Newsletter #49

Azuero Day 2 Part 1

We were up bright and early and picked up Berta at 6:15. We drove through Chitre to drop her mother off at a cousin's house, stopping on the way to get tortillas, empanadas and coffee. We drove to Las Tablas and took the road over the mountains to Tonosi. A few miles outside of town we stopped at Berta's brother in law's house, where we were warmly greeted and treated to a bag full of oranges from the backyard. He warned us about going over the mountains in a car with automatic transmission, and I later appreciated his advice.

Because the trip over the mountains is about half the distance as following the coast road, we elected to take the mountain route. Don't attempt this trip unless your car is in good condition. We had no trouble, because I heeded the warning about descending the mountain into Tonosi, and put the Jeep into first gear and never allowed the speed to get over 25 mph. This is a long, steep descent, and if you depend solely on your brakes, they may overheat to the point that they quit working.

The mountains are beautiful and feature some spectacular views. They are also sparsely populated, and though we had no time to look, there could be some great real estate buys there. This is something we will look into in the future.

Tonosi sits in a large valley, several miles across, and almost completely encircled by mountains. We met our contact, Bolivar, at the Residencial Mar y Selva on the outskirts of town, and after a tasty and inexpensive breakfast were on our way to the beach. A few miles out of town, we stopped at the home of the grandparents of Berta's son in law, whom Berta had never met. Though Bolivar was the only one of us whom they knew, they greeted us warmly, like long lost friends. When they learned who Berta was, then she got the 'family' greeting. We experienced this kind of welcome everywhere we went in Azuero.

We arrived at Guanico Abajo beach close to noontime, where we met the owner of the beach front restaurant. After talking about real estate in the area and taking pictures, we drove onto the beach and down it for about a mile. A lot of the property here is 'Derechos Posesorias' (Right of Possession) and our guide showed us a small fenced parcel (roughly 1000 m2) to which he has laid claim, and which he said he would sell the rights for $12,000.00. He showed us a titled parcel of some 600 hectares which is for sale. We also saw a trio of rustic thatched roof cabins which belong to an English couple and are rented to tourists who want a really secluded experience. No one we met knew how to contact the English couple, so unfortunately I can't tell you how to rent one of these cabins. The beach, at least that part of it in front of the restaurant, is sand, but it's the darker gray sand, not the white sand of Decameron. After exploring the beach we went to visit a friend of Bolivar's who has a lot for sale in a small community a few miles from the beach. This was a nice, level 1200 m2 lot next to the local school. Unfortunately the school sewer system was dumping directly into the lot, so we're not even going to list it.

We had to ford a small river, much to Henry IV's delight, to get to the friend's home where we were greeted like old friends and treated to lemonade made with fresh lemons the size of oranges and sweetened with 'Miel de Cana' which is a light cane syrup. It was delicious and very refreshing.

Back in Tonosi, the four of us had a tasty and filling late lunch for a bit under $7.00. Saying our good-byes, we took the Coast Road back to Chitre. Next week: Day 2, Part 2 and Day 3

Scams

The Yahoo newsgroups recently had a story about a young man who calls himself Carl Baker, speaks English and approaches people at Tocumen airport and hotels around the city. He claims to be a US Airman on leave from Iraq. I won't bother repeating the whole story since it probably changes to suit the circumstances. At any rate, the scam eventually moves to 'it's too late to get to the Embassy today and I need a few bucks to tide me over until tomorrow. If you bite, he may call you on your cell phone if you have one, the following day with another chapter in the story. One couple gave him a total of $60.00.

Panama is the land of the small scam. If you've been here any length of time at all, you've probably met a scammer. Most of them are a lot less ambitious than Carl, and normal requests are for small amounts. Of course, most of them don't speak English or look like a US military man. One popular scam is the 'My mother is on her death bed and I don't have the money for a bus ticket to get home' story. They usually ask for from $2.00 to $4.00. Another is the two guys at the stoplight with one in a wheelchair. There are at least 3 such teams around the city, and sometimes after changing locations, they swap positions, with the pusher becoming the pushee in the chair. This one, at least, is dirt cheap. They'll be satisfied with a quarter. The season for the mother with a small school age child asking for a few dollars to pay tuition, buy uniforms, etc. is just around the corner. This is one of the hardest scams of all to resist, and I've contributed despite my better judgment on several occasions. An obviously poor mother, with a clean, well-behaved child and a sob story is a powerful scam, and the nagging thought that maybe, just maybe, this one is legitimate can be a powerful anti-sleep agent. I've been approached by former Canal Zone maids who ask me how Mr. and Mrs. Brown are doing and tell me how wonderful it is to see me again. When I tell them that I don't know Mr. and Mrs. Brown, they talk about how much I look like who they thought I was, and flatter me a bit and then ask for money. I was once approached by a fellow who claimed to be a Customs Agent at Tocumen airport, and how pleased he'd be to assist me on my next trip back from the US, if I could help him out a bit now.

There are hundreds of small scams, and many, many small scammers. Bear in mind that almost every hard luck story you will hear in front of your hotel, at the airport, in a supermarket, or just about anywhere is a scam.

Cheap Food.

Wherever you go in Panama you will find inexpensive restaurants. Most restaurants also have what they call the 'Ejecutivo Especial' or Executive Special. This is usually a full meal consisting of meat, rice, beans, and a dessert. Patacones are a frequent addition or substitute for rice. It's what we would call a 'Blue Plate Special' back home.

Even the more upscale restaurants usually offer the special for less than half the normal meal price. The smaller restaurants have specials in the $1.50 to $2.50 range. I tried one of those 'Ejecutivo Especial' meals at a small Chinese restaurant in Villa Hermosa a couple of weeks ago. With chicken in red sauce, rice, red beans and sweet fried plantain, it was far more than I could eat, and cost $1.50 in the restaurant or $1.60 takeout. ($.10 extra to cover the cost of the polyfoam container.) This, by the way, in a reasonably safe area of the city, where apartments are available for under $250.00 per month, though similar specials are available almost everywhere in the city.