OUR RETIRED ADVENTURE
qUEREMOS VIVIR AL SOL
KSha
Costa Rica is amazing! Beauty abounds.
Panama is "home" for now. Loving life!
South America is next! Columbia here we come.
Costa Rica is amazing! Beauty abounds.
Panama is "home" for now. Loving life!
South America is next! Columbia here we come.
I am getting pretty good at knowing where the pothole sections of the road to and from Panama City are as we headed back to the big city to pick up our next visitor. In a reunion of sorts, Sha's former co-worker from Sun Microsystems, Mindy from Cincinnati came to stay with us over the 4th of July week. It was a pleasure to finally meet Mindy after hearing plenty of phone conversations and stories involving the two of them; and receiving a long awaited requested hug as we loaded the luggage and left the airport for our home. Mindy, Sha and BB enjoying a morning beach walk. It was nice to see Sha and Mindy enjoy telling stories of the people and events they shared while working at Sun Microsystems. It really was a great company; made that way due to the really wonderful people working there. We did a little home cooking with some salmon and tuna on the grill; but also did some eating out. A visit to Nueva Gorgona for tropical drinks and some good Thai food at Bovedas. Lunch at The Boga Bar in the harbor of Vista del Mar. Dinner and Sangria at Picasso's, down the road from our house. Waiting for the band to start. The band was jamming, so had to get up and shake a leg. We spent a special day with Mindy on the 50th anniversary of her wedding day in Chame at one of my favorite Panamanian beaches in Playa Carocal. We had a couple of cold beers at the Surf Shack and did some sightseeing in the town of Punta Chame. Two chicks at the Chame sign. The remodeled Surf Shack with new palapas and its very own pool! Mornings we'd lazily enjoy coffee and tea, and a beach walk when the tide was right. When we weren't sightseeing, we enjoyed our pool to cool off during the hot afternoons. Cold drinks and 5 Crowns were our entertainment when we stayed at home. We had some great battles and laughs playing that game! Sha had done some research to find the happenings for the 4th of July and booked the three of us a bus transport and private table at the Hawaii Beach Club on the sea for drinks, dancing and food with other local expats. The food was great, the band was awesome and I was the envy of the place with the two prettiest table-mates in the whole place. Loading the bus heading to Hawaii Beach Club on the 4th. BB, Sha and Mindy at Hawaii Beach Club. Patriotic in Panama. We even got to enjoy a beach firework show from our pool to top off the celebration of the 4th! We didn't have time to schedule an "official" visit to the Panama Canal, but on the way to the airport for Mindy's return flight home, we drove along the "backside" of the canal and found a place to park. We arrived just in time to see a large ship exiting the Canal. It was a great visit and it was sad to see "Mindalicious" leave for home ; but we know that the 5 Crowns craze will be spreading to Cincinnati as soon as she can get to the store! Sha has had her eye on this restaurant in Nueva Gorgona for more than a month and we finally went for dinner. The place is Mambo Italiano and it has a total of five tables for patrons. Rave reviews caught Sha's attention while doing research and we were not disappointed with what we found. We picked a night they had a singer and had some Italian wine (which we don't normally drink, but we loved it!). It was also the owner, Sonja's B-day, so the place was quite festive. She really made us feel at home there and came to our table frequently to check in and chat with us during our stay. First visit to Mambo Italiano. Wood fire brick oven in background. ![]() Our entertainment for dinner; this guy had a great voice. Bruschetta to start, Sha had the lasagna and I had a brick oven pizza--delicious!! Our pool is fantastic and after floating on our rafts in the sun, we like to get the Rummikub game and have some poolside friendly battles with a beer to cool off. We caught a bug and were under the weather for a time and couldn't walk on the beach for a bit. When we resumed our walks, the beach to our right (northwest) was changed dramatically. A big expanse of rock (not pictured) on the beach (that we didn't even know was there) had been exposed from the surf washing the sand that had covered it away. We also noticed one of the beach properties had sustained some damage to their wall on the beach and a section of it had sunk resulting in a giant crack in the wall. You may recall the picture of me standing next to a huge tree that was on the beach and a regular destination for our walks when we go this way. Well, that tree is no longer on the beach, at least as it used to be. It appears that someone cut the tree up as you can see below with the pieces still left on the beach. There is a small community of fishermen houses at the end of our walking distance (just past the huge tree that is no longer) and the rough surf has damaged one of their structures that is also pictured below. The crab pictured above was captured in our house. They sometimes like to crawl through the locked grill gate covering our front door.
We had a cool National Geographic moment during one of our recent walks on the beach as we watched two split-tailed seabirds (not sure of the proper name; I call them M & M birds because their wings look like an "M" when they are flying) hunting along the shore. Unlike pelicans who dive into the water to catch fish, these guys fly low and grab fish by their beak as they continue flying. We happened to be on the beach adjacent to the two birds fishing as one of them snagged a fish and then flapped its wings to gain altitude. As soon as the one caught his fish, the companion immediately went into attack mode to steal the fish from the other. The aerial battle was soon joined by a third split-tail trying to steal the fish as well. The hunter dropped his fish at one point during the 25 second battle, but deftly caught it midair and successfully kept his catch by evading the other two would be thieves. Would've loved to have that on video, but was too engrossed to even think of it before it was over. The weather lately has been really hot, high 80's and 90's with a feels like temp of 105+ on some days. Even the locals are complaining of how hot it is. Can't be grateful enough that we have our pool to be able to cool off in. The infrequent afternoon rains are the only cool air we get until the sun goes down. Whale watching season is just around the corner and we are looking to set up a boat excursion in nearby San Carlos. Keep you posted with that endeavor as we proceed. We are really enjoying our life here in Panama and look forward to each day. Hoping all is well with you and yours. Until next time. Ciao amigos! Pura Vida!
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Kevin & Sharon SeibelBeginning our next big adventure! Archives
December 2023
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