Sunset at El Palmar Surf School

Panama is an isthmus with fantastic beaches. Those seeking all-inclusive resorts with swim-up bars can write for recommendations. On the other end of the spectrum is Old Panama… beaches with family-run palapas, just steps from your room, where more locals than tourists share stories and cervezas. This is the subject of today’s post.

Playa El Palmar is home to a surf school, hotel and beachfront kitchen just steps from the owner Enrique’s home. He has been building this oasis for 12 years. Gentlemen like Tilcio & Jose help him take care of guests in this 10-room hideaway just one kilometer off of the Pan American Highway next to the quaint pueblo of San Carlos. After a day in the sun, walk to El Congrejo, a local watering hole with wonderful ambiance.

Our favorite Pacific Beach is still Playa Venao where you can stay at an old ranch, but the tip of the Azuero Peninsula is remote. Impossible to beat is Las Lajas in Chiriqui where you can walk forever on the softest sand no matter the tide. El Palmar completes our top three authentic Panama beach breaks because of its rustic charm and accessibility. No condominium towers, no uniforms, no buffets. Check out El Palmar Surf School for pure Panama!

The road less traveled

Everyone knows you get what you pay for.   The problem is not knowing  you paid for what you got.

Retirees considering living abroad often begin their search with realtors or organizations paid to sell certain information, developments, or areas.  While those services have their place, retirees are best served by learning an area organically, by experiencing it as an informed visitor, through a network of friends that includes locals and expats … before realtors or developers.

Changes In Latitude invites you to skip the conferences and tours guided by the hope for a commission.  Explore one of Latin America’s most amazing communities undercover as our guest. Meet locals. Stay in little-known countryside destinations instead of mega-resorts hosting conferences.

We live in C. America and know the region well.  We also know many retirees who have returned home after living here. We have watched too many jump-in as expats on the wrong foot based on hype.  We enjoy sharing our community… the good, the bad and the ugly.

Changes In Latitude has no agenda other than introducing retirees to the local lifestyle gently. Our role is simple, we are travel consultants who love making new friends, cooking for our guests, and helping others take “the road less traveled”.  Our fees are upfront and depend on your itinerary as we provide both guide services and self-guided itineraries. Often we provide a combination of both.

We never accept commissions, not even from hotels or airlines. We never accept incentive payments of any kind. We do not represent a single development. Check our website and click on “acclaim” for our references.

Recent retirement tour groups have ranged in size from six to as little as one.  For more information, write: info@ChangesInLatitude.org or call (507) 6966.2691.

Cacao was introduced to Europe by the Spanish around 1585, the date of the first recorded commercial shipment of chocolate from Veracruz, Mexico to Seville. Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus named the tree ‘Theobroma’ which means “food of the gods”.  Cacao beans were historically used as a currency, serving in the place of small coins as recently as 1840 on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula.

The largest producers of cacao in the Americas are Brazil, Ecuador & Venezuela with a combined market share of 10%.

The best quality cocoa beans are from the Criollo variety. Criollo cacao can be enjoyed directly from the pod and, properly fermented, maintains natural sweetness. When used commercially, the Criollo variety requires less sugar which is why 70% – 85% cacao dark chocolate bars are possible.  Gourmet chocolate represents roughly 4% of the world’s annual cacao production, a market of 160,000 short tons per year.

The main source for Criollo beans today is Venezuela’s Hacienda San José, www.cacaosanjose.com , with representatives in France, Switzerland and Spain. This hacienda has 200 hectares of Criollo cacao with an average density of 1,000 trees per hectare.

Criollo cacao is prevalent throughout C. America, with crop development occurring from Guatemala to Panama, where it thrives in rain-forested regions to an altitude of 2000′.

In Panama, cacao cultivated by indigenous growers produces a superior product preferred by chocolate aficionados over products produced by newcomers to this exotic crop, according to French Cacao Broker Mathilde Grand of Isla Colon’s Starfish Cafe.

Grand’s “Citizens Chocolate” markets tribal cocoa spheres, a hand-crafted organic product from a cooperative in Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast of Panama.  This region is home to the Ngobe-Buglé whose autonomous lands stretch between International Park Amistad to the coast of the Caribbean Bastimento Nature Reserve.   In the shade of their jungles, cacao is cared for and harvested using sustainable indigenous traditions.  After collecting the ripe pods, the seeds are removed, brought to fermentation then put out in the sun to dry for several days.  Once dried, the seeds are roasted over a fire, ground and rolled into spheres that are perfect for baking or melting into water, milk, and spices for a delicious drink.

© Mathilde Grand

For more details, enter a comment below!

This post is comprised of excerpts from the article “Cacao: a crop ready for new investment?”, written for Alternative Latin Investor‘s next issue. Photos by Mathilde Grand ©

Panama on your left, Costa Rica on your right.

The border between Panama and Costa Rica is very appealing, as borders go, an example of how neighbors can coexist with dignity, peace, and brotherhood. There are no fences, hi-tech surveillance equipment, or gates to herd people into lines. Driving down a dirt road toward Puerto Armuelles, turning left takes you into a Panamanian driveway while turning right allows you access to a Costa Rican driveway. It’s that simple.

When it’s time to officially exit one country for the other, passports can be presented at the appropriate immigration desks for processing. The Paso Canoas crossing is amidst a free trade zone.  Visitors amble back and forth shopping, dining, and visiting friends and families without having to present any identification, unless planning to go into the interior.

When headed to the interior, first-time visitors have to look to find the proper immigration desk, because they are not situated in a linear this side/that side fashion.  This is so refreshing compared to the US-Mexico border, which is uncivilized to the point of being hostile.  You can actually process out of Panama, stop for tacos and pick up some supplies in town, and then process into Costa Rica, or vice versa.  The town is united, not divided.

The town of Paso Canoas is not much too look at. It is more like a Wild West town.  However, the people are friendly and there is good food and decent lodging. Everyone accepts U.S. dollars and Panamanian merchants accept Colónes.

There is another border crossing at Sixaola and Guabito which is also wild, an off-the-beaten track border post that mostly sees visitors to and from International Park Amistad.  Amistad is Spanish for friendship and the park, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in both Panama and Costa Rica.  A bridge facilitates the crossing.  Here again, formalities are relaxed but there are limited hours, few stores and bars, and no lodging or dining options.

To experience the Osa Peninsula’s incredible biodiversity, you’ll fly to Puerto Jimenez from San Jose or drive five hours out of Boquete, Panama and boat across Golfo Dulce after a border crossing right out of the ‘wild west’.  Deep sea fishing enthusiasts will want to stay more than one night in the port.  There are also excellent surfing and birding opportunities from this hub.

When you are ready to leave civilization, you’ll enjoy a two hour drive on dirt roads from the port to Carate, crossing several large rivers.  After this road, you’ll be ready for the 45 minute hike along a pristine beach bordered by tropical jungles to reach a comfortable eco-lodge with excellent food.  Your bags will follow by pony cart.  Here you are in paradise.

When you are ready to hike into the national park, it is important to time the tides.  It is six hours to the first ranger station and your biologist guide will point out animals, plants, and native burial grounds.  You’ll drink fresh coconut milk, enjoy crustaceans, and maybe even have fresh cacao for dessert.  You’ll see thousands of phyto-geographically unique plants, rare insects, and a stunning population of birds, mammals, reptiles, and marine life.

You’ll sleep at the ranger’s station (tents or dorms) and share meals unless you packed your own grub.  Now you have many exciting options.  You can explore the surrounding areas looking for tapirs, monkeys, scarlet macaws, crocodiles, anteaters, and snakes.  You can rest up for a night hike to see the jungle’s nocturnal side.  You can hike to the next ranger station for more camping, indigenous villages, and a different return route.   Or, you can return the way you came via the eco lodge.

The Osa has something for everyone’s thirst for adventure.  We recommend a week and will arrange for more or less comfort depending on how much wilderness you seek to explore.  This is an unforgettable journey with authentic jungle experiences within reach of all types of travelers.

BIRDING IN PANAMA

Panama is a birder’s heaven.  This tiny isthmus is a nestled between two oceans, serving as a land bridge for birds migrating between two continents.  Panama has more species of birds than any other Central American nation including Costa Rica, which has built a reputation as an eco-tourism center.  With a land mass approximately equal to that of S. Carolina (and a much smaller human population), Panama is home to roughly 1000 species of birds including 150 migratory species, 50 species of raptors, 18 species of parrots, and 12 species found nowhere else in the world.

Where else will birders find, in a very small area, a dozen species of tanagers and trogons, the giant blue-and-gold macaw, keel-billed toucans (pictured here), and unique species such as ant birds, umbrella birds, harpy eagles, and quetzals?  With such a dizzying array of opportunities, where should birders new to Panama begin?

Birding near Panama City

Surprisingly, one of the best birding spots on the isthmus is a day trip from the cosmopolitan capital, Panama City.  The Canopy Tower at Parque Nacional Soberania is a logical starting point.  Where have ornithologists found more birds from their ‘life-lists’ in a single day than anywhere else on the planet?  Soberania’s pipeline trail holds the title.  Many of the bird species residing in the park’s 55,000 acres can be seen on this 10-mile hike.  There are too many species to list here!  There are also medium and short birding hikes featuring ant birds and waterfalls.

Leaving Panama City, there is a Canopy Lodge at El Valle de Anton that specializes in birding that provides an excellent stop over location in route the Azuero Peninsula.

Birding from the Azuero Peninsula

The remote Azuero is Panama’s heartland and home to another of the country’s top birding spots.  Playa El Agallito near the town of Chitre exposes mud flats at low tide.  Here you will find birds migrating between Alaska and Argentina.  Birders can contact Biologist Francisco Delgado at (507) 996-1725 for a guided tour to see spoonbills, terns, egrets, pharalopes, stilts, and thousand-member flocks of many shorebird species.

More than 160 migratory species can be found in Paque Nacional Sarigua, a 20,000 acre park with mangroves, lagoons, and ranger station with an excellent perch.  Visitors to the Azuero will also stop at Bahia de Parita and many refuges, islands, and reserves with freshwater wetlands and marshes that are home to fulvous whistling ducks, limpkins, glossy ibis, black-crowned night herons, blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, and white ibises.  Visit www.anam.gob.pa for links to the Azuero’s many excellent birding sites. 

If you visit the Azuero during Carnaval, visit Las Tablas where you’ll find another elegant ‘bird’.  Graceful beauty queens parade in costumed bikinis and extravagant polleras.  Don’t try to arrive the week of Ash Wednesday without confirming lodging reservations well in advance.

This author’s favorite beach hideaway on the Azuero is Playa Venado.  Here there is excellent lodging on a pristine shore, a Smithsonian outpost, and day trips to islands that are home to herons, terns, noddies, and boobies.

Birding in Panama’s Northern Highlands

Boquete is the Valley of Eternal Spring.  Here you’ll find harpy eagles, violet-eared hummingbirds, three-wattled bellbirds, yellow-thighed finches, black-chested warblers, and many birders favorite trogan – quetzals – abound in the shadow of Volcan Baru, Panama’s highest elevation.   Boquete was settled by European immigrants and maintains the largest population of indigenous Ngobe peoples and expatriates living side-by-side.  Flower fincas and coffee plantations line this picturesque valley.

From Cerra Punta you’ll find the easiest access to the magnificent Parque Internacional La Amistad, 1,500 square miles that his home to 225 bird species, including the largest concentration of quetzals in C. America. 

In both of these locations, you can stay in birder-friendly lodging with nature trails onsite and balcony views of quetzals.  There are also many bird-rich, cloud forest hikes in the area, including the hike to summit the volcano and a hike to an eco-lodge with outstanding wildlife viewing.

Birding on Isla Coiba

Scarlet macaws make their home in this marine park comprised of 39-islands surrounding Panama’s largest island.  Mostly virgin rainforest, you’ll find 147 species of birds on Isla Coiba, including 21 that are native to the island.  The Coiba spinetail, crested eagles, white-faced monkeys, crocodiles, snakes, and whales are the scarlet macaw’s neighbors.  It is best to visit by private charter flights or charter boats which can be arranged from Chiriqui.  Boaters often choose to fish their way back to the mainland.

Birding in Bocas del Toro

There are many parks in this province but the best birding is in the transition zone between Parque Internacional La Amistad and the tourist-friend islands on the coast.  The options are Bosque Protector Palo Seco and Reserva Forestal Fortuna.  There are several ecological projects in this transition zone where reforestation is being implemented to mediate the effects of slash-and-burn agriculture, cattle-ranching, and illegal logging.  Contact a destination expert to arrange guided excursions into the best birding areas which are near Altos de Valle’s or check in at the area’s ANAM ranger station on the Fortuna highway.

Birding in the Darien

One of the most remote places on the planet, Parque Nacional Darien is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, a Biosphere Reserve, and Panama’s birding mecca.  The Darien is home to 450 bird species including 6 species of macaws, parrots, ibises, and harpy eagles.  There are also poisonous dart frogs, crocodiles, big cats, and snakes.  Guides are required and access is limited, which is fortunate for endangered species.  Journeys require registration with the police prior to departure, due to the presence of smugglers in this border area between S. America and the Panama Canal. 

Sailing or kayaking the San Blas Islands provides birding along with glimpses into the indigenous Kuna Yale culture.  Perhaps the best option for birding in the Darien is the Kuna-run Burbayar Eco-lodge where the elevation is favorable and there are six trails on the lodge’s private reserve.  River journeys to the Darien should be booked with a destination expert. 

Timing Your Birding Visit

Despite Panama’s modest size, it is impossible to enjoy all the places listed here in less than three weeks time without feeling rushed.  Birders with one or two weeks can prioritize their destinations according to their other interests because each of these destinations offers world-class birding opportunities.  The rugged Darien is in stark contrast to the many first-world comforts to be discovered in Panama.  The best time to visit is between Christmas and Easter.

View from atop Volcán Barú

Volcan Baru is Central America’s most spectacular peak.  The Baru Volcano is at the heart of Parque Nacional Volcan Baru.  It is halfway between Belize and Bogota and adjacent to International Park Amistad, an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  From its summit one can view the Pacific Ocean, southern Costa Rica, the Caribbean Sea, and a good portion of Panama’s northern highlands.  Dawn atop Volcan Baru is a photographer’s dream.

The whistles of the quetzal – so splendid it was worshipped by the Maya as a sacred bird – entertain the few hikers brave enough to ascend 6,100’ over eight miles to the volcano’s 11,400’ summit.  Many of Panama’s 50 species of raptors can be seen soaring for prey, as can hummingbirds – the main pollinators of the numerous and exotic species of Heliconias.  Five species of cats make their home in this cloud forest; pumas are most numerous.  One species in short supply is mankind.

The shortest ascent is via El Salto, the author’s home, at 5,000 feet.  Allow 5.5 hours in thin air, and plan to leave around midnight to navigate a crude path in the dark.  To enjoy vistas too magnificent for words, hikers must reach the summit before clouds and fog form mid-morning.  Hikers enjoy breakfast at the summit and descend in periodic or constant rains for well-deserved feasting and resting before posting photos on the Internet bragging of their accomplishment.

Insider’s tip from Dave at Hostal Boquete:  make sure your camera is fully charged. The journey is 10-hours walking plus 1.5 hours drive from Boquete to the trailhead and back to the pueblo.  Essentials: flashlight, quality footwear, warm clothes, gloves, rain gear, 2.5 liters of water, food, and sun block.

The value of this analysis is its proof positive that Europeans did not bring civilization to the Americas. Colonial settlers did not bring large-scale agriculture or forest management to a ‘primitive people’. Paris wasn’t a glimmer in anyone’s eye as great cities celebrated centennial anniversaries in the Americas … advanced agricultural societies with pyramids, plumbing, a vibrant written history, calendars and astronomical charts more advanced than any from Europe in the 16th Century. Columbus was a follower, tardy by thousands of years.

As a result of centuries of ethnocentric historical inaccuracies, few citizens of the Americas comprehend the amazing history of their own hemisphere. Those interested in this important story, in discerning facts from myths, will appreciate Mann’s impartial presentation. What happened to the advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica that enabled their accomplishments to be lost to contrived versions of the history of their region?

Begin to discover the answers with ‘1491’ and stay tuned for future revelations from archeologists and anthropologists working Latin America. ‘1491’s ecological revelations are salient to today’s debates about sustainability and climate change. This book reads like an epic adventure. Mann’s revelations are fostering debates worldwide, especially on college campuses in Latin American countries – the main source of new evidence regarding myths about what Columbus ‘discovered’.

Charles Mann in Oaxaca

Thanks to Uncle Bob for the gift of this book…