Let's All Sing Like the Birdies SIng

This will be my bird (and animal) blog. I'll post the photos and add the identifications as I confirm from my bird book. Brian, thank you for my Chanukah gift of a Birds of Panama book. Jeff, my sweetie, bought me the same book just before we left as well as one for Costa Rica - I am a lucky gal.

 

First bird seen. Probably a Great-tailed Grackle or Giant Cowbird.

  

Immature Tiny Hawk? Heard he has been eating the stray cats near our condo.

 

Egret sitting in our tree.

Tropical Kingbird

Boat Billed Flycatcher

House Wren

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Tropical Mockingbird

Pale Vented Pigeon

Clay Colored Thrush?

Tropical Kingbird

Black and Yellow Tanager?

Palm Tanager

Blue Gray Tanager

Black and Yellow Tanager

Male and Female Tanagers

Flame-Colored Tanager (Male)

Flame-colored Tanager (Female)

Green Violet-ear Hummingbird

Magnificent Hummingbird (Male)

Collared Redstart

Collared Trogon (Female)

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Blue-headed Parrot

Spectacled Owl

Hawk/Kestrel/Harrier

Glass Wing Butterfly

Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair

Flowers are the thing today. Waking up to another sunny, warm day here in Paradise. I could hear birds chirping and looked outside to see a hawk sitting in a nearby tree. Lots of bird photos followed which I will put in another blog entry.

This week is the Flower and Cafe Festival and we are on our way. We arrived just before opening time of 11:00 and luckily found a parking space on the street. A short downhill walk took us to the entrance. Tickets are $1.00 for seniors and no ID required which I find sad that no one questions that I am a senior. The flower area and adjacent fairgrounds are all ablaze with color and craft booths. There are more booths on the street and carnival rides in an adjacent lot.

Inside I am loving the gorgeous displays of begonias, marigolds, roses, geraniums, daisies, salvia and many more colorful blooms. The beds are sponsored by companies and include large ceramic frogs, butterflies, turtles and more wildlife that stay here year round.

Jeff met up with a kindred spirit

We walked around and met two different English speaking couples who live here in Boquete. We got some tips on where to buy groceries, best restaurants, pharmacies and weather. One couple explained that the huge stadium are adjacent to the flower area is actually a disco. They said it is quite a party and goes on until 4:00 in the morning. Later I met our neighbors who said they could hear the music last night and we live miles away.

Lots of food booths were opening now and I tried a coconada which is best described as a big, round macaroon. Comes in several flavors mixed with coconut and corn flakes and I liked it a lot.

Time for lunch and we decided to not eat "junk food" and headed a few blocks into town.We went to Big Daddy's which is noted for its fish tacos. Neither of us had them, but will the next time. I had a bowl of vegetarian (bean) chili over rice with cheese. Really filling and good. Jeff had a shrimp po boy that was loaded with shrimp and nice tomatoes and a remoulade sauce. We sat outside and watched the world go by and enjoyed just being alive and well.

Next up was the interviews at our Spanish school. We have signed up for 20 hours of lessons starting on Monday. Well go from 1 to 5 every afternoon next week. We were both pathetic at the intake and sure we'll be in the most basic beginner's class.

After a ride in the countryside we returned home. Jeff is napping while I am typing this. I did meet our neighbors and found out where the trash goes which is very important (mas importante.)

 Highlight and click on the link to see a video of the festival.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RWQNHxUkdU&feature=youtu.be

Country Road

Take to the Highway....

Woke up to another sunny day

and headed out on the Pan America Highway. There was road work most of the way which slowed us down as there was one lane in each direction. Our hotel was near the town of Santiago and we drove into the shopping district to get SIM cards for our phones. We found a bustling town with a few blocks jam packed with small stores and lots of shoppers. Luckily we found a parking space and a very helpful gal who sold and installed our cards and data plans. Now we are ready to tackle the world with working cell phones.

We had no time to explore, but did ride by this stunning church at the end of the business street.

We drove and drove and finally got to David. This is the second largest city in Panama and just 30 minutes from Boquete. It is almost 100 degrees! We had been driving in total wilderness with no gas stations or towns. We did ride behind this truck with cows for a while and they were interesting.

For lunch we decided to go native at Friday's!

After lunch we hit the supermarket 99 to get a start on groceries. Quite the challenge when everything is in Spanish. We spent a bit of time in the tuna fish aisle making sure we had the white tuna. Here they have tuna in water, oil with corn, with vegetables and more. A difficult decision to get plain in water. Jeff used his translator to see what the labels said and the photo of the huge choices in the rice aisle tells us we are not in Kansas anymore.

We finally got to Boquete about 4:30 and thrilled to find our condo is gorgeous! I will post pictures tomorrow. It is totally modern with granite, tile bathrooms and a terrific kitchen. The cable TV is disappointing as no CNN. The only English news station subscribed to is FOX. A little trouble with the internet connection, but all will be fixed manana. So we are here, unpacked, fed and ready for bed.

Theme From Zorba the Greek

Woke up to a sunny day at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Tocumen Airport in Panama City. After eating the buffet breakfast we boarded the hotel shuttle to the airport to pick up our rental car. We got a brand new Nissan Sentra and also a surprise. The price quoted did not include the obligatory liability insurance who is in addition to the insurance provided by our credit card. Jeff was very annoyed as he had done so much research, but with no choice we paid and drove back to the hotel to check out.

We drove all day on the Pan America Highway, the only highway in Panama, reducing chances of getting lost. We went on the southern side of Panama City

and then across the Bridge of the Americas. There is a parking area just across the bridge and I got out to look at the canal. It was very low the and mostly mud flats and no water.  Saw one large ship making its way from the Miraflores Locks. Not a busy morning.

Continued west along the highway dotted with little towns that are not much more than a few streets and some businesses and small industry. During a traffic jam we saw this guy selling churros complete with dipping sauce packaged in plastic bags. Reminded me of the pretzel sellers on Roosevelt Boulevard in NE Philadelphia.

We stopped for lunch at an upscale restaurant in a modern strip mall. Tried in vain to buy SIM cards for our phones and finally gave up. We now have an address for a phone store and will try again tomorrow. Lots of grass, trees and some cows along the way.

After 5:00 we arrived in Santiago and our Hotel Mykonos. A little bit of Greece right here in Panama. It is four years old, modern and very attractive. We were surprised at the lovely and large lobby. Luckily a bell hop handled our luggage as we found out there is no elevator for the second floor room that we had requested. This could never happen in the US. A large swimming pool and grounds occupies the center of the property with the rooms in buildings along each side. I sat outside for a while enjoying the warm weather and fresh air.

Later we had dinner in the onsite restaurant. Again it was beyond what we expected and the food was good. It can be difficult when the wait staff speaks no English. I knew I was in trouble when our waitress brought me two different bowls of soup and never brought Jeff's salad. Hopefully our upcoming Spanish lessons will help these situations.

Back in the room we tried to get an English language channel on the TV and that didn't work out so well. No news for me tonight. Better that I go to sleep so we can get up, get our phone cards and make it to Boquete early in the day.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Oh, our bags are packed,
we're ready to go...

Off on another adventure. We fly out soon to Panama to begin six weeks of living in a foreign country. It should be wonderful to really eat, sleep, and socialize with locals. Our Spanish lessons start on Monday and that will help immensely. Looking for many birds including the elusive quetzal. Between Panama and Costa Rica I hope to see one and a toucan in the wild will be wonderful too.

Nosotros estamos en Panama. We are here in Panama. Flights were on time and smooth. It is 3 1/2 hours from Atlanta. We got our luggage and breezed through customs. A new twist here as tourists are fingerprinted. There was a US Embassy employee at baggage claim and he told me that there are lots of new rules to make the country safer. We waited about a minute when the hotel shuttle pulled up and whisked us off. Now we are happily in our ultra modern room at the Crowne Plaza enjoying the comfy bed with internet and cool bottled waters.