boat the other day. There’s a boat launch in town but it’s only good at high tide. So we headed out a bit before high tide. No problem. Fished for about 2 hours and figured we still had time to make it back up the river. Well, in order to tell if the river has enough water, you kind of need to get close to the river mouth to see. To do that you need to drive horizontal to the beach, which we did. Well, sure enough a pretty big wave smashed the side of the boat. I literally went flying off the boat. I can only imagine what that had to look like. The motor stalled, the boat filled with water. I managed to hold the boat facing more oncoming waves while Wayne got the motor started. Then we bailed water like mad. We were able to take off and let gravity do it’s trick to drain the rest of the water. Ok, next option, beach it. So we headed to the beach where most people just beach or moor their boats. Wayne, not being all that comfortable with driving at ramming speed towards the beach, did his best and got the boat on land….kind of. Looked good at first. Turned ugly though after Wayne left to get the truck about ½ mile away while I held onto the boat. The tide was supposed to be going out but for the small section where I was standing, that wasn’t the case. Wave after wave continued to fill the boat. Ok, how the f*&% do you say HELP in Spanish? I should know this. Maybe it was the look of terror on my face that said it all. 3 locals came to my rescue. Bailed the boat and helped me hold it. Wayne arrived w/the truck and trailer and we had plenty of help tying the boat up and dragging it up onto the beach where it stayed for the night. Next day we returned to the beach and again, lots of help from the locals. I said to them ‘gringos idiotos’ or something like that. They all readily agreed with big smiles!!!! Word certainly spreads because pretty much everyone we come across knows about our ordeal. Great! I’ve got to say, the people here are great. I tried to offer to buy them beer and they wouldn’t have it. No way. It’s just what they all do. They all help each other. It’s nice. (Yes, we know they are totally ripping us behind our backs, but that's ok. We deserve it!!!)
Wayne had a virus of some kind. Came down w/a fever a few days ago. Got a super painful shot in the a&& and within an hour he was drinking fluids as the doctor prescribed. Not sure if she meant beer but in any case he was doing as told. Felt better for a day and then it came back. We are told right now because there is so much moisture there is a lot of mold and it’s causing a bit of bug to be going around town.
Big fishing tournament happening this weekend. Started Fri. and ended Sunday. Obviously if you’ve read the above, you know why we didn’t take part in it!!!! Next year though we’ll know what we are doing. Wayne, once he feels better will work on making the mooring and we’ll buy a small rowboat to get us to and from Gato Solo. He also just got GPS and we are hoping to download more detailed maps and get a transducer. We tried to get one in Panama City but didn’t have any luck. Any one want to come to visit and bring us one????? There are ways to get them, just takes about a month.
I'll work on more pictures. It's so beautiful here but pictures just don't seem to capture it.
This might be my darkest day so far here in Panama. Yes, it’s true you can pretty much get anything you want in Panama City…electronics, appliances, good bread, CHEESE. However, in a small village like Pedasi, not so much. The local shrimp man came by today and I bought 10 big, fat langostino’s. Our landlady has a huge basil plant that she said I could help myself too..OK! I’ve got garlic, olive oil and pasta. What’s missing? CHEESE. It almost hurts to type this…..I went to the ‘Chino’s’ (The Chinese own most of the little grocery stores in small towns, called ‘mini/supers’) and purchased a GREEN CAN OF PARMASEAN CHEESE. Ok, I said it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
Wayne’s lost 23 pounds since we got here without even trying. I still look like a tick that’s been gorging on the family pet for the last week. WHAT THE %#$@!!!!!!!!!!!
So we almost flipped then sunk our boat the other day. There’s a boat launch in town but it’s only good at high tide. So we headed out a bit before high tide. No problem. Fished for about 2 hours and figured we still had time to make it back up the river. Well, in order to tell if the river has enough water, you kind of need to get close to the river mouth to see. To do that you need to drive horizontal to the beach, which we did. Well, sure enough a pretty big wave smashed the side of the boat. I literally went flying off the boat. I can only imagine what that had to look like. The motor stalled, the boat filled with water. I managed to hold the boat facing more oncoming waves while Wayne got the motor started. Then we bailed water like mad. We were able to take off and let gravity do it’s trick to drain the rest of the water. Ok, next option, beach it. So we headed to the beach where most people just beach or moor their boats. Wayne, not being all that comfortable with driving at ramming speed towards the beach, did his best and got the boat on land….kind of. Looked good at first. Turned ugly though after Wayne left to get the truck about ½ mile away while I held onto the boat. The tide was supposed to be going out but for the small section where I was standing, that wasn’t the case. Wave after wave continued to fill the boat. Ok, how the f*&% do you say HELP in Spanish? I should know this. Maybe it was the look of terror on my face that said it all. 3 locals came to my rescue. Bailed the boat and helped me hold it. Wayne arrived w/the truck and trailer and we had plenty of help tying the boat up and dragging it up onto the beach where it stayed for the night. Next day we returned to the beach and again, lots of help from the locals. I said to them ‘gringos idiotos’ or something like that. They all readily agreed with big smiles!!!! Word certainly spreads because pretty much everyone we come across knows about our ordeal. Great! I’ve got to say, the people here are great. I tried to offer to buy them beer and they wouldn’t have it. No way. It’s just what they all do. They all help each other. It’s nice. (Yes, we know they are totally ripping us behind our backs, but that's ok. We deserve it!!!)
Wayne had a virus of some kind. Came down w/a fever a few days ago. Got a super painful shot in the a&& and within an hour he was drinking fluids as the doctor prescribed. Not sure if she meant beer but in any case he was doing as told. Felt better for a day and then it came back. We are told right now because there is so much moisture there is a lot of mold and it’s causing a bit of bug to be going around town.
Big fishing tournament happening this weekend. Started Fri. and ended Sunday. Obviously if you’ve read the above, you know why we didn’t take part in it!!!! Next year though we’ll know what we are doing. Wayne, once he feels better will work on making the mooring and we’ll buy a small rowboat to get us to and from Gato Solo. He also just got GPS and we are hoping to download more detailed maps and get a transducer. We tried to get one in Panama City but didn’t have any luck. Any one want to come to visit and bring us one????? There are ways to get them, just takes about a month.
I'll work on more pictures. It's so beautiful here but pictures just don't seem to capture it.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Meeeow. Prrrrrr.
Meeeeow. Prrrrr.
To some of you who have seen me recently, this may come as no surprise, but yeah, pretty much anywhere I go, I get catcalls. They’ll even be with their wives and they will still cat call out to me. I’m pretty much irresistible. No matter where I waddle, I WILL get a catcall. SO finally, I can hold my chins up high and be like ‘yah, that’s right. See this. I know you want it. Sizzle, sizzle.’ I LOVE this place!!!!!
So I was going to put together a list of 1. Things that just don’t make any friggin sense at all here and 2. Things that make total sense. Then I thought, well why I don’t I just let you all be the judges:
1. eggs and milk are not refrigerated. Milk on the shelf today (un-refrigerated) will have an expiration date of Nov. 2010.
2. Light syrup cost less than regular. Less sugar, soooo….
3. Bicycles are required to have license plates. Now mind you, we don’t have one on our truck because they ran out of the metal to make them.
4. Sticking with bicycles, they need to be registered but our boat doesn’t.
5. If you choose to register a boat, you need a lawyer to register it. Granted it only cost $4 to register, but you still need a lawyer.
6. Bottled water is at least 2xs the cost of a beer. Hello, no brainer!!!
7. Electricity and water mix, right? If you are so lucky (or unlucky) to have hot water, the showerheads have a switch, just like a light switch. You turn it on and the electrical coil in the head heats the water before it comes down on you. Remember what I said about the quality of their building here. They use a lot of tape. They are called ‘suicide showers’ for good reason. We take a lot of cold showers. If you can call 80 degree water cold. (See picture on blog)
8. I’m going to just go ahead and tell you this MAKES TOTAL SENSE: went to the pharmacy and here is my actual conversation:
Me: habla English? (do you speak English)
Pharmicist: Si (Yes)
Me: PHEW!
Me: Hello. I just moved here and I’m wondering if I can get birth control without seeing a doctor
Pharmacist: Of course
Me: PHEW!
Pharmacist: What kind?
Me: The kind that doesn’t make babies
Pharmacist: Ah, yes, muy importa (Very important).
Me thinking to self: (Well yeah, I’m not taking them because they taste good like a nice hunk of sheet cake. God what I’d give for a piece of sheet cake)
Pharmacist: (brings me to counter, holds up small box) Ah, yes, yes, these work pretty good.
Me: Pretty good you say? Ok, I’ll take my chances. We can always use the extra bait if they fail.
Pharmacist: GET OUT.
Ok so the last 2 lines I made up. But seriously, ‘these work pretty good’ PRETTY GOOD! Doesn’t that imply some kind of failure rate? In any event, I made my purchase. Will keep you posted.
Remember my frustration with the napkin situation here. (See photo attached to blog.) Notice size of napkins balled up next to fork.
Fischer just loves chasing the ‘flying squirrels’. He goes like mad and then crashes (See photo on blog)
Taking Gata Solo out tomorrow. Wish us luck. It will only be our 2nd trip out on her. Can’t wait!!!! We need food!
To some of you who have seen me recently, this may come as no surprise, but yeah, pretty much anywhere I go, I get catcalls. They’ll even be with their wives and they will still cat call out to me. I’m pretty much irresistible. No matter where I waddle, I WILL get a catcall. SO finally, I can hold my chins up high and be like ‘yah, that’s right. See this. I know you want it. Sizzle, sizzle.’ I LOVE this place!!!!!
So I was going to put together a list of 1. Things that just don’t make any friggin sense at all here and 2. Things that make total sense. Then I thought, well why I don’t I just let you all be the judges:
1. eggs and milk are not refrigerated. Milk on the shelf today (un-refrigerated) will have an expiration date of Nov. 2010.
2. Light syrup cost less than regular. Less sugar, soooo….
3. Bicycles are required to have license plates. Now mind you, we don’t have one on our truck because they ran out of the metal to make them.
4. Sticking with bicycles, they need to be registered but our boat doesn’t.
5. If you choose to register a boat, you need a lawyer to register it. Granted it only cost $4 to register, but you still need a lawyer.
6. Bottled water is at least 2xs the cost of a beer. Hello, no brainer!!!
7. Electricity and water mix, right? If you are so lucky (or unlucky) to have hot water, the showerheads have a switch, just like a light switch. You turn it on and the electrical coil in the head heats the water before it comes down on you. Remember what I said about the quality of their building here. They use a lot of tape. They are called ‘suicide showers’ for good reason. We take a lot of cold showers. If you can call 80 degree water cold. (See picture on blog)
8. I’m going to just go ahead and tell you this MAKES TOTAL SENSE: went to the pharmacy and here is my actual conversation:
Me: habla English? (do you speak English)
Pharmicist: Si (Yes)
Me: PHEW!
Me: Hello. I just moved here and I’m wondering if I can get birth control without seeing a doctor
Pharmacist: Of course
Me: PHEW!
Pharmacist: What kind?
Me: The kind that doesn’t make babies
Pharmacist: Ah, yes, muy importa (Very important).
Me thinking to self: (Well yeah, I’m not taking them because they taste good like a nice hunk of sheet cake. God what I’d give for a piece of sheet cake)
Pharmacist: (brings me to counter, holds up small box) Ah, yes, yes, these work pretty good.
Me: Pretty good you say? Ok, I’ll take my chances. We can always use the extra bait if they fail.
Pharmacist: GET OUT.
Ok so the last 2 lines I made up. But seriously, ‘these work pretty good’ PRETTY GOOD! Doesn’t that imply some kind of failure rate? In any event, I made my purchase. Will keep you posted.
Remember my frustration with the napkin situation here. (See photo attached to blog.) Notice size of napkins balled up next to fork.
Fischer just loves chasing the ‘flying squirrels’. He goes like mad and then crashes (See photo on blog)
Taking Gata Solo out tomorrow. Wish us luck. It will only be our 2nd trip out on her. Can’t wait!!!! We need food!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Gato Solo
You know it’s hot when you can’t wait for the next fly to buzz by you so can catch that little breeze off its wings.
So we got our boat….for now, to hold us over until we know for sure this is where we want to stay. ‘Gato Solo’ is her name. She came with it. A Gato Solo looks like a strange cross between a raccoon, cat, monkey and anteater. Hmmmmm? If you’re just dying to know more about a Gato Solo, Google will give you all kinds of information.
The boat is a 20 foot panga with a 40HP motor. We’ve taken it out once and sure enough, it catches fish! Perfect!!! We were only out for about 1 ½ hours as our current gas tank is small. Within about a ½ mile from shore we caught a nice Cero Mackerel. GOOD EATIN.
As with most things here not a lot makes sense so Wayne is busy trying to make the boat right. For instance, getting a brace made for the motor for when we are towing it since the motor doesn’t have that handy little position just for that purpose, towing it! The seller of the boat said ‘just leave the motor down, no problem’. Perfect, let’s just drag that thing along the road. I’m sure it won’t do much damage. Or as pointed out by someone else, leave it all the way up. So that’s what we did and had a guy pass us on the road with his passenger hanging out the window frantically waving his arms up and down to demonstrate SEVERE BOUNCING…which I understand is not a good thing.
Because we are launching it from a boat ramp here in Pedasi we have to wait for the tide to be right. Our first trip out, the tide was ok until the last 2/10 of a mile of which we had to push and pull it into the ocean. The river was still a bit low. The river by the way is through the mangroves. Mangroves, you know, where snakes and crocs live! Worked off a couple rum drinks so all was good. We’ll eventually moor it and buy a little rowboat to get out to it.
We are having a really hard time finding land. There’s so much of it here but everyone wants to sell HUGE pieces. No one wants to be bothered with smaller lots unless in a development type of community which we don’t want. We found one piece a little over an acre. It’s perfect in every way. 2 miles from the beach, electric, water, nice view, flat to build, etc., etc. And then…..there’s the pig farm. It’s several hundred feet away but we are told depending on the winds, it could get pretty ripe. We keep driving by at different times of the day with our noses out the window.
Because the quality of construction here is so bad, we really want to build something ourselves. Plus it’s a LOT cheaper so we aren’t really looking to much at turn key stuff. Because in most cases, the key probably won’t work any way!!! We met one guy and he’s building a house out of shipping containers. I know what some of you are thinking, shut up. Believe me, you’d never know it was a container. It’s got real walls, floors, etc. and you can cut walls right out so you can have a very open floor plan. Who knows.
Lastly (for now), there’s something else I really miss. A good napkin. What I’d give for a Vanity Fair napkin. What they give you here won’t wipe the snot off a fruit fly. Plus they wrap your utensils in the napkin first so by the time you tear it off you are left with shreds. If you are lucky enough to have some left on your table, you end up going through about 87 of them and the pile at the end of the meal is still only about the size of your baby toe.
So we got our boat….for now, to hold us over until we know for sure this is where we want to stay. ‘Gato Solo’ is her name. She came with it. A Gato Solo looks like a strange cross between a raccoon, cat, monkey and anteater. Hmmmmm? If you’re just dying to know more about a Gato Solo, Google will give you all kinds of information.
The boat is a 20 foot panga with a 40HP motor. We’ve taken it out once and sure enough, it catches fish! Perfect!!! We were only out for about 1 ½ hours as our current gas tank is small. Within about a ½ mile from shore we caught a nice Cero Mackerel. GOOD EATIN.
As with most things here not a lot makes sense so Wayne is busy trying to make the boat right. For instance, getting a brace made for the motor for when we are towing it since the motor doesn’t have that handy little position just for that purpose, towing it! The seller of the boat said ‘just leave the motor down, no problem’. Perfect, let’s just drag that thing along the road. I’m sure it won’t do much damage. Or as pointed out by someone else, leave it all the way up. So that’s what we did and had a guy pass us on the road with his passenger hanging out the window frantically waving his arms up and down to demonstrate SEVERE BOUNCING…which I understand is not a good thing.
Because we are launching it from a boat ramp here in Pedasi we have to wait for the tide to be right. Our first trip out, the tide was ok until the last 2/10 of a mile of which we had to push and pull it into the ocean. The river was still a bit low. The river by the way is through the mangroves. Mangroves, you know, where snakes and crocs live! Worked off a couple rum drinks so all was good. We’ll eventually moor it and buy a little rowboat to get out to it.
We are having a really hard time finding land. There’s so much of it here but everyone wants to sell HUGE pieces. No one wants to be bothered with smaller lots unless in a development type of community which we don’t want. We found one piece a little over an acre. It’s perfect in every way. 2 miles from the beach, electric, water, nice view, flat to build, etc., etc. And then…..there’s the pig farm. It’s several hundred feet away but we are told depending on the winds, it could get pretty ripe. We keep driving by at different times of the day with our noses out the window.
Because the quality of construction here is so bad, we really want to build something ourselves. Plus it’s a LOT cheaper so we aren’t really looking to much at turn key stuff. Because in most cases, the key probably won’t work any way!!! We met one guy and he’s building a house out of shipping containers. I know what some of you are thinking, shut up. Believe me, you’d never know it was a container. It’s got real walls, floors, etc. and you can cut walls right out so you can have a very open floor plan. Who knows.
Lastly (for now), there’s something else I really miss. A good napkin. What I’d give for a Vanity Fair napkin. What they give you here won’t wipe the snot off a fruit fly. Plus they wrap your utensils in the napkin first so by the time you tear it off you are left with shreds. If you are lucky enough to have some left on your table, you end up going through about 87 of them and the pile at the end of the meal is still only about the size of your baby toe.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Bank acct, Altos del Maria, Friends, stuff
First of all THANK YOU to all of you who been responding and calling and keeping us posted on what’s happening back home and with you. We LOVE hearing from all of you!!!!! You guys are great.
WOW. So much has happened over the last week or so.
Opened a bank account. Heard nightmares about the process and that it took a minimum of 10 days before the acct gets opened. I also heard if you beat them at their own game and bury them in documents they will pretty much do whatever you want them to. They LOVE, LOVE paperwork and getting out that little stamp and stamping everything. Goldie, you are right, they actually have to step back and take a breath in between all the stamping. We went into the bank on Wed. They took copies of every page of our passport and our drivers license (Still a US license….we haven’t attempted to get a Panamanian one yet). That took about ½ hour. Returned the next day and 2 hours and 15 minutes later, we had an account. We brought with us the required documents: Passport, driver license, letters of recommendation from 2 people in Panama (we had 3 people willing to do this for us. Go figure!) and a utility bill. The bill could be for anything and in anyone’s name. Seriously! So we got the electric bill from the lady we are renting from. Then we also supplied them with things they didn’t ask for and their eyes rolled back in their head and they shouted with glee. Police records, letters from our banks back home and birth certificates. YIKES, I hope we don’t give them any bright ideas and now they will add those to the requirements.
Some funny stuff about Panama
1. “No necessary, no necessary!” Just go ahead and try to put a seat belt on in the back seat of the car. It’s not the law so if you are in a car with a Panamanian they will literally put their hand over the buckle and say ‘NO necessary’. I mean really for them to obey a REAL law like having to use seat belts in the front seat is like asking them to give birth to a goat. So when someone takes it upon themselves to do something that is not the law…well that’s just f*cking stupid.
2. You can catch a buzz at the grocery store…FOR FREE. Since they sell booze at the grocery store, they have a cute little chica at the end of the isle giving out sample shots of various ‘deals of the day’. We happened to hit on VODKA day. Hello, is this paradise or what! She had 8 different flavors and you could literally stand there and have each and every one. They were REAL SIZE shots too, actually closer to a shot and a half! I had my 2 and while I shopped Wayne held down the vodka fort with some other gringo and went through a good portion of the flavors.
3. The locks of the Panama Canal are fresh water, not salt. Go figure. So the locks are filled with fresh water when a boat comes in in order to lift it up to the next lock. The entire transit through the locks requires over 50,000,000 gallons of water. Once the boat is on it’s way, the lock dumps it’s fresh water into the ocean. It gets its fresh water from surrounding lakes. There can be 40+ boats going through the canal per day!!! That’s a lot of friggin water. Ok, so I asked a dumb question….won’t the lakes run out water at that rate. Since Panama gets 200+ inches of rain per year, not likely!
4. A security guard will stop you at the bank entrance and make you take off your sunglasses and hat if you are wearing one. In most cases he also does a metal detection. At some banks you can’t wear shorts.
5. Panama is the only country in the world, due to it’s ‘S’ shaped configuration of it’s land, where the sun rises in the West and sets in the East.
We spent the weekend away with some great people Friday night that we met on line before leaving the US. Mary and Goldie. We were in Altos del Maria which is up a mountain from the first place we stayed when we arrived. It was AMAZING. The company was too much fun as my head wasn’t right for a good 24 hours after!! Or maybe that was the wine!!! Great conversation, great food, wine and a view to die for. OH MY GOD, the view was incredible and as luck would have it, we got an amazing storm that came thru. We were in the clouds so we were in the storm. It was very cool. Next morning we could see for miles and miles and miles. On a really clear day you can see both oceans from where we were. (is that right Mary and Goldie or did I just make that up?? I know we can see one because I saw it.)
Saturday we went into the THE CITY or HELL as I like to call it. Thankfully this time wasn’t so bad. We didn’t get lost going in, thank you Mary and Goldie. We did some boat shopping. Then headed to a different part of the canal than we’d been before. Because we had The Woo with us we didn’t do the museum but did see a HUGE ship come through the Miraflores Lock. Amazing. We will go back without the dog in the car.
Sunday we enjoyed an AWESOME breakfast with our friend Barbara that we met in Coronada when we first arrived. We had hoped for a Sat. night pool party but it got rained out. Tis the rainy season!!!!
So much more has happened. Bought a boat….or are in the process. Once it’s a done deal I’ll post more. It’s a wee one but will do for now.
Firmed up a deal to rent a house RIGHT ON THE BEACH starting Sept. 1 for 6 months. If anyone wants to visit, this will be the time!!!!!! Will post more info. As we get closer and can get some pictures taken.
Happy SUMMER everyone!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW. So much has happened over the last week or so.
Opened a bank account. Heard nightmares about the process and that it took a minimum of 10 days before the acct gets opened. I also heard if you beat them at their own game and bury them in documents they will pretty much do whatever you want them to. They LOVE, LOVE paperwork and getting out that little stamp and stamping everything. Goldie, you are right, they actually have to step back and take a breath in between all the stamping. We went into the bank on Wed. They took copies of every page of our passport and our drivers license (Still a US license….we haven’t attempted to get a Panamanian one yet). That took about ½ hour. Returned the next day and 2 hours and 15 minutes later, we had an account. We brought with us the required documents: Passport, driver license, letters of recommendation from 2 people in Panama (we had 3 people willing to do this for us. Go figure!) and a utility bill. The bill could be for anything and in anyone’s name. Seriously! So we got the electric bill from the lady we are renting from. Then we also supplied them with things they didn’t ask for and their eyes rolled back in their head and they shouted with glee. Police records, letters from our banks back home and birth certificates. YIKES, I hope we don’t give them any bright ideas and now they will add those to the requirements.
Some funny stuff about Panama
1. “No necessary, no necessary!” Just go ahead and try to put a seat belt on in the back seat of the car. It’s not the law so if you are in a car with a Panamanian they will literally put their hand over the buckle and say ‘NO necessary’. I mean really for them to obey a REAL law like having to use seat belts in the front seat is like asking them to give birth to a goat. So when someone takes it upon themselves to do something that is not the law…well that’s just f*cking stupid.
2. You can catch a buzz at the grocery store…FOR FREE. Since they sell booze at the grocery store, they have a cute little chica at the end of the isle giving out sample shots of various ‘deals of the day’. We happened to hit on VODKA day. Hello, is this paradise or what! She had 8 different flavors and you could literally stand there and have each and every one. They were REAL SIZE shots too, actually closer to a shot and a half! I had my 2 and while I shopped Wayne held down the vodka fort with some other gringo and went through a good portion of the flavors.
3. The locks of the Panama Canal are fresh water, not salt. Go figure. So the locks are filled with fresh water when a boat comes in in order to lift it up to the next lock. The entire transit through the locks requires over 50,000,000 gallons of water. Once the boat is on it’s way, the lock dumps it’s fresh water into the ocean. It gets its fresh water from surrounding lakes. There can be 40+ boats going through the canal per day!!! That’s a lot of friggin water. Ok, so I asked a dumb question….won’t the lakes run out water at that rate. Since Panama gets 200+ inches of rain per year, not likely!
4. A security guard will stop you at the bank entrance and make you take off your sunglasses and hat if you are wearing one. In most cases he also does a metal detection. At some banks you can’t wear shorts.
5. Panama is the only country in the world, due to it’s ‘S’ shaped configuration of it’s land, where the sun rises in the West and sets in the East.
We spent the weekend away with some great people Friday night that we met on line before leaving the US. Mary and Goldie. We were in Altos del Maria which is up a mountain from the first place we stayed when we arrived. It was AMAZING. The company was too much fun as my head wasn’t right for a good 24 hours after!! Or maybe that was the wine!!! Great conversation, great food, wine and a view to die for. OH MY GOD, the view was incredible and as luck would have it, we got an amazing storm that came thru. We were in the clouds so we were in the storm. It was very cool. Next morning we could see for miles and miles and miles. On a really clear day you can see both oceans from where we were. (is that right Mary and Goldie or did I just make that up?? I know we can see one because I saw it.)
Saturday we went into the THE CITY or HELL as I like to call it. Thankfully this time wasn’t so bad. We didn’t get lost going in, thank you Mary and Goldie. We did some boat shopping. Then headed to a different part of the canal than we’d been before. Because we had The Woo with us we didn’t do the museum but did see a HUGE ship come through the Miraflores Lock. Amazing. We will go back without the dog in the car.
Sunday we enjoyed an AWESOME breakfast with our friend Barbara that we met in Coronada when we first arrived. We had hoped for a Sat. night pool party but it got rained out. Tis the rainy season!!!!
So much more has happened. Bought a boat….or are in the process. Once it’s a done deal I’ll post more. It’s a wee one but will do for now.
Firmed up a deal to rent a house RIGHT ON THE BEACH starting Sept. 1 for 6 months. If anyone wants to visit, this will be the time!!!!!! Will post more info. As we get closer and can get some pictures taken.
Happy SUMMER everyone!!!!!!!!!!!
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