Border Run

This next week, Bob and I will be headed to Costa Rica for another border run.  This is required every 90 days to renew our car papers.  Our VISAs are good for 180 days, but our driver's licenses (American) and our car papers expire every 90 days.  Each time we go, we try to do something a little different and try to see a bit more of Costa Rica..at least the area near to where we go.

The last time we went was the beginning of October...and it just occurred to me that it might be interesting to read about.  

The drive is kind of like driving from San Carlos, MX to Tucson...except that it is very green and lush...and currently, there is a lot of road construction on the Panamerican Highway, so part of the trip is slooooow going.  There are areas where the road has been 2 lanes...and they are widening it to 4.  When you are doing this in the jungle, it requires an exceptional amount of clearing, rebuilding bridges over the many rivers that naturally come with tropical locations and dealing with wildlife...monkeys, armadillos and such.

It says "Slow down, Fauna present" or...."Watch for the monkeys and armadillos and don't hurt them."  How many of you have seen a sign like that before?

 This sign might be my favorite in Panama.  "Deep Excavation", with a guy falling and flailing over the edge.

 All that red was once heavy jungle.

Panamerican Highway, near David.  Most of it is 4 lane in Panama....except for this stretch that they are now making 4 lane.  LOTS of bridges to contend with.

We travel on the Panamerican Highway until we get just past David, then turn inland.  Up towards coffee country. High peaks, deep valleys and really winding roads.  

The trip takes about 7 hours to the border, where we handle our paperwork, park our car in Panama (even though we sign it "out"), hop on a bus and head for San Vito.  We went there the first trip, then discovered we could stay in a town a bit closer (Sabalito), only to find that the only food in that town was fried, and that there were no hot showers...so have opted to go the 5-10 miles further to the next town.

On this particular trip, we chose to stay an extra day and go see the Wilson Botanical Gardens. We found a nice Bed and Breakfast nearby, so after having some dinner at our favorite little Italian joint, we caught a taxi and headed out of town just a bit.  Casa Botania is owned by a young couple.  She is from Belgium and he is from Costa Rica. And their dogs are friendly and welcoming as well. They have built a charming little place with just 2 very private cabins, beautiful gardens and delicious gourmet meals.

 Pathway to our cabin...handpainted.

 Stairs down to our cabin

On the way there, we passed through a blooming arch that had this spectacular bromeliad growing on it. Great colors!

The marvelous view from our cabin.  From our window, we could not see any other cabins or people...as the cabin hung over the valley.

 The main part of the facility had a Goudy inspired look to it...a large covered, open patio for dining with beautiful hardwood floors....

 ...and fabulous vistas.

 The first course for breakfast included a tray with thinly sliced cheese, fresh tomatoes with capers, and a bowl with pearl onions.  There was a fresh fruit plate, a basket of home made artisan bread and some home made jam.  Plus fresh squeezed Orange Juice.  

For the main course, they offered an omelet, or a fresh made crepe with Nutella and fruit.  Well...you can have all the omelets you want, but this girl was going for the Belgian Crepe!

Ab.SO.lute.ly. delicious!

Our plan was to head down to the Botanical Gardens.  They had good reviews and we thought they were nearby....however, that nearby included a 2-3 mile walk, up and down steep roadways...so we got the owner of the B and B to take us.  

It was rather disappointing as we were there the wrong time of year for beautiful blooming tropical flowers. Seems to be how we roll.  They did have lovely gardens with lovely foliage...but a bit unkempt.  Probably because most people don't go there this time of year! These pictures were taken here and there throughout the garden...we didn't see much color in one place. What we did see was gorgeous!

There was nowhere in the Botanical gardens to get anything to eat or drink..
So....

We were told there was a little Restaurant/Bar not too far back up the hill towards our BnB, and we started the hike. It wasn't exactly that close, but we got there and were pleasantly surprised!

 A large area inside had a high roof over it, with Bamboo used for drainage from the rain

 They cleverly ran the bamboo towards a rock wall fountain...so when it rains...you get a beautiful waterfall!

 Evidently, this used to be part of the botanical gardens, but across the road, so it was gorgeous!  Look at that stand of Giant Bamboo!

The dining area...outdoors...lush and green!

 This was their oven/stove/fire pit.  There were holes on the top to put pots into to cook.  There was a grill on the top, and then the oven as well.

Giant plants and vines with flowers.

and then.....

...we ordered a burger and fries.  Now, let me just say....we have lived out of the US for over 15 years. And NO ONE, ANYWHERE has come close to the burgers we find in the USA....

until now.

We both agreed that this was the best burger we'd had...

EVER!

The guys that own it are Americans, so I guess that helps....but these were so good.

So good, in fact...

that next week, when we head back to Costa Rica?

THIS is where we're staying.

Cascata Del Bosco Cabinas

The other place served us a wonderful gourmet dinner with several courses...

just us on that beautiful patio...

but I guess...

we're just burger kind of people. Yep!

I'll let you know how it goes.

We've already told them to save us some burgers!

Coffee, anyone?

Coffee....

Morning delight.....

Midday necessity.....

...and I am a coffee rookie.

In October of 2012, a client (who became a friend) and I met in Guadalajara to do some shopping for their new home in San Carlos, MX that my husband had just built. What fun we had!! The mornings were cold-ish, and before hitting the stores, we would walk a couple of blocks to a restaurant to eat breakfast.  I wanted something hot to drink, but just didn't feel like tea or hot chocolate.  In Mexico, they often put cinnamon in the coffee, so....I thought I'd try it.  With some Stevia, of course, that I'd brought along.  It was good, real good.

Rincon del Sol.  Best little breakfast place in Tonala, Guadalajara, MX

After returning home, I began to try various brands and types of coffee.  In our part of Mexico, at least, the most common way to buy coffee is instant...shelves upon shelves of instant.

Well that just wouldn't do.

So...whenever we would go to the US, Trader Joe's had a huge selection, and I started trying them out.  I was hooked.

Having a fresh brewed cup of coffee at Jansen's Coffee Farm, Volcan, Panama.

One of the delightful things about living in Central America is that there is an abundance of coffee....because, they grow it here.  Fresher than anything you've ever had.  Many high end coffee stores buy their coffee from the growers here and in Costa Rica.  They buy the beans we can have all the time, cheapen them up with something else, then charge big prices for their so called fancy blends.

We get to buy the best beans, much fresher, for much less dinero.

While we have huge varieties of coffee available here, the thing that interests me is they way they sell it.  so...I took some pics the other day while in the grocery store.

 Many varieties available...in every grocery store, and even in the gift shops.  You can get a kilo of Ruiz Coffee (That's 2.2 lbs) - a brand used by Starbucks that they mix with inferior beans and sell at a higher price for about 8 bucks.  When we go to Costa Rica, we can get good quality coffee for about $4-$5 a kilo.

We always bring some home. 

 Individual packets, for basically one or two cups of coffee are available everywhere....

...in various brands....

 Duran is the main coffee you will see here in Panama (All the malls have Duran kiosks in them.)..... actually kind of the low end coffee...but is better quality that most every coffee you can find in the USA.  And they make all the products to go with it.

Wondering how they make those little packets of coffee???

 These little guys (above photo) are basically a cloth strainer.  Put the coffee in, hold it over a cup or a pot, and pour hot water through to steep it.  I guess you could just keep pouring until it starts getting really light colored.

Another interesting thing is how the Panamanians drink their coffee.  You have to order it 'negro' (Black) if you don't want all the stuff in it.

They love to use Evaporated milk and lots of sugar....in case it's not sweet enough.

And they like it strong.

Even the kids drink coffee. No wonder...I imagine that tastes a lot like a hot candied drink!

I think I'll keep making mine just black with Stevia.

Birds, birds, birds.....

Ok. I know.  It's been a reeeeally long time since I've added anything to this blog.  We've pretty much been doing life, and when you get into a routine, there's not a whole lot to share.  I'll try to do better.

Every morning...well, pretty much all day...we hear the sounds of birds in the trees.  All with different  calls. Some singing, some squawking, some cackling, some tweeting.  They are all different and very distinctive...some much prettier than others.  Oh, I just heard some whistling, too.

And lets not forget the abundance of roosters ....  giving their wake-up calls at all hours of the day.  Pretty sure they don't have any built in clocks.

Until recently though, I had no idea just how many birds are in Panama.  There is an extraordinary wealth of birds here. 976. Yes, just under a thousand species!  In a country the size of South Carolina!

They say that part of the reason is that this is as far as many birds from the north can go, and this is as far as many birds from the south can go.  This is the "bridge" from North to South America and visa versa.

And we get the benefit of that.

 One day we looked out the window and saw that the orange tree was FULL of these beauties.

 And....One evening, about 6:00, we were having dinner on the patio and saw 5 or 6 of these toucans in the trees just beyond where we eat.  We've never seen them before, and haven't seen them since.

We have a whole bunch of these who come visit our feeder everyday...and try to stay out of Bandido's reach.

 We see these all the time....especially in the mornings, while having breakfast on the patio...perched on a line, or in the mango tree, or flitting around here and there.

 We've seen hundreds of these as they leave one tree and head to another....like a colorful symphony.

And these...I can hardly describe the depth of color.  The red and black both are like deep rich velvet.

This is only a very few of the birds here, and many of these we have pictures of, we've never seen, except at the zoo (yes, we have a zoo).  This would be a bird watcher's paradise, for sure.

I've often wondered which sound we're hearing belongs to which bird....then noticed the other day, that our nephews' and nieces' monkey (Mona) chirps like a bird.

Hmmm....Wonder what we're missing....