The fair has come to town!
Depending upon who you are, this is either a wonderful event or something to avoid.
The Fair Has
We Always Enjoy The Fair. This is a 2010 Fair Photo.If you visit Puerto Armuelles this weekend, you will hear the fair until the wee hours.
We have kids, so we will be going.
We always have a good time. I particularly enjoy the bumper cars and browsing the stalls.
The San Antionio de Padua fair is much bigger than the Fair that comes to Puerto Armuelles in March.
Maybe we will see you at the fair on Sunday.
Then we dropped down to David to do some shopping before heading back home to Puerto Armuelles.
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Have you been zip lining before?
March 23, 2013
David Fair A Good Place To Look At Cows & RelaxThere are many many cows on display.
Awards are given for the largest cows and bulls.
With steady climb in cattle prices lately the owners of these cows are feeling very wealthy.
Not only are cattle prices increasing but the agricultural land that they graze on is also going up in price. However, the price of cattle is not the main reason for the increase in agricultural land prices.
The quest for land for palm oil plantations is fueling the price increases. Many investors are looking to make money in the soaring palm oil trade, especially now that your trees can produce oil in 2 to 3 years instead of the former 7 years of the older and taller oil producing palm trees.
Horses and equestrian events are also popular at the fair. It is a good place to be a cowboy.
There are not only displays of all the agriculture in Panama, but many vendors of all sorts of flowers and plants. It is a good place to get a wide variety of plants for your yard and vegetable garden.
The Fair is also a great place to visit for crafts of all sorts. Panama is not a place overflowing with crafts. However, you can find them at the fair. Crafts, paintings, hammocks, hand made chairs, and more are for sale at the David fair. In fact there are so many vendors this year that all the rides were consolidated across the street from the main fair.
Of course, a fair has to have rides. That is the main reason my children clamor to go to the fair. There are also rides on ponies and cows for young children . If you want to go on the rides, keep in mind that the rides don't start until late in the afternoon.
There is also a place to view a wide variety of animals and birds, not just those that live in Panama. The fair used to have 3 ostriches on display. Those have "disappeared" in the last 2 years. There are also lots of animals native to Panama on display like margays, and a variety of tropical birds.
Technically the fair is over on Sunday night. However, if you are looking to buy plants you can usually do so on Monday morning.
Oh, there is also alot of music at the fair. It is a party every night of its 10 day run. We usually leave before the partying starts but for many that is when they arrive.
It costs $2 to attend on the weekends, $1 if you are retired Admission is free if you are under 8 years old.
The David Fair is definitely worth a visit.
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Hi, this is Betsy at LivingInPanama.org. I was on the Puerto Armuelles Yahoo group the other day and found some great aerial photos of our town in Panama, Puerto Armuelles. The gentleman who took the photos graciously gave me permission to make a video using them, which you are seeing right now. The photos were taken from a two-person trike, like this one right here.
This is Norm. He's the person who took these photos, and he came down from Arizona to give a flying lesson to Paul. You can see Paul, or a little bit of Paul, sitting in front of Norm as they're taking off. You know Paul. He lives in David, or it could be in Boquete. I can't quite remember. I only see him when he's down here in Puerto Armuelles. He comes down here from time to time to fly his various aircraft at the airstrip.
Here they are going up in the air, gliding along the coastline right around Puerto Armuelles. What is unusual, you wouldn't think so in a country like Panama with so many coastlines, but it is really quite unusual to have a town right on the coast here in Panama.
Here you can see part of the town, the hills of Punta Burica in the background there. Here's a really nice bird's eye view of Puerto Armuelles. Here's the old Chiquita Banana pier. You can see it right there. It just comes right out of the downtown area. This is downtown.
There's Carmen neighborhood and beyond it San Vicente and, of course, the hills of Punta Burica there in the background. He must have turned north, because this is the neighborhood of Rio Mar in the northeastern part of town. You can see the ball field that Chiquita West uses.
You should know, in Panama, including Puerto Armuelles, they take baseball very seriously. There are actually quite a few baseball stadiums here in Puerto.
Here we are heading back over downtown Puerto Armuelles. This is the downtown area in the foreground and the bigger buildings. This is the waterfront park, and there's another park right across the street from it, and over here is the playground, which they just recently renovated, so it's looking pretty nice. You can see again that this is the banana pier, Carmen and San Vicente in the background, and there's the airfield here and other neighborhoods, like right here is Las Palmas, and that's where I am right now in my house making this recording.
Here they came in for a closer view along the waterfront. That's the waterfront park I was telling you about. Here's a little place that we often go have laquatos, sort of smoothies. This is the bus station right there, and if you continue along, you can go to a sports bar called Tisa Mar, which is, as the name implies, a very nice place to watch sporting events on TV. It also has great views on either side here. Sometimes from this area you can see the volcano, Baru, the one that's between Volcan and Boquete from here.
Now they're coming back toward the airstrip, and this is the neighborhood of Carmen. If you were on the ground, you would see that there are colorful row houses up on stilts. It's right along the ocean on this side, and on the other side of it is the great, big open space that people use for myriad of uses right along the airstrip.
Here you are approaching the airfield, and we see the old Chiquita Banana warehouses here. These are the hills, not on Punta Burica, but right outside of Puerto right beyond there. I believe this is the warehouse that a friend of ours, Rex, makes sports boats out of.
Here's the first approach of the runway for a visual check. A visual check is a very important thing as you're coming in to this runway because one never knows, there could be horses or bicyclists. Lots of people exercise here or a soccer game or baseball game, and there's even a 9-hole golf course that's played in the area around and including the airfield. You can see an old banana pier downtown. It's just out of site there.
Now they're going down into the final approach on the trike, and now we have touchdown. Here the firemen, bombeiros, from the firehouse right here are coming. There are a number of firehouses. This is the one right next to the air strip. They came out to check out this pretty cool deal. Both my husband, Ren, and I really want to go up on, so we're going to try contact Paul to make sure that can happen.
If you want to learn how to fly a trike, give Norm a shout at iflytrikes.com. If you want to find out about living in Panama, Puerto Armuelles, or real estate listings here, please visit us at LivingInPanama.org. Thanks for watching.
To find out more about Puerto Armuelles, start here.
February 16, 2013
A Magical Morning Of KayakingI was so happy Robin invited me to go kayaking on Saturday.
It was a beautiful day.
We started at Robin and Diana's house in the Cucuy neighborhood of Puerto Armuelles, Panama
Robin has an old shipping container filled with his sporting gear. It is crowded with kayaks for every occasion.
We took out two of his single sea kayaks and walked them to the beach.
It was a short walk.
There must have been a sardine run. I have never seen so many Pelicans in one place.
I wasn't able to take a photo of the "islands" of pelicans on the ocean. It is hard to juggle a camera while kayaking in the Ocean. It is too bad, Pelicans are my favorite bird.
I did get a shot of Pelicans roosting in a tree by the river (see below).
The ocean portion of our paddle was short.
We soon turned and entered the river mouth of Rio Palo Blanco. (I have a map showing the location of the river in the photos at the bottom of the page)
The transition from the ocean to the river was tricky. It had been awhile since I had kayaked.
It is embarrassing to admit, I capsized. Thankfully, it happened in shallow water and I easily recovered.
The river crosses the highway not far outside of Puerto Armuelles. We didn't make it all the way to the highway. The water level is too low this time of year.
The light and the peace and quiet on the river was magical. There were so many different kinds of shore birds to exclaim over and discuss. Some of what we saw are in the photos below.
I came back resolved to buy myself a sea kayak of some sort so I can enjoy these outings more often. If only I could get my kids excited about it too.
I returned to my house just 3 hours after I left.
It was hard to believe. It felt like I had visited another world.
Robin writes about a much more recent kayaking adventure in Boca Chica Panama here
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Robin organized the trip.
A couple he knows, Annie & Danny, own a finca (farm/ranch) in the hills behind Puerto Armuelles. They live on the ranch some of the year, but live in town during the school year. They have caretakers and other workers take care of the ranch during the school year.
We gathered at Annie and Danny's house in San Vicente, where they also have a horse stable. From there we rode down the street a short way to the beach.
Then we veerred onto a wooded trail, for another short jaunt.
We headed up the river, up and down paths, we crossed streams a few times. Heading up and to the west/northwest.
I'd been that way on horseback before, but not for awhile.
Before we knew it we had arrived at Annie's finca. I think it only took us about an hour to get there, maybe less.
Already, I knew I would be sore the next day. I don't do much horseback riding these days.
A snack and then a hike.
The first hill was the steepest. We lost a couple of people who had expected to do a hike. It was a pretty steep hill to do in Converse All-stars.
After that, althougth we keept going up and up, it wasn't quite as steep. We went through cow pastures and enjoyed the views.
It was even better when we went as high as we could. .
This Photo Shows Only A Section Of Our ViewWe could even see Puerto Armuelles. We could pick out our friend Liz and Ron's house in Las palmas neighborhood.
We headed back down after drinking in the sight.
At the farm house we ate lunch and were asked if we wanted to milk a cow.
Como no. Why not!
I had never milked one before. It is much harder than it looks. I barely got out a stream.
But Annie could make the milk bucket sing with the streaming jets of milk.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMK9ecoN70[/youtube]
Then came by daughter's favorite part of the trip.
She really wanted to gallop. Her, my, and Robin's horse obliged.
We had a blast. When we could we encouraged our steeds to go as fast as they could.
We had streams to cross, a few patches of mud and varying terrain. So were always able to go a speed, but when we could we did.
It really was very fun. My daughter was thrilled.
The gallop down the beach was particularly wonderful.
Next time, I think we will organize a trip with more time on the beach.
For more on Puerto Armuelles Panama, click here.
December 31, 2012
In Panama, any holiday is considered the perfect day to enjoy friends, family, eating, and drinking - lots of drinking.
Dinner traditionally includes:
The whole family gathers to enjoy each other and to wait for midnight to arrive.
The sound of fireworks announces the midnight hour.
Then, family members embrace each other and enjoy the dinner they have prepared.
After dinner, people visit and/or call each other until the wee hours.
The young people often go out to the bars and clubs. On New Year's Eve (and during the holidays) the Zanahoria law is suspended.
The Zanahora law dictates that bars close at 3:00 am.
However, the party is just part of the New Year rituals and traditions of Panama.
Panama has a number of interesting and unique New Year rituals and traditions.
Please comment or ask questions below.
November 25, 2012
Drop On By The Tsunami Inn in Puerto Armuelles
While there are some places to rent, there are very few hotel options.
Thankfully, Scott and Bob have solved the problem of "where to stay".
They have opened a delightful hotel in Puerto Armuelles.
It is located by the beach in the San Vicente neighborhood.
The Tsunami Inn is a small hotel with:
Please tell them that Betsy and Reyn sent you.
If you are looking at property in Puerto as well, make sure you give us a call.
Reyn gives a killer tour of Puerto Armuelles and can answer all your questions.
August 29, 2012
Enjoy Free Music in Boquete Every Month Thru FebruaryOn the second Sunday of each month there will be a free concert in Boquete.
It is put on by the Boquete Jazz & Blues Foundation as a lead up to their annual festival in February 2013.
Click for our experience at the 2015 Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival
September 9th, October 14th, November 11th, December 9th, January 13th, and Feburary 10th.
Music will range from Salsa, Bossa Nova, Reggae, Merengue to Latin Jazz and Blues.
I will definately check it out if I am in Boquete.
My daughter and I need to go there to see someone about a dog.
Maybe I'll make that visit for September 9th.
The series actually started on August 12th.
Did anyone go?
How was it?
Please share your experience at one of the free concerts in the comments below.
Thanks.
