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The Base Jumpers in Panama City

The Base Jumpers in Panama City

     When you are on the 34^th floor of a high-rise condo, you do not expect to see people going by when you look out the window. However, on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, that is exactly what we DID see.

     We had business in Panama City, and were staying with friends. It was overcast, and the dark, gravid clouds rolling in on the skyline looked ominous, threatening storms. This was not a day in which one would plan daredevil stunts.

     Upon seeing the first jumper, we grabbed cameras and went out onto the terrace. There was a drone hovering above us that we assumed was documenting this jumping event. The day before, there had been a cable connected from the top of the skyscraper next to us, running diagonally to a point below, but we had no idea why that had been installed until that moment.

     The jumpers would come out onto the roof of that building, connect to the zip line, and wait for their signal. Transit police below stopped traffic on Balboa Avenue every time the jumps were about to start. They would zip-line down to a flag, release, and parachute to the ground. Sometimes they looked like they would float right out into the bay, but we never saw that happen. 

The billowy parachutes were colorful, and watching them drift to the ground was mesmerizing. A couple of times it almost seemed as if the chute wasn’t catching the wind quite right and I felt a little queasy flutter of anxiety, but they always opened. Some of them did a little happy dance after they landed. Some of the jumpers were female!

     One time, right after a jumper zipped down, another one left from a floor a couple of stories down, somersaulting as he dove from the building, sans zip line. I’m glad his mother wasn’t there to witness that.

     Our friend went down to Balboa Avenue to take video of the jumpers, and you can find it on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxVSmyhcbo&feature=em-upload_owner   

     It was great fun to watch this event. When in Panama City, I have often sensed a sort of serendipity, and have felt like the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, who said “Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."  Seriously, where else can you see yachts in the marina, wildly decorated and illuminated Diablo Rojo buses, base jumping from skyscrapers, and octopus for sale, all within a few blocks, and on the same day? And the price for all this entertainment? FREE!

     

Mercado de Mariscos and More~Panama City

Mercado de Mariscos and More~Panama City

     There are Fish Markets, and there is the Mercado de Mariscos in Panama City. The market is located at Avenida Balboa and Avenida Eloy Alfaro at the edge of Casco Viejo. It is open every day from 6 a.m. (brutal!) to 5 p.m. except for the third Monday of every month, when they close for a thorough cleaning. If you don’t mind the smell, it is an entertaining place to pass an hour, wandering around and checking out the day’s catch. The vendors are quite skilled with their knives, and can trim, slice, and fillet so fast that a photo of the task is blurry.

     Most of the stalls are named after a religious theme, “Power of Jesus”, “God is My Strength and Refuge”, “Saint Michael’s”, that sort of thing. If I were out on the high seas trying to make a living by what I could hook and net, I’d pray pretty hard, too. Actually, it’s not the fishermen running these stalls, but wholesalers that buy from them. There is a restaurant, also, where you can take your purchase and have it prepared to your liking, but we did not avail ourselves of that option the day we went.   

     You can find sea bass, grouper, red snapper, sole, octopus, crab, shrimp of every description, tuna, and many others I can’t even name. The prices are excellent, and it doesn’t get any fresher. We bought big old shrimp and had them with our pasta that evening.

     A short walk away is a produce market and meat market that sells chicken, beef and pork. The meat market is definitely not for the squeamish. The day we were there, whole pink hogs were on the counter being turned into pork chops and other cuts. Chickens lay with their feet in the air (no longer crossing the road) and sides of beef hung from hooks, waiting for Rocky Balboa to come along and punch them. Again, watching the butchers with their ninja-like knife skills is impressive.

     As for the produce, it is huge, vine ripened, because it is grown locally, and actually tastes like it is supposed to. The bananas are as sweet as ice cream, and the pineapple is like ambrosia for the gods. I am patiently waiting for the ageless immortality that consuming these fruits will bestow upon me. Some of the stalls in the produce area sold dried foods, like beans, and rice, and seasoning packets, bottles of rum, sauces, and the like.

     For those that live near these markets, it’s a great place to shop. For the tourist and occasional visitor to the city, it is a fun and interesting place to visit. Don’t forget your camera!

The Fishing Village - Pedasi, Panama

The Fishing Village - Pedasi, Panama

     If I say “fishing village”, what comes to mind? Docks, marinas, a harbormaster? Nets, fish markets, shrimp boats, a la Forrest Gump? That’s what you get if you Google© “fishing village”, and click on images. Some are more sophisticated than others, but the idea is the same.

    We had heard that Pedasi, Panama was a fishing village, so naturally, we expected something that would come reasonably close to our Hollywood-esque concept. We arrived in the afternoon, and checked into a Bed and Breakfast. 

Since it was already so late, we opted to check out the beach & the fishing the next day, and went to the main part of town. As serendipity would have it, there was a wedding that evening at the church on the square, complete with sleepy flower girl, beautiful bride, and rowdy guests with fireworks. There were a couple of little shops open, and a few people selling trinkets and jewelry out on the street.

     Bright and early the next morning, off we went to the “playa” to see the fishermen and soak up the local color. The beach at Pedasi is lovely, with its warm sand and gentle surf. 

There was a parking area, a couple of small structures, but, lo and behold, no docks, no marina, no big “Deadliest Catch” boats. There is an ocean, there are little boats that you might be leery of in a calm pond, and there are guys that take those boats out into the deep blue sea and come back with fish. 

It’s as simple as that. We hung around for quite a while that day. The sea was actually very choppy, but nonetheless, there were brave souls taking tours in those same small boats, going out to an island barely visible on the horizon. 

A fishing boat came in while we were there, and the guys brought the boat up onto the shore, unloaded their catch, (still alive, by the way), and ran it up the beach to a waiting pickup truck. It gets thrown into a cooler full of ice, and they take off. This all happens within a couple of minutes. You could time it with a stopwatch just for fun. During the fish handoff, the sea gulls turn into creatures from a Hitchcock movie, swooping down and diving. It was very entertaining.

   Overall, Pedasi is a sleepy little town, quiet and restful, and we enjoyed our time there immensely. For such a small place, there were plenty of restaurants to choose from. My strong recommendation is the Ristorante Pasta e Vino, which is a tiny place but oh, so delicious and reasonably priced.

     So next time you think you need a lot of gear and trappings for something you are undertaking, remember the fishermen at Pedasi, and don’t go overboard. (I know, that was really bad.)

El Valle de Anton, Panama

El Valle de Anton

     Traveling down the Pan-American Highway from Panama City, you can turn onto Highway 71 and meander up the little winding mountain road, while carefully avoiding bicyclists and pedestrians, until you get to a little berg called El Valle de Anton. The drive itself is delightful, offering panoramic vistas of distant mountains, often swathed in clouds, like a hazy whipped cream topping.

     El Valle de Anton, or El Valle as it is more commonly referred to, is a quiet, tranquil little town of about 4500 people set in the crater of a long-expired volcano. We stayed at the Anton Valley Hotel. 

The room was clean, modest, and comfortable and the staff was courteous. Across the street was the Catholic church, and wouldn’t you know, the thing that high school Spanish students have been looking for since the beginning of organized education- LA BIBLIOTECA.

Our first night there, we found a little open-air establishment called the Restaurante Santa Librada. It was almost deserted, with one other table just finishing their meal. We sat down and waited. A skinny dog was right outside the dining area, looking hopeful, although you could tell he knew better than to step onto the tile. The lady who was serving appeared and took our order. The fare was simple-a chicken dish with rice and beans-but it was delicious. As we finished our meal and paid, our sweet server collected our scraps and added them to a larger pile, which she took outside the restaurant and gave to the dog. You gotta love somebody that is kind to animals. We came back the next day for breakfast.

There are lots of things to see and do in the town. Their website http://www.el-valle-panama.com/index.html  provides information and links to everything imaginable. We only had time for one attraction, so we opted to go see the “Square Trees”. 

These trees have trunks that have a squared or boxy shape, rather than a cylindrical appearance like other trees. The tour is located adjacent to the Hotel Campestre, and we parked, found a hotel employee who collected a small admission fee and unlocked the gate. The tour is self-guided, with little hand-painted signs that tell you which way to go, and also provide information about some of the trees and plants. We were the only ones there that morning, so it was like having an enchanted tropical forest all to yourself.  The square trees are interspersed with other varieties, and sunlight filters through the bright green canopy, dappling the path. At one point there was a wall of giant bamboo, and flowering plants abound. I highly recommend long pants and athletic shoes for this tour, as there are slippery spots, and huge exposed tree roots with leaf-cutter ants marching across them.

 We came to a narrow suspension bridge, which crossed a clear babbling brook, with little waterfalls tumbling over smooth mossy stones. Another really good reason to be wearing sensible shoes.

We have to go back soon, because we didn’t get to see the orchids, or the frogs, or the butterflies, or the petroglyphs, or the big waterfall……..El Valle is a gem nestled in a cradle of beauty.