More about Panama
So it's been almost 2 weeks since I got back from my trip and I wanted to write a little more about it.
The places we went to were Panama City and three different resorts in three different parts of the country. The first was Playa Blanco, Playa Tortuga, and Hotel Escondido.
The place we stayed at in Panama City was a house and it was the 2nd home of my cousin-in-law's uncle's house. His family has a very successful import and export business and have a lot of money that are invested in multiple homes and properties. Anyway his uncle was kind enough to let everyone stay at his secondary residence. The area used to be part of a US airbase and was maybe a kilometer or 2 from an airstrip. During the day, we could actually hear jets taking off. There was also a Merchant Marine base nearby as well as some other fancy-looking martial bases in the area. Apparently because of the house' proximity to an airbase, it could (theoretically) survive a missile attack. It was a three-story house with air-conditioning in all the rooms (thank God!) and it had a 2nd story balcony with 2 hammocks!
Playa Blanco (meaning white beach) was about 1.5 hours from Panama City and it was a very nice resort. They have two very large cages with a pair of toucans in one and 4 macaws in the other! Needless to say, I visited the birds everyday. The food was alright but the beach was beautiful. What was really great was that I got a room all to myself with a king-size bed! And then it was really great to wake up in the morning to sound of birds singing, and I don't mean just a few birds, I mean like several flocks of birds singing and chirping in the tress!
Playa Tortuga (meaning beach of turtles. Apparently during mating season, the resort is located on a popular beach for sea turtles to lay their eggs on. It was not egg-season when we were there.) This was located way in the northeast corner of Panama and we had to travel for 10 hours to get there and take a boat trip to get out to the island. The area we were in was called Bocas del Torro (because the island looks like a bull's head) and this part of Panama faced out to the Caribbean Ocean. It was beautiful! We went dolphin watching! Bad part is I got sick while here >_<. And most random encounter! I met a Rastafarian! I was going back to the room to take a much-needed nap when I passed a room in which a black man with dreadlocks was coming out of. He said 'hola' to me and I said 'hello' back and then he said "oh! you speak English," and this is what started our conversation. He was a nice guy and we just talked about why we were there (he was apparently doing some research on Marcus Garvey). I asked where he was from and he said he's from Panama from Bocas del Torro, but he lived a few years in the US (and where he learned to speak English) but he also lived a few years in Taiwan. We also spoke about China and it's economic rise (he was very impressed that I knew how many people have been raised out of poverty lol). It was just such a random encounter and he was so chill like how people might imagine a Rastafarian to be (or at least me). He also said he did not smoke marijuana (we got on that topic because I mentioned I was from Oregon and he was like "that's close to Washington. I don't smoke, but I heard they legalized marijuana"). So just lettin' people know, not all Rastafarians smoke :P. My cousins saw me talking to him and later on they checked up on me asking who that was and if I was alright and I had to assure them we started talking because we both spoke English.
I think I'm definitely the most approachable one in my immediate family because no way would my parents ever talk to this guy.
Anyway, by far my most favorite place was Hotel Escondido in Boquete, a lovely town in the highlands of Panama. The resort was so lush and pretty with a stream running through it! The landscape architecture was so pretty with curving paths throughout so wandering through the resort felt kind of like an adventure. This was also my favorite place because we visited a coffee plantation and I learned a lot about coffee and a little about local politics.
A lot of US retirees have recently discovered Boquete and are buying up homes and building gated communities in the area because the climate there is very nice and the fact that Panama uses US currency also probably helps. The standard of living is also not as good in the US so things are a little cheaper- BUT the cost is going up because of all the rich retirees buying homes and vacation homes in the area. This has created some conflict with the locals because land and property values are going up so much that some locals can't even afford to live there anymore. Every year, Panama is producing less coffee because the land value is worth more than growing coffee so coffee growers are selling their land, which causes a dip in the local economy. Indicative of this is I Googled "boquete" to make sure I would spell it right and about the 5th hit down was information on buying a house in Boquete. Some of the search suggestions that came up were "boquete real estate" and "boquete rentals." I feel really bad for the local people that have to deal with all these rich people flocking to their town and developers buying up all the coffee lands, but it's a complex situation. Perhaps the bubble will burst and the gated communities will revert back to coffee plantations.
SO ABOUT COFFEE. The plantation we visited is part of Cafe Ruiz, a Panamanian coffee company run by senor Ruiz and his family. Our tour guide said that Mr. Ruiz and his family do not ever want to sell their land. Mr. Ruiz is 91 years old and yet he still visits his plantations everyday and walks the fields. He also drinks his own coffee (lol). And what's even more adorable, his house is right across the parking lot from his packaging facility and coffee shop ^_^. I saw Mr. Ruiz when he was outside and I took a picture. He does not look 91! It also sounds like it's a fair trade company and the tour guide was also a plantation worker and he sounded like he had a lot of pride in the quality of coffee that Cafe Ruiz makes. They do sell internationally and it's sold at Stumptown! This is where I need to insert a macro image because I don't always drink coffee, but when I do, it's Cafe Ruiz. I just got the feeling that it was a very smartly run company that cares about it's workers, make a very good product, and care about the environment. The tour guide said they have a lot biodiversity on the plantations and select fruit trees that encourage birds and insects so they'll come and pollinate the plantation.
And yes, I did get to taste some coffee. Apparently, you're not suppose to drink coffee with cream and sugar. The tour guide said, if you have to add cream and sugar, it's a sign you don't like the taste and you're drinking bad coffee. Also, more bitter the coffee does not mean it's stronger- it's just bitter coffee. Also, Starbucks is a coffee company for people that don't like coffee (lol). There are also several ways to make coffee. Instant coffee is also made from the bad beans. It's also best to buy the roasted beans so you can see what you're getting and store them in the freezer when you're not going to grind and drink them. It takes about 600 pounds of raw, unprocessed beans to make 1 pound of roasted beans. Taste of the coffee can also differ. I thought all coffee tasted the same- BOY WAS I WRONG. Some hits your tongue and you can immediately taste the acidity but it's smooth going down, some are smooth at first but a little citrisy going down, and some are even a little sweet and floral. A coffee tasting is also a lot like a wine tasting. It was just so very interesting and I really hope Panama continues to produce coffee even if Cafe Ruiz is the last Panamanian coffee producer. And for my coffee drinking friends, I would encourage you guys to seek out Cafe Ruiz coffee and support an environmentally-conscience and fair-trade company. I will admit, it is expensive and definitely a premium and gourmet coffee, but it's really good.
The places we went to were Panama City and three different resorts in three different parts of the country. The first was Playa Blanco, Playa Tortuga, and Hotel Escondido.
The place we stayed at in Panama City was a house and it was the 2nd home of my cousin-in-law's uncle's house. His family has a very successful import and export business and have a lot of money that are invested in multiple homes and properties. Anyway his uncle was kind enough to let everyone stay at his secondary residence. The area used to be part of a US airbase and was maybe a kilometer or 2 from an airstrip. During the day, we could actually hear jets taking off. There was also a Merchant Marine base nearby as well as some other fancy-looking martial bases in the area. Apparently because of the house' proximity to an airbase, it could (theoretically) survive a missile attack. It was a three-story house with air-conditioning in all the rooms (thank God!) and it had a 2nd story balcony with 2 hammocks!
Playa Blanco (meaning white beach) was about 1.5 hours from Panama City and it was a very nice resort. They have two very large cages with a pair of toucans in one and 4 macaws in the other! Needless to say, I visited the birds everyday. The food was alright but the beach was beautiful. What was really great was that I got a room all to myself with a king-size bed! And then it was really great to wake up in the morning to sound of birds singing, and I don't mean just a few birds, I mean like several flocks of birds singing and chirping in the tress!
Playa Tortuga (meaning beach of turtles. Apparently during mating season, the resort is located on a popular beach for sea turtles to lay their eggs on. It was not egg-season when we were there.) This was located way in the northeast corner of Panama and we had to travel for 10 hours to get there and take a boat trip to get out to the island. The area we were in was called Bocas del Torro (because the island looks like a bull's head) and this part of Panama faced out to the Caribbean Ocean. It was beautiful! We went dolphin watching! Bad part is I got sick while here >_<. And most random encounter! I met a Rastafarian! I was going back to the room to take a much-needed nap when I passed a room in which a black man with dreadlocks was coming out of. He said 'hola' to me and I said 'hello' back and then he said "oh! you speak English," and this is what started our conversation. He was a nice guy and we just talked about why we were there (he was apparently doing some research on Marcus Garvey). I asked where he was from and he said he's from Panama from Bocas del Torro, but he lived a few years in the US (and where he learned to speak English) but he also lived a few years in Taiwan. We also spoke about China and it's economic rise (he was very impressed that I knew how many people have been raised out of poverty lol). It was just such a random encounter and he was so chill like how people might imagine a Rastafarian to be (or at least me). He also said he did not smoke marijuana (we got on that topic because I mentioned I was from Oregon and he was like "that's close to Washington. I don't smoke, but I heard they legalized marijuana"). So just lettin' people know, not all Rastafarians smoke :P. My cousins saw me talking to him and later on they checked up on me asking who that was and if I was alright and I had to assure them we started talking because we both spoke English.
I think I'm definitely the most approachable one in my immediate family because no way would my parents ever talk to this guy.
Anyway, by far my most favorite place was Hotel Escondido in Boquete, a lovely town in the highlands of Panama. The resort was so lush and pretty with a stream running through it! The landscape architecture was so pretty with curving paths throughout so wandering through the resort felt kind of like an adventure. This was also my favorite place because we visited a coffee plantation and I learned a lot about coffee and a little about local politics.
A lot of US retirees have recently discovered Boquete and are buying up homes and building gated communities in the area because the climate there is very nice and the fact that Panama uses US currency also probably helps. The standard of living is also not as good in the US so things are a little cheaper- BUT the cost is going up because of all the rich retirees buying homes and vacation homes in the area. This has created some conflict with the locals because land and property values are going up so much that some locals can't even afford to live there anymore. Every year, Panama is producing less coffee because the land value is worth more than growing coffee so coffee growers are selling their land, which causes a dip in the local economy. Indicative of this is I Googled "boquete" to make sure I would spell it right and about the 5th hit down was information on buying a house in Boquete. Some of the search suggestions that came up were "boquete real estate" and "boquete rentals." I feel really bad for the local people that have to deal with all these rich people flocking to their town and developers buying up all the coffee lands, but it's a complex situation. Perhaps the bubble will burst and the gated communities will revert back to coffee plantations.
SO ABOUT COFFEE. The plantation we visited is part of Cafe Ruiz, a Panamanian coffee company run by senor Ruiz and his family. Our tour guide said that Mr. Ruiz and his family do not ever want to sell their land. Mr. Ruiz is 91 years old and yet he still visits his plantations everyday and walks the fields. He also drinks his own coffee (lol). And what's even more adorable, his house is right across the parking lot from his packaging facility and coffee shop ^_^. I saw Mr. Ruiz when he was outside and I took a picture. He does not look 91! It also sounds like it's a fair trade company and the tour guide was also a plantation worker and he sounded like he had a lot of pride in the quality of coffee that Cafe Ruiz makes. They do sell internationally and it's sold at Stumptown! This is where I need to insert a macro image because I don't always drink coffee, but when I do, it's Cafe Ruiz. I just got the feeling that it was a very smartly run company that cares about it's workers, make a very good product, and care about the environment. The tour guide said they have a lot biodiversity on the plantations and select fruit trees that encourage birds and insects so they'll come and pollinate the plantation.
And yes, I did get to taste some coffee. Apparently, you're not suppose to drink coffee with cream and sugar. The tour guide said, if you have to add cream and sugar, it's a sign you don't like the taste and you're drinking bad coffee. Also, more bitter the coffee does not mean it's stronger- it's just bitter coffee. Also, Starbucks is a coffee company for people that don't like coffee (lol). There are also several ways to make coffee. Instant coffee is also made from the bad beans. It's also best to buy the roasted beans so you can see what you're getting and store them in the freezer when you're not going to grind and drink them. It takes about 600 pounds of raw, unprocessed beans to make 1 pound of roasted beans. Taste of the coffee can also differ. I thought all coffee tasted the same- BOY WAS I WRONG. Some hits your tongue and you can immediately taste the acidity but it's smooth going down, some are smooth at first but a little citrisy going down, and some are even a little sweet and floral. A coffee tasting is also a lot like a wine tasting. It was just so very interesting and I really hope Panama continues to produce coffee even if Cafe Ruiz is the last Panamanian coffee producer. And for my coffee drinking friends, I would encourage you guys to seek out Cafe Ruiz coffee and support an environmentally-conscience and fair-trade company. I will admit, it is expensive and definitely a premium and gourmet coffee, but it's really good.