90 Days In 3 Days Out

Where did those 90 days go ?  Wednesday of last week mi esposa and yo headed to Panama as our tourist visa was about to expire........our 90 days in Costa Rica was just about up so we headed to David , Panama hitching a ride with friends who were doing a one day shopping trip to David...........Cheap Prices Bubba .  David  is about 3 hours from Zancudo and that also depends on how fast we stamp out at the Costa Rican Imigration Office and how fast we stamp in at the Panamanian Immigration Office .  As always the prime factor is.............how many people are in line waiting to either stamp out or stamp in .  We stamped out of Costa Rica in 15 minutes but it took over an hour to stamp into Panama.........Oh Yes.......one big ass tourist bus and 2 very slow Panamanian Immigration Officers on duty .   However I am not complaining because this is all just one big learning curve and it is awesome just to stand back and check out the people .
Traveling on the roads in Panama is very much like traveling on the roads in the US.........it almost makes one cry thinking about our return to the roads of Costa Rica or should I say the lack of paved roads especially the 25 kilometer stretch from Naranjo to Zancudo..........bump.....bump.....bigger bump and the POLVO  ( DUST ) along with the fact we will be riding the chicken bus on our journey back home.........enough....... on with our 3 days in David .

First stop was to the DO - IT Center ( mini Lowes )  and for all the preaching on changing our consumer attitudes.........well let's just say........ ANXIETY ATTACK.............and.........DO YOU TAKE VISA .  To many things very low prices and what did we buy............I am ashamed to list the items but half the blame goes to mi esposa.......SHERRY who just kept saying , "And This Is All I Need " ....so we bought  4 flower pots , gardening tools , 2 sets of bathroom rugs , 1 wind tunnel fan , 1 toaster oven ( OMG melted cheese toast when we get back to Zancudo ) and 2 blue storage tubs which cost about $34 dollars in Costa Rica and only cost $12 at the DO - IT Center , 1 toilet seat for $7 and in Costa Rica it is $22 and finally another set of bowls for the kitchen .  Still there was so much  more we wanted like a weedeater $79 and I will tell you they are $200 plus in Costa Rica........no need to dwell Costa Rica is far more beautiful than Panama at least in mi ojos ( my eyes ) .

So we loaded up our friends car.......hugs and kisses and off we headed in a $2 Panamanain taxi to Parque Cervantes in the center of David and a room for 2 nights ( air condition , TV at $38 / night ) .  The real killer was we stepped into the bar next to the Hotel Iris throw back 3 beers and 3 vodkas along with an appetizer for less than 10 bucks........really.......beer is 75 cents and a mixed drink is  $1.25 and the appetizer was $2.50 .  Panama is by far really inexpensive .

Second day did some window shopping just so we would know what was available in David .  Breakfast was awesome coming in under $5 for 2 people.......have I said how cheap it was in Panama.........enough.......so what is there to do for 2 adventurous people exploring Panama .  Head to the Panama Agriculture Fair  .  Got to the Fairgrounds at 11:30 AM cost $1.50 per person and what a great time we had .  As we always did at the Delaware State Fair it was off to the livestock barns to see

Awesome but TOUGH on a plate

Turchicken ?

And what a treat to have a Zoological park

Seen their cousins in the Rio behind our Casa

Need my blanket back you Acoutamondes

The vegetable gardens were unbelievable , just never think that here in Central America they grow delicious potatoes , carrots , sweet onions , zuchinni , and beautiful cabbage

All that slaw

Parmesan soon

Simply Beautiful

Just wish we could have brought back some of these

Need Herbs at our Casa

and a little more color would not hurt

As always at any agricultural fair even in Panama , locals have to show off their sewing and growing skills

Do you have these in larger sizes

I would like a pound of all of those

As you see we had a really good time at the fair and if someone had ever told me that one day I would be walking around an agricultural fair in Panama I would think their queso ( cheese ) had slipped off their pozuelo ( cracker ) .   The fair food was great , alot of hot dogs on sticks and everything imaginable grilled and always cheap even the 75 cent Panamanian beer , bottle in hand strolling the fair grounds .  Sadly the day came to an end and me esposa and yo headed our separate ways , her with

One RED HOT Latin Pepper

and me

With one Long Lean Zanhoria

Yes , we did make it back and as the old proverbial saying goes , " There Is No Place Like Home " even if that casa sets in a jungle on the southern part of one really beautiful Central American country. 

Pura Vida

Rhythm of Life

Sol........Mas Sol......... Mucho Mas Sol .  Since our arrival on December 28 the sun ( sol ) has shone everyday and I am enjoying the sol but I do wish it would rain just enough to help the plants since we are truly in a very DRY season .  Mi esposa is muy contento though.........with the dry weather there are very few mosquitos so no bites .  I do believe we have the mosquitos under control for this month .

We took a trip on Monday to Rio Claro and as always a trip from Zancudo means one of two things.........a boat ride or a very long bus ride just to get the first leg of your journey under way.  So , we opted for the boat ride to Golfito and then a taxi ride to Rio Claro to " The Paradise Tropical Garden " , and a tour by Robert Beatham who has lived here since 1964 , he was originally from Maine .

Robert Beatham and the giant Fan Palm

An amazing 28 hectares of property he has worked and groomed into a beautiful garden that provides us inspiration for our property on a much smaller scale .

Cj and Sherry at Paradise Tropical Garden, Rio Claro

Mi esposa has always said I have a Grande Cabeza ( Big Head ) but I disagree and I have the proof

Small Head Big Frond

Enough......as I want to share some other pictures of the gardens

Shampoo Ginger

The ginger in the photo above can be used to wash your hands or hair  by simply cutting off the blossom and turning it upside down the liquid just pours out.........quite amazing and so beautiful .

Upright Heleconia

And I could go on an attach the 50 other pictures we took of the numerous varities of heleconia , gingers , torch gingers , and palms of all varieties .  The most amazing part of our trip to visit Robert was his knowledge of the plants he grows and how many of these plants are used as medical remedies to fight and control hypertension , diabetes , cancer and skin conditions .  Please take some time and check out this website I have attached .  I look forward to spending time volunteering at " The Paradise Tropical Garden " to learn more about the native Costa Rican Tropical plants from Robert Beatham .
http://paradise-garden.tripod.com/
                                                         

As the weeks have passed here at our Casa here on Playa Zancudo..........we are at WAR.......Si........WAR with the monos .

1 of the 30 Caupuchin monkeys raiding our bird feeder

Oh yes.........if you think squirrels are good at eating up everything you try to feed your birds......then let me introduce you to the.............Bottomles Pit of the Thieving Banana Muncher........aka , the cute little white faced CAPUCHIN.........just don't stand under the tree looking up because those little *#$@#* will piss on you.......Oh YES they will .  A possible solution to our war.........Give them the Casa and a large supply of  bananas and we go off and live in the jungle .  I must admit they are quite cute and very entertaining to watch but when it comes to getting a banana or 20 bananas they can be aggressive .  We stopped feeding them at the back of our yard at the jungles edge and forgot that we have numerous fruit trees on our property so they are just enjoying the buffet of gauvas , cacao , carambola, water apples and some type of long dark pods ( name unknown ) with a licorce tasting seed in them .  But if they even think once about eating our gwanabana ( we have 6 on the tree now ) which can cost $10 to $20 dollars for each piece of fruit.......we are having monkey stew every noches Martes  ( Tuesday night ) .

It seems our social calender stays somewhat full here on Playa Zancudo .  This past Friday we had great guests for diner and wonderful conversation and laughter especially when the large frog leaped from above onto our guest and onto the side of the sofa without histeria .  The frog was cute with big brown eyes........hey we are living outside inside , it is the jungle .  Our guests / friends have done an awesome job getting the library up and running here in Zancudo for the children and adults so if you have time please take a minute and check out all they have accomplished with Biblioteca de Zancudo , Thank you Susan and George . 
http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0466-4bc6-8a65?ln

Life here is wonderful , the food , the people , the beauty of the jungle and playa and most of all the simplicity..............just like our big fish hanging on our porch

My Rooster Fish from a Palm Frond

 

Fresh Heleconia and Ginger from the jungle in our Bamboo Vase

Any least not forget mi esposas wildlife photo of the week

 Sherry named  her discovery " SPOT "

Life continues here in paradise.........no regrets and a lifetime to enjoy our tropical Casa.........Pura Vida

Chanel No. 5 ......... Que

What................you think my queso ( cheese ) has slipped off my pozuelo (cracker ) .

Seriously , I have been wanting to write a blog about the smell of our property because it smells like Chanel No. 5...........really I am not kidding .  In the evening our house and property has an amazing smell due to not 1 no not 2 but 3 Y - Lang Y - Lang trees which are used to make Chanel No. 5 .

Flowers on our Y-Lang Y-Lang tree

We can find our house blindfolded but I will tell you don't keep it on very long  as our property is starting to blossom.............

Hibiscus at the jungles edge behind our house

Along with the addition of some awesome varigated Rambos..........

At the entrance to our driveway

And then there is my wifes favorite palm........which we have not yet identified.......HELP

Palm and birds of paradise

Let's not forget a regalo ( gift ) from our amigo Roy who worked so hard helping make this our Casa

Bromalade with yellow blossom 6 feet long

Okay.........enough about our yard that one day will be a wonderful landscaped garden if my machete weilding arm can hang on long enough .  On Sunday spent the morning cutting out 8 trees from the back of the house clearing way for new palms and citrus trees with my machete in hand.........yes there are times I wish I had my chain saw but I have to admit I am getting pretty good at using the machete..........no missing limbs or fingers .   I certainly would rather spend my time working here on the property then having to go to the frontera ( border ) to shop .  On Thursday of last week mi esposa

Mi esposa waiting for the 6 am bus to Paso Canoas

and I headed to Pasa Canoas to shop via the bus with 1 small backpack and 2 large cloth shopping bags and a plan to buy another backpack to use for travel and shopping.............as usual it is about 2 hours on the bus to Laurel......stop at the bank for our monthly allowance for life here and then a quick taxi ride 8 kilometers at 1 mil per person......$2 and a great breakfast at our fravorite Soda y Taqueria.......gallo pinto mexicano en huevos frito.......muy bien .  We started our shopping at around 9 am with the purchase of 1 big ass backpack which seemed like the perfect solution for carrying everything we needed...........by the time we left at 2:30 to catch the taxi back to Laurel for the bus to Zancudo...........we really needed 2 pack mules and at least 1 sherpa.........why you ask well there was a new toaster since mi esposa cooked literally cooked my other toaster in the oven..........another story......a small sink for the second bathroom along with faucet , candles ( 4 pounds worth easy ) baking pans , pull chains for fans , pencils , tupperware or we should call it fupperware no where close to the seal tight lids on tupperware , and now the groceries that included azucar , arroz , canned tomates , well let 's just say $150 worth of groceries..........big backpack my ass.......we needed a truck and we still had to pick up produce to haul back to Zancudo since we missed our Thursday fruit and vegetable man Emilo..........lesson learned don't leave Zancudo on Thursdays or Sundays or you miss Emilo.   Muy importante.........cerveza and vodka.......had to let the beer go Vodka weighs less and takes up less room for this trip..........will tell you......when we got to Laurel and had a 90 minute wait.....what cerveza we did not purchase I drank waiting for the bus........and when the bus stopped in Conte 10 kilometers from Zancudo.........I picked up another couple cervezas just to stop the pain of hauling all those supplies..........lesson learned .  Alas it is just a memory unlike today with a beautiful susrise and clouds reflecting back on to the beach

Sunrise looking out toward the Osa Peninsula

 and for me a walk about in the jungle behind our casa with mi amigo Jose machetes in hand boots on our feet...........snakes and another wonderful jungle adventure .  The answer is yes.......we did see a very large black and yellow snake , an abandoned crocodile nest , several monos as if I need to see anymore of those since our casa is now a hang out for them along with some amazing foilage .  So on my next walk about in the jungle I am going to take the camera............Pura Vida