Azuero, Day 2 Part 2

After leaving Tonosi, we elected to take the longer coastal route, rather than chance the Jeep overheating on the very steep climb into the mountains.

During our travels, Henry IV had heard and learned the peculiar 'aouweh' sound which many rural Panamanians use as a greeting and since we were travelling with the windows down, he greeted each group of men we passed, and they unfailingly answered, much to his delight.. It's hard not to like people who will take the time to acknowledge a child's greeting.

A few miles outside of Tonosi, we encountered some of the worst paved highway we've seen, with stretches of good road just long enough to get a bit of speed built up interspersed with broken pavement. For about 20 miles, we would accelerate to about 80 kmph, only to have to brake to walking speed and repeat the cycle. It was a very frustrating and tiring experience. Once we got past the bad road, it became a very nice drive with a lot of pretty scenery. The road never got far from the ocean and we were treated to occasional tantalizing glimpses of blue water off to the right side. Finally, after entering a paticularly pretty hilly area, we rounded a curve and saw the ocean. A short distance further and we had arrived at Venado Beach, touted as Panama's premier surfing spot. Being a Monday, it was very lightly populated, with only three other cars there, but the waves were bigger than we had seen at any other beach.

We arrived in Chitre at about 6:20 pm and after showering and changing clothes, we decided to have dinner in the hotel (Hong Kong) restaurant. Big mistake! We would have done better to walk down the street to Macdonalds. Hands down, the Hotel Hong Kong in Chitre has the second worst Chinese food I've ever tasted, and Nora and Henry IV agreed with me.

Azuero, Day 3

We had intended to enjoy a liesurely drive back to Panama City with a few stops on the way, but Bolivar had one more place he wanted us to see in Guarare. The place was quite beautiful, 3.5 hectares perched about 100 feet above the ocean. There's no swimming beach and the cliffs would be difficult to descend and ascend, but the view is great and the land is level. You can get a peek at it on the website.

After taking Berta back to Chitre and saying our goodbyes, we headed for Panama. What had been a relaxed, pleasant drive in the early morning hours when we came from Panama to Chitre became several tiring hours of fighting strong cross winds on the way back. If you make the trip, I can highly recommend doing so in the early morning hours.

Recovery

I've now been home for two weeks and every day is better than the one before. Nora and I went for our first walk today. The doctor told me to start with 5 minutes a day, which I thought was ridiculous, but after 5 minutes I understood the wisdom of his advice. My incisions are healing nicely, and rapidly for a diabetic, and most of the pain is gone. Now I have mostly aches in my back and a little bit of soreness in my chest, but coughing and sneezing are still activities to be avoided. I know you've all heard this tired old chestnut before, but I now truly understand the meaning of 'If I'd known I was going to live this long, I would've take better care of myself.

Here's a link to a website that offers some excellent advice on how to survive a heart attack.

http://www.biosafepanama.com/html/plan.html

The Website

There are several new listings in the Real Estate section. We've got apartments for as little as $37,500.00 and beach lots starting at $8,500.00. Check it out.

Service and Assistance for Retirees Who Want to Live in Panama