Dec 2, 2018 - Holy Christmas is just around the corner

A very quiet week we went to the Westland mall to do some shopping. There are some stores that are just like home and many we do not have in Canada. We stayed for lunch and their food court is very similar to home. Many familiar food chains such as KFC,Taco Bell, McDonald’s they also have some local chains that offer chicken and rice etc. I took some pictures of the devils buses. This one is very plain, some are painted all over. There is usually an angel or the Madonna painted on it. These buses are public buses and a ride is about 35...

Nov 25, 2018 - what have we been up to.?

So this week has been very cloudy and rainy. We are still in the rainy season. I have noticed as the week ended more and more pretty flowers are blooming. This week coming up is a holiday for Panama. I will write about that next week. Sufice to say that we have been warned by our friends to ensure we are well stocked by Tuesday and plan to stay off the highway until after the holiday on Wed. There is much shopping we can do for food, and other essentials locally at what they call a super mini. A couple of things I noticed. I am amazed at...

Nov 18, 2018 - Settling in

For the last couple of days we have been settling in going grocery shopping and relaxing. Tomorrow we will head to Pricesmart (similar to Costco) for long term supplies, Today I finally emptied all of the suitcases and discovered that we left the charger for the laptop in Toronto. I ordered a replacement on amazon and had it directed to our Panamá address via Miami. I had to pay for delivery as our prime account is on Amazon.ca not com. Amazon says it will be delivered on Monday to our Miami address we will find out how long it takes to...

Oct 6, 2018 - Puerto Amador Panama

So we had our second “Formal” night, something I could really do without, but you do what you need to do for da wife, eh? Our next stop was Panama City’s island of Fuerte (Fort) or Puerto (Port) Amador. Panama City's island of Fuerte Amador is located on the west side of the city, adjacent to the Pacific Coast entrance to the Panama Canal. We actually land at the Flamenco Island Marina on Flamenco Island. This is a high-end area of the city, which is to all appearances a prosperous place of almost 900,000 people. The city is surrounded by...

Mar 24, 2018 - March 18 - 26

We are slowly winding down our visit as we have just a week left. This week Nala the dog from downstairs figured out where we were and has decided to come up when she wants a cookie and just wait until we give in. She is a cute dog and very well mannered. We got together with our friends Derek and Judy for dinner as this was the last Monday before we all go home. As always the Monday deal at the restaurant did not disappoint. I had the stuffed chicken breast with potatoes. They always serve one dish as fish. On Monday it was stripped orange...

Mar 17, 2018 - BBQFest

I know it would surprise many of you but I did find a BBQ festival close to where we live. Even better I got a coupon that had two tickets to enter the festival and it came with 4 beer, for the low price of 11 dollars. A heck of a deal, so we went. The first issue is they give you the four beer all at once.As I don't drink beer this became Barry's issue. The second problem was they only sold beer and pop. This became my issue. The third problem I encountered was that it was different the same and different than any other competitions I...

Mar 16, 2018 - March 10 to 16.

Barry and I fell into a routine of swimming every day cocktails at 5 and dinner around 7. We have gone down to the marina bar to change up for cocktails. It is nice occasionally however I wouldn't want to do it every night. They charge 3.00 for a local brand beer which by North American standards is terrific. Here that is overpriced. At the grocery store a can of beer is .65 cents. If you buy bottles by the 24 they are only 59 each. We went to the marina bar on March 11 as it was a beautiful day and ripe for a spectacular sunset. I have...

Mar 9, 2018 - One Million Forty Seven Thousand Six Hundred And Thirteen Steps

Final step count as at Friday morning before we head to the airport. ONE MILLION! FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN Yes that's 1,047,613, we did it just as our travel log indicated a million steps and a few thousand more!!!!! There will be a few thousand more today walking around the airports but I will have to complete the final counts of all our journey when at home on Saturday. I hope you have found my travel log, interesting, amusing and sometimes funny. I have tried to tell the back stories rather than we did this and that....

Mar 9, 2018 - Pictures from around the complex

We have a small private beach here and a lovely restaruant. The restaurant has a special deal on Mondays which we will continue to enjoy for the remaining mondays. The deal is one appy, main course, desert, glass of wine and a cup of coffee for 22 per person. As it is cooked by a Michelin chef it is a good deal. THis week they had Tuna steak and Ribs for the main course. Barry of course took the tuna and he said it was the best Tuna he had ever had. Well thats all for now I will post soon.

Mar 9, 2018 - settling in the new apartment

So we have been here just over a week. We have gone into town several times for odds and ends. Trying to make it feel like home. From our back balcony you get a great view of sunsets and from the side you get some great sunrises. I have gotten up a couple of times just to sit and watch. Our time here is slowly coming to a close as we will be leaving here on the 28th to spend the night in Panama city and then on the 29th we spend the night in Toronto and finally return home on March 39. We are looking forward to getting home to get the...

Mar 8, 2018 - Back to the American Trade Hotel

As we left the islands, the white faced monkeys came down reception to see us off and give me the opportunity for one more photo shoot to get some decent photos. It seemed to go reasonably well photographs attached. Had an afternoon flight off the islands, which was initially bumpy because of the low clouds and rain. But landing back in Panama after flying over the Pacific Entrance to the canal was hot and humid. We were met by Danial and his driver this time was his wife, Amy. She works for Copa airways and is herself flying to Washington...

Mar 8, 2018 - Our last day in the Bastimentos Islands

Today is Thursday and our last day on the paradise island, the weather has felt our mood as it is overcast and rainy. Had a late breakfast and saw the Sloth on our way down to the beach. The check out time soon rushed round and we are now sitting in the resting awaiting our boat to take us back to Bocas del Toros airport and Onto Panama City. Yesterday we had a trip to a cocoa plantation that was run by a couple Margaret (English lived near Brighton) and her Peruvian/American husband Henry, who had purchased this plot 100 acres from a local...