New Panama City photo round-up: Settling In

                         
    Well, we've been residents of Panama City for almost 3 weeks now, and it's starting to feel like home. We've been bemoaning the sad deficiency of Van Halen songs on our iPod -- specifically their classic "Panama."

Davi Lee Roth sings in "Panama:" "Yeah, we're runnin' a little bit hot tonight.
You can barely see the road from the heat comin' on..."

 But to distract us from the heat, we've been learning about the country. There is alot of history and very old architecture here. The Spanish Conquistador Balboa was the very first European to see the Pacific Ocean, and he did it on the shores of Panama. In 1513 he landed his boat on the Atlantic side, bushwacked the 60 miles across the Panama Isthmus, took one look at the Pacific Ocean and proclaimed words which would be hilarious if they weren't so horrifying, considering what the next several hundred years of European colonialism would bring:

"In the name of the Spanish Crown, I take into possession this ocean, and all it's shores and lands and borders."

     Geez. Not even a "please" or a "thank-you."  Well, alrighty then... :-/



 Anyway, he saw the Pacific Ocean, and figured this looked pretty muy bueno so he built himself a ship and headed on up to Southern California, where I guess he discovered Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula.

"In the name of the Spanish Crown, I want a chocolate covered frozen banana,
and I wanna eat it on an old fashioned ferris wheel!" And as it was so decreed, it was so done.

Another storm brews over the Panamanian islands

       This was our view as we zig-zagged through the countless tankers coming and going at the entrance to the Panama Canal when we first arrived. But we weren't scared, having trained in and around the LA/Long Beach/San Pedro Harbor, one of the largest in the world.


    Compared to other Latin American cities, drivers here in Panama City are very aggressive. Especially the taxi drivers.

This cab driver figured if ONE pine-scented car deodorizer is good, then 21 is better.
Sadly, I think he wasted his hard earned money.

       This cab driver watched Jennifer Lopez videos on the console during the long drive out into the rain forest to get our propane tanks filled. Editorial comment: How in the hell are these car video screens even legal?  Let alone playing videos of scantily-clad saucy latinas bumping and grinding? It's a miracle that we're all still alive at all... (sigh)

    We were a bit started to see this thing lying on the dock not far from our slip, which looks suspiciously like a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile.  We're staying away from it...and hoping IT doesn't get struck by lightning!

We loved this adorable little nino in the market, helping Mom out with the groceries.
 He's got his priorities straight: diapers and chow...and in a Panama hat, no less!  :-) 

We've been surprised to see that much of the produce here comes from the good 'ol USA!

    And there's another thing that there's lots of here from the USA: expats. Tens of thousands of them. They've been very kind and welcoming to us.

Our friend Sherman gives Chris a sweet ride

      Another new friend Carolina invited us to a delicious lunch in her top-floor penthouse downtown. There is definitely a spirit of warmth and hospitality here that you generally do not feel right away in the states -- at least in Southern California, anyway. So we're pretty much pinching ourselves...

The amazing view from Carolina's penthouse downtown

    Well, that's it for now. More later. Looks like getting struck by lightning is not so bad after all...

Why me?

                        "If you can't help us, God -- then at least leave us alone!"

                                                                 -- Randy Newman

Espiritu rests innocently in the Panama City anchorage, not long before she was struck by lightning

               

    Well, it's been almost two weeks since Espiritu was struck and gravely wounded by lightning. We're working with our insurance company and are in the early stages of assessing the damage and determining what can be replaced, what can be repaired, etc.

 There were 50+ boats in the anchorage -- including several ketches with two masts (theoretically doubling their chance of getting struck).  But apparently our number was up (and that of our friends aboard Swift Current, who suffered collateral damage).

  We're safe and relatively comfortable. We're in the Flamenco marina in near 100% humidity, with little or no breeze to speak of. And we have no idea how long we'll be here. Weeks? Months? Or longer?

 And yes, it is hot. Two of our fans were blown out by the strike. As they say in New Zealand: "Eeeets a SCOACHAH!"    I say this pretty much every day, several times a day.  'Drenched in sweat 30 seconds after bathing' is the new normal.

 When we were in Costa Rica several weeks ago, a group of cruisers were discussing the bad luck of our friends Aaron and Nicole aboard BellaStar, who had recently suffered their own debilitating lightning strike.

 "I think everything happens for a reason..." one of the skippers slurred dramatically after downing several beers.

 I winced, thinking it was kinda bad karma to say such a thing about someone else's misfortune. I also privately wondered if he would be quite so philosophical if it was HIS boat that had been mortally struck.

 I've always been in the camp that says: "Yes. Everything happens for a reason. And the reason we were struck by lightning is because our mast and backstay happened to be in the line of fire of the electrical discharge from the thunderstorm."

 Who really knows?

  My years as a nurse caring for children with cancer pounded home my belief that having grown up upper-middle class with a loving family, faithful friends, good health and a kick-ass education meant that I was pretty damn fortunate. From here on out. Come what may.

 There is so much suffering going on in the world, all day, every day -- by gentle, humble people who shrug, go about their business and quietly play the hand they were dealt, with grace and without complaint. Anyone with eyes to see knows this (And then there are those who don't deal with it so gracefully, as portrayed on "Cops").

 So I confess that I've at times been shocked (traumatic flashback to my own use of the word SHOCKED...too soon...too soon...LOL) when I hear another upper middle class, fairly privileged American express disbelief that someone like THEM would ever get, say, breast cancer, for instance.

"I was shocked that this would happen to me," they would say with absolute conviction. "I'm not supposed to get breast cancer. This is supposed to happen to OTHER people. Why ME?"

YIKES.   Really?  REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!? 

Sigh.

  Many religious traditions teach the idea that all unhappiness is tied to expectations. The thinking goes that if we could only somehow live without any expectations, then we would naturally live in a state of perpetual happiness, because we would always be grateful for what we have.

  So I still feel that since Chris and I were aboard the boat when she was struck and we are still alive, and we have insurance, and we're in a large city with access to every service we may need -- gratitude is the only possible emotion.

 And I know it will be a hard road. We will deal with mild "tropical depressions" (double entendre intended).  Chris and I will need to be gentle with one another.

But in the end, two words that I just can't bring myself to say are "Why me?"

We have no idea where we will be weeks/months from now, where we will sail next (north, south, east or west?) or even if we will continue sailing at all. We may be too pooped to pop after all of the repairs are finally completed (or too broke). We just don't know.

 So here we are. We've met many new friends here in Panama City, and several of them, well meaning all, have responded with the ever-popular: "Well, everything happens for a reason."

 Smile.  There it is. There's just no escaping it. We already feel right at home here in our temporary new hometown. Maybe we will establish relationships here that we will carry to our dying day. Maybe our lives will be changed in ways that we could never imagine or foresee...

Maybe this thing DID happen for a...ah, well. :-)

New photo round-up: Golfito, Costa Rica

Well, it's a few days after our lightning strike and, as Elvis would say, we're "Takin' Care of Business."

We're safely tied to the dock at the Flamenco Marina here in Panama City and we're in the infant stages of assessment, planning and finally repair of our beloved "Espiritu." But I won't bore you with the technical details. This is not that kind of blog.

But what I do have is photos! And I've got quite a backlog. I was all ready to update the blog detailing our adventures of the Pacific Islands of Western Panama a few days ago, when my plans were suddenly and quite rudely, I thought, interrupted by mother nature. The nerve!

Anyway, now I'm back on track. So here goes:

Yet another storm brews in the distance over Golfito, Costa Rica

           

              Our last port of call before leaving Costa Rica was the waterfront town of Golfito.

The charming Banana Bay provided our mooring as well as laundry, showers and internet.
We highly recommend the place!

Golfito is on an estuary that is so flat and calm, it truly felt like we were moored in a tropical mountain lake.
It's a must-stop for all cruisers passing through.

The further south we get, the larget the bugs. Do not even ask me what in the hell this thing is... (yeesh)

If we never make it to the South Pacific, we'll always feel like we got a good taste of it here in Central America

     OK, check this out: what you see in this photo is the complete toothpaste section in one of the moderately sized supermarkets in Golfito. There was only one brand: Colgate. But there are several different "types" of Colgate toothpaste offered -- flouride, whitening, sensitive teeth, etc. -- evidently to give us the illusion of choice. Sorry, we're not fooled, Colgate-Palmolive! It seems multinational corporations have invaded pretty much every little corner of the planet.    :-/

                   This was an interesting site as well in Golfito. The sign advertises a Jewish shoe store. We never could find the store -- which was a bummer because I was very curious to see what Jewish shoes look like!

Maybe all the Zapateria Shalom carries is sneakers?

 Ah, well. That's it for Golfito and Costa Rica. My next post will feature photos of the lovely Islands of Western Pacific Panama.

 XOXO Liz (and Chris)

Shock of a lifetime in Panama

  Well, it happened.

  Chris and I were aboard "Espiritu" on the afternoon of June 28th in the Las Brisas anchorage here in Panama City when the mast was struck by lightning.

The last "carefree" photo of us, taken about 2 hours before the lightning strike at the world famous Balboa Yacht Club

 


          From my vantage point inside the boat looking back into the cockpit, all I saw was a bunch of sparks shooting off the backstay.

     Not a good sign.

    We realized immediately what had happened. We looked at each other, stunned by the realization that our worst fear had materialized: we had been struck by lightning. I stopped, looked around, walked toward Chris, hugged him desperately and whispered:

   "We're still alive."

    Only moments before, Chris had been outside hanging from the rigging as he pulled the dinghy up out of the water for the night.

    The smell of burning electricity permeated the cabin, and we saw smoke. We began pulling up cushions to try to find the source. Two ceiling fans were smoking, so we cut the wires quickly and removed them.

   A short list of what appears to be no longer functioning:  the SSB radio, the VHF radio, the AM/FM/CD player, the chart plotter, the auto-pilot, the windlass, the wind indicator, the masthead light,  the AIS, the shade cover is burned and several other electrical things which lil' ol' me can't spell or pronounce are fried. And this is just for starters.

 Now for the good news:

 1) We have insurance;

2) The Kindle, iPod, laptop, handheld VHF, TV/VCR and cellphone are all functioning;

 3) If this had to happen, it's about the best place to be. Panama City is a gigantic cosmopolitan city with a large nautical core (this is, after all, the entrance to the Panama Canal);

Welcome to Panama City! There's gotta be a WestMarine store here somewhere...

 4) We are under no time constraints at all. We can spend a couple of months here if need be. Not a bad place to hang out for awhile, huh?

 5) The bottom line is, we're alive. We survived a lightning strike!

 It's gonna be a long road, but we'll make it through. We're in good spirits. We knew when we started on this trip that anything could happen. This wasn't on our itinerary, obviously, but it's all part of the adventure.

 The fact is, Espiritu did her job. She took a bullet for us.

 So now Chris and I will do what we can to heal the old girl and nurse her back to health. It's the least we can do for her.

After all, she saved our lives.




   

Getting Real in Costa Rica

Heavenly Bahia Drake, Costa Rica

  

    "I believe that the primary healing of human loneliness and meaninglessness is full contact with reality itself, especially in its concrete forms. But, as T.S. Elliot said, 'Humankind cannot bear very much reality.' What human existence often prefers is highly contrived ways of avoiding the real, the concrete, the physical."     -- Fr. Richard Rohr


 I'm sure some have chided slightly sarcastically that Chris and I have run from reality in our decision to sail south and leave American civilization behind for awhile. 

 This would certainly be an understandable point of view. After all, we are exploring some of the most spectacular natural beauty on God's green earth. 

Espiritu and the tiny mooring fleet at Puntarenas, Costa Rica hunker down for the afternoon's lightning storm

     But I've found that this experience we're having -- and life in Costa Rica itself -- is very, very real. We're not fooling around down here. And neither is Mother Nature. 

   We just found out yesterday that our friends Aaron and Nicole suffered a severe lightning strike to their sailboat home "Bella Star" a few miles north of here.

Nicole and Aaron of Bella Star (on the left) during happier times in El Salvador

      Fortunately they are both fine, but the boat suffered major damage. The thing about lightning -- and about anything "bad" that lurks out there -- it can feel so random. We sit, we hunker down, we wait, we pray to be spared -- and in situations as these, there is truly no control. But we all have to deal with this, don't we? Even you guys up there in the states. 

     In many areas of our lives, we are simply powerless.

     So the further south we get, the road gets narrower. And life gets more and more real.

    We've continued to head south along the Costa Rican coast for the last couple of weeks.

    We spent a night in the anchorage on San Lucas Island where the ghostly remains of an
                Alcatraz-style prison, long closed, sit as a reminder of sad days past.

The shattered remains of the chapel window at the abandoned prison on San Lucas Island, Costa Rica

                       The prison walls are a testament to the sad existence of the prisoners. 
                    This message translates in English says "What misery we have in prison." 

                 It was shocking to find this patch of cacti growing in the midst of a thriving 
              rain forest on San Lucas Island. Cactus is actually quite common in the tropics. 

A typical Costa Rican rural scene in Herradura

                      A local relaxes under a coconut palm in Herradura, while the fleet of
                                       Espiritu, Palm, Blue and Talaria rest in the anchorage.

                 Costa Rica is much more prosperous than El Salvador. And with more prosperity
                          comes the occasional slightly chubby, slightly spoiled youngster.         :-)

Next stop: Manuel Antonio National Park

Playful Capuchin monkeys came within feet of us on the paths through the park

This was our view of the park in the Manuel Antonio anchorage. The water was pristine, crystal clear.

             This about-to-blossom flower hanging from the banana tree looked like                               something from "Little Shop of Horrors." Apparently this is NORMAL 

                           and completely safe. Still, I kept my distance.       :-)

                    This national park is named after a fellow named Manuel Antonio who was in Ponce de Leon's crew in 1519 when the first Europeans landed here. Mr. Antonio was the first gringo that the local Quepos Indians killed, so they named a park after him 500 years        later. I'm sure he was thrilled at the honor.      ;-)

           I loved this. A park worker appears to have been told to sweep up, but he only had a stick and no broom.  So he grabbed some twigs and part of a garbage bag, 

                                                        and voila! A broom was born!

We also viewed Three Toed Sloths in the trees along the path.
We were told they move so slowly that it takes them 24 hours to make love.

         I wonder if the creator of the Abominable Snowman in the old "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" Christmas special had been on a trip to Costa Rica for inspiration? Although this guy has four toes, not three...

Next stop: Bahia Drake, Costa Rica

     OK, I have to say that Bahia Drake is my favorite anchorage and destination so far on this adventure of ours. If you ever have the chance to visit, GO.

This crop of super-sized bamboo in Bahia Drake was unlike anything we had ever seen

We loved strolling along this car-tire path

The dinghy dock at Bahia Drake is the prettiest we've seen

            A pair of scarlet macaws buzzed us overhead and flew into this tree. After much patient waiting, this little guy popped his head out as if to say: "OK, OK...just one picture."

This tiny beachfront tienda screams old world charm

Just another day in beautiful Bahia Drake

The de-riguer "suspension bridge shot"

This mother and daughter happily strolling along in sleepy Bahia Drake
epitomizes the "Pura Vida," sweet life of the Costa Ricans

                This is the grocery store in Bahia Drake! As always, everything is open-air. When I heard that Costa Rica is considered the "Switzerland of Central America," I ran excitedly to the chocolate and cheese sections of the store. Alas, though, the reason for the title is they do not have a standing army. Aw, shucks...the cheese and chocolate will have to wait. :-/

How's this for prime waterfront real estate? Complete with a satellite dish! ;-)

A typical Bahia Drake scene

They say a transfer of grace can happen merely by being in the presence of a person or a place.
Costa Rica definitely has had that effect. 

A mango tree groans with its sweet bounty over a field of wildflowers

     Adam and Cindy of Bravo dropped anchor in town, so we showed them around. A mid-morning torrential rain provides Chris with a free refill of sweet rainwater...

    We took refuge in a bar perched on a hillside overlooking the town as we awaited the storm to pass over. But she was persistent. She rained and rained and then she rained some more.

      After two hours of torrents, the hillside above the bar began to give way. We tried not to be too concerned. After all, they get 200+ inches of rain in Costa Rica every year. 

    We were stunned to watch from our lookout as this rushing river formed over the beach that had been pristine and untouched only an hour before.  The water has to go somewhere. And still it rained...

...and then, the deluge finally ended. We left our shelter and walked down to the beach.

        This photo dramatically shows the rushing rapids of the newly formed river which cut right across the beach from the mountains to the right, to the ocean at the left.

          After the storm, the four of us took our dinghies up the estuary for some serious jungle river cruise action. Here we glide under a suspension bridge which traverses the river.

The jungle canopy rises more than a hundred feet on either side. Simply spectacular!

              We were told maybe Colonel Kurtz lives here. Needless to say, 
               we didn't knock on the door to find out -- we let him be.     ;-) 

        We fantasized with Adam and Cindy about SCUBA diving on Cocos Island, about 350 miles offshore. It is a world-famous SCUBA destination and a fantasy spot most divers only dream of. The problem is, it would cost us about 3 grand each for the privilege. 

      Fortunately, Isla Cano lies only 11 miles offshore, and we heard it's almost as good. 50-100 foot visibility, tons of fish, sharks, and the hope of a manta ray sighting, which none of us had yet experienced, enticed us to book a trip out with a dive master. 

  

      Luck was on our side, and we dove and swam with four giant manta rays, 15 feet across. This is a dream most SCUBA divers never get to experience. We were ecstatic! 

        After our two dives, we anchored at Bahia Josesito for a picnic lunch. Mel Gibson's Costa Rica home is just behind this beach. Isla Cano is in the distance.

         Lunching on the fringe of Mel Gibson's property, I half-hoped he would come running outside in boxer shorts, drunk and carrying a shotgun telling us to get the bloody-hell off his property -- but alas, there was no Mel sighting in the cards that day.

     So now we're moored in Golfito, Costa Rica with Swift Current (pictured above), Camelot, Talaria, Blue, I Yam What I Yam (I love that boat name!), and Palm. This will be where we finally check out of Costa Rica in preparation of heading even further south, to Panama.

   Costa Rica -- what can we say? She's a wild beauty. Chris and I lost not one, not two, but THREE pairs of glasses in this country -- or should I say, three pairs of glasses were knocked off our heads by walls of water. 

  This place is literally bursting with life! It screams vitality and life so bloody loud that it's practically indecent.    Big waves, big lightning, torrential rain -- all of which bring LIFE with a capital "L" in forests, flowers and trees that grow several feet a day. Let your guard down and it will literally overtake you.

    Thank you, Costa Rica. We will never forget.

 Pura Vida, indeed.