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.
At our age, birthdays last more than a day...sometimes they last a month. I guess when you're living your dream, every day can feel like your birthday! Well, we finished off Sha's "birthday month" in style and went to Saboga Island in the middle of the Gulf of Panama for 3 days to go whale watching (again). More on that in a bit. Prior to our leaving for the island, August seemed to fly by rather quickly. This is the first year I was caught off guard when I heard school was starting; nope, still don't miss it. I got into a regular morning swim routine while Sha does her yoga. Our regular walks on the beach still turn up the occasional interesting items and are continually being reshaped by the high tide waves. We've had some good storms, with the winds blowing pretty hard and the ocean has tossed a lot of debris onto our beaches on several occasions. Surprised to see so many tree trunks, branches and wood pieces, along with the disturbing plastic bottles and such (no pics of that gunk). Storms out at sea. Sha's mom Arlene's favorite cookie. This poor shack is still hanging in there. Not sure what this big thing is; but looks like a bottom feeder, or sucker fish. We've been back to Mambo Italiano and enjoyed a new kind of caprese salad (left pic below) and found that they changed the way the prepared their lasagna; looks cool, but Sha didn't like it as the taste changed also. The pizza was still excellent, thankfully. We still eat pretty good at home too. We signed up for a Sip n Paint at the local Art Studio on the road into town on the 20th. We had a great time painting 'Boat on a Beach'. [slideshow below] Our "final" birthday activity for birthday month was the trip to Saboga Island on the 29th. For those Survivor watchers, Seasons 7, 8, and 12 were filmed here. We needed to leave the house at 4:30 AM to get to the ferry in Panama City for the 7:30 AM departure. If you were to think of the worst traffic jam you've ever been in, you would have to multiply it by 50 to get close to the traffic jam going into Panama City that we were in; it started jamming up about 50 miles from the city. At many points of the trip we weren't sure we were going to get there before the ferry departed. The ferry left from Flamenco Island, the last of three islands connected by the Amador Causeway, an 8km road just outside the city. We were excited about the 90 minute trip out into the ocean traveling to Saboga Island. As we left the harbor, the view of the city was pretty cool. There were too many ships to count that were waiting to get into the Panama Canal that we saw as we motored away from the harbor. Panama is experiencing a drought which has greatly affected traffic through the Canal. Hundreds of ships were waiting their turn to enter the Canal in the waters outside the city. We both were amazed at how fast the ferry was traveling in open water as we zipped past the huge ships. We arrived at Saboga Island in no time and upon disembarking from the ferry, found our panga; piloted by one of the 713 local residents, waiting at the dock to take us to Villa Noelia. The trip from the dock took us around to the west side of Saboga Island. The scenery and colors of the water are hard to describe, and we spent the 15 minute boat ride admiring the beauty of it all. [slideshow below] We got off the panga right on a white sand beach where we were met by Bayron, who led us across the sand to a bricked pathway leading up the hill into the jungle. You may recall that big steep hill we climbed in Costa Rica; well this path to Villa Noelia was just as steep...thankfully not as high though. I didn't document it because I was working too hard to walk up it and was thankful when I made it to the top. Villa Noelia is on a side of the hill in the middle of the jungle. We could easily see and hear the ocean through the trees; but the hard climb made it seem like we were farther from the beach. Darling, Bayron's mom, was there to greet us and check us in. By the time we had unpacked it felt like it was late afternoon; when in reality it was just midmorning. Sha's pre-trip research had found the island has a 500 year old tree that we wanted to see and also beaches that we wanted to visit. Bayron, who we later learned is guide, luggage carrier, handyman and waiter, packed up some water and off we went to see "the tree". We walked back down the hill to the beach, much easier going down. Crossing the beach we headed back into the trees...and yes, the hills. It wasn't long into the trek that I realized they should have a warning about the terrain you'll be covering, and have you sign a waiver! The path was not paved, the ground was not smooth...and there was moist clay and rocks everywhere. Rough going to say the least. [slideshow below] We walked up hill and down hill and back up for what seemed like hours (maybe it was a half hour). The point where we turned off the path didn't look like a path until you stepped over the fallen tree. About 5 minutes later we arrived at "the tree." [slideshow below] We admired the enormous tree and tried to rest a bit to reenergize, knowing we had to go back. When we departed, I found I needed a sharp focus on where my feet were stepping along the path back. We had talked to Bayron before beginning the trip about also going to Saboga Lodge (rooms, restaurant and pool connected with Villa Noelia) to check out and see. We stopped at a junction of two paths, seemingly for a quick rest, when Bayron indicated this path went to the beach. I was so tired I said no; and then quickly changed my mind as this was one of the things we came here for. Bayron assured us it wasn't far. I wasn't 100% convinced until I saw the water. Boy was I glad I didn't say no. Bayron took his dog to the far end of the beach and we spent the next 45 minutes alone in the teal colored ocean floating and relaxing in the gentle waves. We then headed back into the jungle and made our way to Saboga Lodge; arriving just as my legs were screaming STOP! We went straight to the outdoor shower and the pool. Rested (sort of), we headed for the restaurant for some lunch. Bayron had gone back to Villa Noelia sometime between our pool visit and lunch; so we were on our own going back. How hard could it be? We knew it was only a "10 minute walk" from Villa Noelia and there was really only one path leaving Saboga Lodge. So...follow it and get to the beach; cross beach to paved path, climb (steep) hill to Noelia...right? Well that all sounded good in my head. It was when we both couldn't remember crossing the wooden bridge on the way back that I started to get a bit nervous. I didn't think I missed a turn; so we had to be going the right way...right? We climbed a muddy incline and stopped to rest when Sha saw a Noelia sign pointing toward a path going up a steep hill. A green sign in the jungle, how'd I miss that? The path didn't look like a path but was lined with sticks with orange tape fluttering in the breeze. We asked each other if we remembered the orange markers and we both shook our head no. Do we believe the sign and go up the really steep hill on the path that doesn't look like a path? We decided we trusted the sign and started up, quickly finding out that this was the steepest hill of the day. Half way up I had to stop for the third time wondering if I would have to spend the night there due to exhaustion, when I realized I could see the top. Summoning my last reserves, I fought my way to the top and with sheer delight was looking at the front of Villa Noelia! We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, then to the main deck for some cribbage and rehydration. After cards we ordered dinner and Darling cooked us up two wonderful pasta dishes in the kitchen you can see behind Sha in the above pic. We were excited and talking about the full "Blue Moon" (second one in August) coming on the 30th when we realized the sunset painting the western sky. We quickly headed down to the beach to enjoy the spectacle. [slideshow below] Early to bed, early to rise, cause tomorrow is whale watching day! We enjoyed a relaxing morning and Darling fixed us a wonderful scrambled eggs, sausages and fruit breakfast. We talked with the young couple, Alfonso and Gabriela staying here as well who came on the ferry with us about the whale watching we would be soon doing together; and then the four of us went to the beach to wait for our 10 AM pickup. Our panga showed up on time, for Panama, and we boarded the boat at the shoreline. We weren't sure if this was our whale watching boat or if we would transfer to something different at the ferry dock as we headed back to the north side of the island. We had our answer when we kept going straight out to the open ocean. Saboga Island is part of an archipelago in the Gulf of Panama; and after traveling for about 15 minutes, it appeared we were headed straight for one of them. We were confused when our captain steered us toward the white sandy beach because we all were expecting to be looking for whales. Al and Gabby conveyed our concern and translated the response that we could enjoy the island and that the boat would return after completing some other undisclosed task with the boat. The small island is uninhabited; and as the boat puttered away we felt like we were left on a deserted island. As we laughed about being stuck here, we found and shady spot for our things and set out exploring the small beach and rock outcroppings. It wasn't long before we were in the gently lapping turquoise waves offshore. [slideshow below] We had been enjoying floating in the ocean for quite some time when we heard a boat approaching the island and thought it was time to go. Oops; not our boat as we watched it continue on and circle the island. As there was no other boat insight, back in the water we went. It seemed a great deal longer than we expected to be there when the boat returned for us; although none of us minded because of the relaxing beauty of the little island. We boarded our panga and set off to find some whales. Our little boat made this experience so much different than our first adventure. As we traveled into open waters, we all were scanning the surface ahead and to the sides of our boat (this time we had 2 extra sets of eyes looking). Just I was beginning to wonder if we would have any luck at sighting the giant sea creatures, the captain cried out pointing out to the left of the boat! Sha was quick enough to see the fin as it crested the surface; but I missed it! That started it rolling. Another difference that we noted was we were able to see the blow spray of the surfacing whales that gave everyone a chance to see them no matter who spotted them. We also saw whale tails as they dove back down into the depths! I caught one in a pic (a bit blurry), and Gabby caught one in a short video!! NGG captured the first two pics. We were pretty giddy with our new sightings and experience as we continued to search. Counting, we reckoned we saw about a dozen whales as we encountered a lull in our sightings. Continuing to search; but thinking we might be done seeing whales, we saw the sight of a lifetime. Straight in front of the boat, a couple of hundred yards away, a whale jumped right out of the ocean! Three fourths of its body was out of the water! We saw its ribbed white belly and fins as it twisted before hitting the water with a tremendous splash. I'm getting goosebumps remembering it as I write this. What a sight; wow! That ended up being the last whale we saw that day. As we headed for home, we motored by Contadora, another populated island near Saboga. More developed and populated than Saboga, the east side of the island had some beautiful beach residences and resorts. After passing by Contadora we were back to the northeast edge of Saboga and around to Villa Noelia on the west side. The below pic is what we believe is Saboga town, which we didn't get a chance to visit as it was an hour's trek through the jungle to get to from our villa. We disembarked from the panga on our home beach satisfied and happy whale watchers. After conquering "the hill" to Noelia, we spent the rest of the afternoon in our pool with Al and Gabby. Darling, again prepared us a great dinner with Sha having a garbanzo bean salad and I had seafood fettuccine. We didn't have to wait long after dinner before the full moon was out. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 3:45 PM on our last day on the island, so we planned to go out on the resort's kayaks and paddle boards with Al and Gabby after breakfast. Always up for an adventure...maybe should have passed this one time. Bayron, apparently in need of another title, became the kayak and paddle board transporter as our equipment was at Saboga Lodge, and he had to bring them to us. It was a little windier than the previous two days and the waves were sneaky strong as we attempted to launch at water's edge. Al and I helped launch Sha on her way with minimal problems. As I attempted to get into my kayak I immediately found myself in the water with my overturned kayak banging into me from the waves hitting it. With extreme difficulty, I emptied the water out of it, and with Al's help set off afloat in the ocean. The ocean was rougher than any of us thought or were prepared for. As I watched Gabby's difficult launch and Al get afloat and end up in the rocks; I knew it was time to go back in. As Sha came back to shore, we were all happy to be out of the water. We decided to explore our home beach from the safety of the sand and check out the interesting rock layers at the top of the beach. Our transport to the ferry this time, we found out, was to be by "car" instead of the panga. Another of the local residents picked us up at the Villa and took us through the jungle roads to the ferry dock. On the ferry ride back we must have been really flying because it got us to the harbor ahead of schedule. As we let the A/C cool the car off before we left for home I was still marveling at the ships in the waters outside of the city. It was apparent, as we drove off of the Causeway, that not everybody had as great a last three days as we did. We experienced the evening version of the traffic jam from the netherworld on our way home, but...we eventually made it.
Not sure what I'm going to do next year to top this birthday month. I think I've said a mouthful in this edition of the KSha adventure, hope you enjoyed it. BTW; we've booked our next adventure for the first two months after we leave Panama...we're moving south. More to come later. Stay safe all! Pura Vida!!
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