Susie and Corey in Panama: Part 1

In March my mom and Corey visited me in Panama and my mom was kind enough to write two blog posts about their experiences. We had an absolutely wonderful time. She told me it was her second favorite trip of all time. (I encourage anyone who has not visited me to visit!) Presented below is the first blog she wrote. Look for blog two in a couple days.

Scott and I in Panama City

We started the trip in Panama City where we dined with Scott and a handful of other Peace Corps Volunteers: Coy, Omar, Moiz, Adam, and Natalie. They were in town for medical reasons or for PCV meetings. Entering the trip we had only decided the destinations we wanted to visit. We left the transportation details for later, after arriving in Panama. Looking at all the pros and cons of renting an auto, flying, and taking public transportation, we decided the best way to travel across Panama would be to incorporate some of each mode. We rented an auto in Panama City and drove west to five hours to Tolé, the jumping off point to Scott´s site. The vehicle was stored there at a friend’s house for a couple days while we hiked into Scott’s site, his home for the past 18 months. (More on this experience in blogpost two).

A large ship passing through the Panama Canal

A truck we passed on our way to Tolé. How the pineapple stay in place is a mystery

From Tolé we drove to Soloy to visit Jack, a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, in his site. Jack set us up for a half day experience there. His role is to help facilitate economic growth in his community, primarily working to increase tourism. The day started with a traditional meal prepared for lunch. This included a tasty bowl of chicken broth with local root vegetables, a chicken leg, and rice. Later we watched a fascinating demonstration of how chacras (crocheted bags from plant leaves) were constructed by a mother/daughter team. This is a craft that is slowly dying as the younger generation is failing to learn it. They will have to make an effort to retain this art, just as they do to preserve the Ngäbe-Bugle language.

Demonstration of chakra making in Soloy

In the afternoon we drove to Las Lajas – THE BEACH! This beach is the best kept secret I have come across while traveling anywhere. It was here that Scott managed to drag a few other PCV’s from their exhaustive work to join us for a little R&R: Jack, Laura, Jess, Carolyn, and Kayla. They were elated to have a room with a bed and shower, which all of six of them shared. After hearing the “bed bug” stories from the huts they stayed at during a previous trip to this beach we were extremely happy to provide them a room with delicious food.

Our friendly chocolate tour guides in Adam´s site

From Las Lajas we drove  West to David, where we dropped off the rental car and took the public bus four hours  North to Bocas del Toro. The bus stops at the end of the road on the Carribbean coast in a town called Almirante. From there we took a water taxi to Bocas del Toro´s main island. While there we visited Adam’s site (another PCV) and had an amazing cacao plantation/enterprise. Like Jack (in Soloy), Adam’s role is to also facilitate community economic growth. The cacao plantation was very sophisticated and quite different from what we experienced in Scott’s site. When I asked Scott how long it would be before his community could fathom such an enterprise, Scott responded that it’s at least twenty years away from being any sort of marketable tourist destination. The people in Scott’s community are doing what they can just to survive with the resources they have on their land.

Corey enjoying the boatride to Bocas Island

After our stay in Bocas, we flew to Panama City for one night before departing home to the US. We met and dined with more Peace Corps Volunteers: Charles, Andrea and her visiting friend, John.

The Peace Corps Volunteers were a wonderful cosmos of people. They are still learning so much about each other and at the same time refer fondly to fellow PCV’s as if they’d known them for years. Their bond obviously stems from the common thread they all identify with. I would venture to say that because they share this extreme existence, they are equally less apt to be critical of others.