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.

Las Lajas Beach Resort has a sublime location, good facilities, and peaceful vistas in every direction.

This delightful little hotel has 12 rooms and a suite. The restaurant and bar are wonderful.  The food is delicious. The management and staff are warm and attentive. Lize de Garcia hails from Amsterdam and her husband, Gama Garcia Carrera, is from Panama.

Together they run Cocaleca Tours providing activities such  nature hikes, horeseback riding, Guaymi culture tours, boat tours, and rental of equipment for the beach.  Lize recommends the hills behind the mangrove for those who are comfortable on horses.  It is one of her favorites.  The Guaymi visit takes you to an indigenous family’s home with a waterfall behind the house that provides a swimming hole.  Lize recommends the Guaymi tour “because of its pureness and the women are so happy to have a possibility to sell their handy crafts”  (indigenous dresses, handmade bags, hats).

Access is by a very good road from San Felix, just two hours from Boquete.  The beach slopes very gently; you can walk on soft sand for a long time before its time to swim.  The beach runs for 22 kms and provides views of islands, many sea birds, and sweet waves.  The beauty here has not been trampled by crowds, mega resorts, or the over development common on beaches closer to Panama City.

This resort is owned by Peter McNamee and Scot Arnolds from San Francisco, where they run a pizza business. Susan & Jonathon are your contacts in reception.  In the bar and restaurant you’ll be taken good care of by Julio, Reinaldo, Jorge & Tracy.

A serene setting is created by low tide leaving 500 meters of beach, one of the largest pure sand beaches in Panama. There is very little undertow so this beach is perfect for children riding boogie boards. This tranquil hideaway is a must for visitors to Chiriqui. There are many hammocks to choose from. Bring a good book, grab a fruity cocktail, and listen to bird songs in paradise.

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.

Coffee is integral to the culture of highland Central America.  Boquete, Chiriqui, near the Costa Rican border, is the Napa Valley of coffee, with over 20 local labels, tasting rooms, and finca tours.  Coffee aficionados from www.UniqueCoffee.com will be travelling to Boquete in Feburary.  In the meantime, notes from Roaster Seth Appell’s most recent visit to C. America are worth sharing…

“In a noble social experiment, the country of Costa Rica shunned the expense of a national army, investing instead in the building of schools and hospitals, providing low-cost education and healthcare for the general population. Rather than following the colonial model of large tracts of farmland owned by the wealthy minority, agricultural centers were built upon a cooperative model, providing coffee plants, education and materials at cost or free for anyone with even the smallest amount of arable land.

Spend a day with the members of CoopePalmares, and you quickly begin to understand the wealth and freedom of this country that values its families, heritage, and the skills necessary to produce truly fine coffee.

In the center of every coffee field is a home. Each proud farmer we met was born in the center of his own two or three acre coffee field. A man can tend two or three acres of coffee trees with his own hands. For 365 days a year, a farmer cultivates his tree’s, cleans the soil of weeds, and prepares for a harvest that returns a meager third of his income. 250 coffee trees produces that two sacks, or 300 pounds of coffee. And yet with this he sends his children to college. At harvest time the entire country returns to its roots. Children come home from school, and families reunite to harvest coffee across the country.

It is a fact that during my entire stay, I never met a man working at any job whose family was not involved in the coffee back home. It’s a simple fact of life that coffee provides only a portion of the income necessary for a good life, and indeed Costa Rica is a country with a comfortable middle-class. The spirit of “Pura Vida”, the pure life, is the spirit of the Costa Rican people.”

Coffee pickers from the indigenous Ngöbe are beginning to return from Costa Rica to their native Panama.  They have been helping with the larger cooperative’s harvests.  It is encouraging to realize how Panama respects its indigenous peoples.  The atlas reveals that Panama’s population is comprised of 8.4% indigenous peoples.  This atlas has a page for each tribe’s land area (Comarca).  Quick arithmetic reveals that Panama has reserved 20% of its land for its first Americans.  Panama’s Comarca’s are not marginal lands; but prime property.  This is tangible respect.

I recently had the joy of meeting Dra. Maria Ruiz of Boquete’s Casa Ruiz.  We discussed coffee and philosophy.  I was mesmerized by Dra. Ruiz’s perspective on the subject of creating peace within a community.  “Peace results when people respect (and feel respected by) their neighbors”.   Respect is a reoccurring theme this week.

This theme reminds me of a recent journey to meet the people of Latin America’s last kingdom, the Naso.  The Naso Comarca is on Panama’s Rio Teribe, where villagers live in harmony with the land, off the grid, growing almost everything they need to thrive gracefully in concert with Mother Earth, including coffee and cacao for chocolate.  The Naso raft down river to trade surplus crops for grains and other incidentals.  My children couldn’t believe how happy the Naso children are without electronic diversions.

Unlike the Naso, many Ngöbe live outside of their Comarcas.  Like Costa Rica, entire families are involved in harvest coffee.  Unlike Costa Rica, many farms are too large to be owner tended, and the Ngöbe people tend the crops year round, living on the fincas.  Others follow harvests and return to their Comarca for the balance of the year.  The return of the harvesters is an exciting time in Boquete and, for several months each year, the entire pueblo revolves around coffee, festivals, and the holidays.

For information on an upscale tour of this area and some of its finer cafes, fincas, and many rainforest adventures, check out our Coffee Culture Tour link.