PORTASOL & MANUEL ANTONIO

A few days ago, we went up the road from where we are staying, to an eco development called Portasol. 630+ hectares of mountains and forest with a beautiful river with swimming holes and a couple of waterfalls. Looked at a few pieces of land and quite liked this one with lots of trees, a gentle slope and a limited sea view.

 

Manuel, an ex-Mocambiquan Portuguese, the owner of the lodge, took us into Quepos to meet Allan, who owns a stunningly-situated hotel in Manual Antonio, along with 4 restaurants and a functions venue. He was very informative and helpful and gave us a lot of his time – really a valuable contact for the future.

View from the pool deck at the hotel

We've been back to Dominical and are liking it much more than our first visit. We met a lovely South African couple a few days ago and we had lunch together at a restaurant there – one of the best cheese and bacon burgers I have ever had – a real treat! :)

 

Yesterday we went to a beach in Manual Antonio next to the Nature Reserve– really lovely – nice breakers for body surfing and a lot of guys out on boogie and surfboards.

 

Almost all the beaches we have been to have been stunning - just wish the water was 3 or 4 degrees colder!

STARTING OFF IN COSTA RICA

On Sunday we flew from Panama City to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. Stayed at a great hotel in a self catering unit. Went for a walk to the local park across the way whilst waiting for our car to be delivered to the hotel. Hundreds of people enjoying the really pleasant weather – having picnics, jogging, cycling etc – there was even a best dressed Chihuahua competition! Very impressed with how clean everything was – recycling bins all over the place.

  

We then picked up our car and headed out of San Jose towards Quepos. Our Self-catering unit was around 20 k's outside it and where we were basing ourselves for the next week. Got there around 4:30 unpacked and relaxed. The next day we drove along the coast to Dominical – a real “hippy” ,(sorry for showing my age) cool spot. Some people camping under the trees along the beach, all trying to make a living selling handicrafts, clothing etc. Hostels, surf schools, yoga classes, massages on the beach, little “sodas” - a bit of everything. Saw an interesting rock outcrop along the coast and decided to drive further along to see if we could reach it. Found the little “town” of Dominicalito (little Dominical) with a little dirt road leading to the beach.

The beach at Dominical

 

Our Daihatsu Bego 4WD for the next four weeks....

We then drove back to Quepos for lunch at a restaurant on the shore serving really great Costa Rican food and then a drive back to La Palapa where we are staying.

Part of the view from our lunch spot

Beautiful little bay at the end of the road in Quepos

On Tuesday we went to Uvita along the coast which is famous for its "whales tail" - a narrow strip of land when exposed at low tide, connects to a rock formation offshore. It's a national park and about a 20 min walk from the office to the tail. Did a bit of snorkelling - saw quite a few fish, but the visibilty wasn't great.
Quite a nice little town - its even got an interior design store, which was closed when we were there. Will definitely go back to this area to what rentals are available.

Looking back from the tail towards the mainland

Snorkelled along the rocks further out on the RHS

A TINY TOWN CALLED LA CONCEPCION

On our second last day in Panama, travelling back towards the City, we turned in at a little town called Pocri and then found the road down to the beach and came to a tiny little town called La Concepcion. It faces a large bay with some rocks and immediately, Gail and I loved it! Quaint little houses along the beaches and fishing boats on the beach – almost totally deserted on a Saturday!

  

We even found a semi-completed “soda” which is a traditional building that is a bar and restaurant serving local food – what a great spot for a beach-front restaurant! And there's a plot next door for a little guest house. Pipe dreams perhaps, but it's fun!

Not a bad sea view!

LAS TABLAS AND LAS UVERITA

On Sunday, Bonnie took us to Las Tablas which is  about  10 minutes  away to see a 90 ft ketch which a friend had been  working on  but he was  away.  Looked around the  little  fishing  harbour and then drove to Las  Uveritas for a couple of cold ones and a bowl of ceviche!

The little fishing fleet moored in the river at Puerto de Mensabe

The ketch still needing some work

Tried posting a video, but it takes ages to load and no means of resizing it.
Apologies for the short post!

VARIOUS PICS I'VE FORGOTTEN TO POST!

Having both a camera and cellphone, I'm getting forgetful as to which images are filed where and not having my laptop with my filing system in place, doesn't make it any easier! So here's a variety of pics from the past week in Panama - hope you enjoy.

The first three are of a "bongo" tree situated down the road from us. I checked it out on google and wiki and this local name seems incorrect, so unfortunately, I'm not sure of the species. It's hard to believe it's only 150 yrs old - as you can see, it really is enourmous!
The guy - he's on the extreme rhs in the last pic - on who's farm it's on was really friendly and asked us to join him for a beer - being such a hot day, I just HAD to accept ;)

Our host on the right and then Gail, Alan & Carmen

The next pics shows the beautiful church in Las Tablas, about 8 mins away.

The next pics are for Des and Terry - fishermen at Bull Beach, Pedasi bringing in the catch of the day - red snapper and I think a kingfish?

The last two are from Playa los Destiladeros in Pedasi - a really stunning beach!

Just found some more! 
Traditional folk dancing by kids at the local museum in Guarare.

Really liked this old chair standing outside!

DOWN THE COAST TO PEDASI

This morning  Bonnie  arranged for  us to meet up with a  couple  nearby  who own  a house in Pedasi which is  near  completion. Allan's originally from NYC and he'said married to Carmen  who's Panamanian. Allan speaks  Spanish and served as our translator as Carmen, who has  an extensive  knowledge  of the  area, only  speaks Spanish.

We drove down to Pedasi to look at their  nearly  completed home which is  situated  close to a stunning  beach  - easily the most  beautiful  we've  seen in  Panama.

Man, my 2 week  old  laptops hard packed  up  2 days ago - been  trying to get  it fixed ever  since.  Seems like  we're  going to have to  fly back to the States.........😣
So I'm  trying to  write  this  blog on  my phone. We  then went to really  beautiful resort  near by and then visited another beach. Really  nice area  but too humid and a bit  remotr.

Solid  teak  bath

Everything  has been  beautifully  designed with  wonderful  attention to detail. Got back around  5 and  had a salad at the casa.

GOING DOWN THE PAN AM TO PLAYA EL PUERTO DE GUARARE

On Thursday morning we headed off from Playa Corona down the road to Puerto de Guarare - our next stop for a few days. One thing that has stood out all over Panama are the trees - there are some magnificent specimens all over. Since the easter weekend is over, the traffic flows really smoothly on the Pan-am which is an amazing road - 48 000km in length from  Prudhoe Bay, U.S. to Ushuaia, Argentina.

Some beautiful scenery along the way although this is the driest time of year. Our little cabana is situated right above the beach and although it's rustic, we love it.

Not the best swimming beach so just went for a walk along the beach and then had a great fish super of sea bass (which we shared - wimps that we are!)

Beautiful avenue of trees on the ay to our accommodation

This morning I broke a tooth while brushing!!!!! our host promptly arranged or me to go to a dentist who speaks some english, in Chitre - a fairly big town about 30 mins away.  really impressed with him and withing 45 mins I had a temp filling. If it holds and I have do discomfort, I can avoid a root canal and an inlay! On the way back, stopped at the beautiful church in the middle of Chitre. Then drove to a little town on the way back and had one of Gailie's great samies overlooking a little fishing beach.

The church in Chitre

 

The little fishing village of El Rompio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then back "home" for a swim and then went to the little local museum where there was a photo graphic exhibition and a display of local dancing by children which was really cute. 

Something that we have seen in all the towns we have visited and cannot understand, are the amount of derelict and abandoned properties RIGHT ON THE BEACH FRONT sitting right alongside really upmarket homes.  The pic below isn't the best example, but it shows the little guest house where we are currently staying and the property right next door.

Caio for now!