 |
| La Pepita de Maranon Hospedaje |
As we launched ourselves, rather unceremoniously, into Panama a guy called out from a mini bus to ask if we were going to David. We jumped straight on board and off we went. We weren't sure how long it was going to take us to get to our destination, our next housesit, and weren't sure if we would have to stop for the night in David. This was not to be, as we soon discovered the (mini) bus service in Panama is second to none! They aren't exactly on a schedule as they just go when they are full .... and even then will keep stopping to pick people up. There is a continual stream of them so you don't have to take a full one if you don't wish to be squashed up with other hot bodies.
It only took about an hour to get from the border to David. The driver seemed to be in a bit of a hurry! We got spat out at the bus terminal in David to discover what a well organised place this was. Unprecedented in our journey so far. It actually looked like a bus station rather than just a gravel car park. We soon found the bus to Las Lajas, jumped aboard and a couple of hours later arrived right outside our digs for the next few months.
La Pepita de Maranon http://www.lapepitapanama.com/ is a bed and breakfast accommodation on the road to La Playa (the beach) de Las Lajas, turning off the Panamerican Highway at San Felix. The owners, Erika and Fabio, have built a bottle house, a casa made of recycled bottles, as part of the accommodation. It really is VERY cool. You can watch them building it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy_eko8IeCk
Erika and Fabio who were heading off to Italy (where they are from) to get married and honeymoon in Ireland. Therefore they required our assistance to hang out with their fun fur babies.
Morena, the matriarch of the clan, came from Italy when Erika and Fabio came to Panama 6 or 7 years ago. She can usually be found lying around like this, waiting for someone to scratch her tummy. Occasionally she ventures outside to survey her territory ..... but she doesn't like it out there. The birds swoop on her, the lizards are too quick for her ..... and basically, well, it's just too darn hot.
Reno is Panamanian born and bred and is the more serious natured of the clan. He likes to play the man, not the ball in his games with Dandy and their faux fights sometimes sound quite serious ... but are not! He loves to lay in the hammock with someone and chases flies for fun. He too, lies around on his back waiting for someone to pass by and scratch his tummy.
Dandy is definitely the baby of the family and a real joker. Later at night and early in the mornings (the only times it is not too hot to run around) he will instigate a game of throw with one of his toys. He hasn't yet realised that if he gave it back more often the game would last longer. He also likes to takes a keen interest in Morena's activities, which she doesn't always appreciate. Oh, and he inexplicably likes to lay out in the midday sun sometimes!!!!
The first thing we had to get used to was the weather. The heat and humidity can make it really hard to sleep so it is lucky we didn't have anything that had to be done each day. Really ... all you want to do is lie around in a hammock. Fortunately there is plenty of opportunity for that.
We arrived at the start of the rainy season. This means that every other day or so a storm will arrive in the early or late afternoon. And that is a bonafide tropical storm. We are always pleased when this happens as the temperature drops a degree or two (down from 34C) and becomes momentarily a little more comfortable. It is also quite awesome to watch the storms come in and to sit under the tin roof while they wear themselves out.
The mornings are always clear and fine and it very occasionally rains through the night. When it does, the mornings are even more pleasant. We are not sure if it is the weather that causes the power outages ??? ...... or whether they are just a fact of life round these parts but it is not much of an inconvenience. We only require the power for internet and lights. Because of the humidity, we also have to be careful to keep the mold at bay. There are definitely benefits to the rainy season though ... but more on that in the post about produce.
To be continued .........
 |
| Terminal de Bus, David |
La Pepita de Maranon http://www.lapepitapanama.com/ is a bed and breakfast accommodation on the road to La Playa (the beach) de Las Lajas, turning off the Panamerican Highway at San Felix. The owners, Erika and Fabio, have built a bottle house, a casa made of recycled bottles, as part of the accommodation. It really is VERY cool. You can watch them building it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy_eko8IeCk
Erika and Fabio who were heading off to Italy (where they are from) to get married and honeymoon in Ireland. Therefore they required our assistance to hang out with their fun fur babies.
 |
| Happy Family |
Reno is Panamanian born and bred and is the more serious natured of the clan. He likes to play the man, not the ball in his games with Dandy and their faux fights sometimes sound quite serious ... but are not! He loves to lay in the hammock with someone and chases flies for fun. He too, lies around on his back waiting for someone to pass by and scratch his tummy.
Dandy is definitely the baby of the family and a real joker. Later at night and early in the mornings (the only times it is not too hot to run around) he will instigate a game of throw with one of his toys. He hasn't yet realised that if he gave it back more often the game would last longer. He also likes to takes a keen interest in Morena's activities, which she doesn't always appreciate. Oh, and he inexplicably likes to lay out in the midday sun sometimes!!!!
 |
| Coconut slayer |
We arrived at the start of the rainy season. This means that every other day or so a storm will arrive in the early or late afternoon. And that is a bonafide tropical storm. We are always pleased when this happens as the temperature drops a degree or two (down from 34C) and becomes momentarily a little more comfortable. It is also quite awesome to watch the storms come in and to sit under the tin roof while they wear themselves out.
The mornings are always clear and fine and it very occasionally rains through the night. When it does, the mornings are even more pleasant. We are not sure if it is the weather that causes the power outages ??? ...... or whether they are just a fact of life round these parts but it is not much of an inconvenience. We only require the power for internet and lights. Because of the humidity, we also have to be careful to keep the mold at bay. There are definitely benefits to the rainy season though ... but more on that in the post about produce.
To be continued .........
No comments:
Post a Comment