{"id":22698,"date":"2018-03-26T14:24:56","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T19:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=22698"},"modified":"2018-03-26T14:24:56","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T19:24:56","slug":"david-sovka-explores-panama-smooth-cycling-dodgy-detour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/david-sovka-explores-panama-smooth-cycling-dodgy-detour\/","title":{"rendered":"David Sovka explores Panama: Smooth cycling and a dodgy detour"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Parque-Nacional-Volcan-Baru-750x410.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22700\" src=\"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Parque-Nacional-Volcan-Baru-750x410.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Parque-Nacional-Volcan-Baru-750x410.jpg 750w, https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Parque-Nacional-Volcan-Baru-750x410-300x164.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>David Sovka wrties for Times Colonist about his adventures to Panama.<\/p>\n<p>To paraphrase Groucho, outside of a dog, a bicycle is man\u2019s best friend; inside of a dog, it\u2019s too dark to cycle. On the long, slow climb (of course there\u2019s a head wind!) to the town of Boquete in western Panama, I no longer feel as though my bicycle is my best friend. In point of fact, I hate this bike. Specifically, the seat, which I feel is not, er \u2026 appropriately distributing the load, as it were.<\/p>\n<p>We have crossed the continental divide, passing from the warm and wet Caribbean, up and over steep cloud forest, to the drier and warmer Pacific side of Panama. Volc\u00e1n Bar\u00fa dominates the landscape.<\/p>\n<p>An active stratovolcano and the tallest mountain in Panama at 3,475 metres (11,401 feet), Bar\u00fa catches the moist air and dumps it on the many coffee plantations above Boquete, which remains dry and relatively cool, given the altitude.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fsk_splitbox_3375_onscreen\" class=\"fsk_splitbox_3375_onscreen\">\n<div id=\"fsk_splitbox_3375\" class=\"  fsk_splitbox_3375\"><iframe id=\"fsk_frame_splitbox\" name=\"fsk_frame_splitbox\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Boquete is a pretty town, and growing quickly due to the swell of expats from Canada, the United States and Europe. They crowd the caf\u00e9s, doing what old white people do everywhere: Share their strong opinions on everything, at volume. They talk politics, religion, real estate, health issues \u2026 and coffee.<\/p>\n<p>Coffee grown on the side of a volcano in Panama is not like the coffee I\u2019m used to at home: it\u2019s fresher, lighter, and more powerful.<\/p>\n<p>My usual cup turns out to be over-roasted, low-quality rubbish from a multinational more interested in me rolling up the rim than enjoying what pours over it. I\u2019ve got the coffee sweats right now as I write this, jonesing for another cup \u2014 just one more, I swear! \u2014 of Panamanian Geisha, the world\u2019s most expensive coffee.<\/p>\n<p>We are the only visitors to Finca la Milagrosa (\u201cmiraculous farm\u201d), Tito Vargas\u2019 working coffee plantation, which affords us a get-your-hands-dirty appreciation of the implausible coffee process. There is an art to it, naturally, but the basics are as follows:<\/p>\n<p>1. Pick the coffee plant\u2019s juicy red berries (delicious, would make a nice jam)<\/p>\n<p>2. Scoot local chickens out of the way (also delicious, best with gravy)<\/p>\n<p>3. Sun-dry and roast the \u201cgreen\u201d (as in raw) beans<\/p>\n<p>4. Grind the beans and mix with hot water<\/p>\n<p>5. Tell everybody how the coffee back at home is crap, and generally act like a know-it-all the rest of your life<\/p>\n<h3>The New Normal<\/h3>\n<p>The first time I was confronted with the classic \u201csi\/no\u201d pictogram explaining what to do on a Central American toilet, I was tempted to think, \u201cNope. Uh-uh. I can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sign is common in the developing world, where narrow gauge pipes in the sewage system mean that toilet paper is a no-no \u2014 hotel and restaurant plumbing can only handle what your plumbing can handle.<\/p>\n<p>When travelling, you discover a long list of items just like this that might tempt you to think: \u201cI can\u2019t do that.\u201d But you are mistaken. You and your brain are remarkably adaptable to pretty much anything the Third World throws at you. What is surprising is not that you can \u2014 and will \u2014 adapt to bizarre new situations, but how quickly you will adapt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what we\u2019re doing now?\u201d says your brain, looking for confirmation of the abnormal. \u201cI guess so,\u201d says you. \u201cOK,\u201d says your brain, and you\u2019re off to the races, suddenly OK with throwing soiled toilet paper into a little plastic garbage pail next to the toilet, rather than flushing. This new normal, taking place in 35C heat and 100 per cent humidity, turns out to be a stinky normal.<\/p>\n<h3>Panama Canal<\/h3>\n<p>The Panama Canal connects the world through a bloody gash in the isthmus between North and South America. I say bloody because more than 25,000 people lost their lives during its construction, mostly due to mosquito bites.<\/p>\n<p>One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken \u2014 and I\u2019m including last summer\u2019s kitchen reno \u2014 the Panama Canal is really impressive.<\/p>\n<p>The French began construction in 1881, but failed due to the terribly high worker-mortality rate, and engineering problems (the same techniques that built the Suez Canal in Egypt were not suited to Central America). Eventually, the project brought down the French government in a series of scandals and suicides.<\/p>\n<p>The Americans took over the project in 1904, and opened the canal on Aug. 15, 1914.<\/p>\n<p>They kept control of the canal and the surrounding territory until 1999, and today you still see many remnants of their protracted stay, such as fast-food restaurants and the Panamanian currency, which is called the Balboa but is actually the American dollar. I mean that literally: Panama uses American bills.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, more than 14,000 ships navigate the 77-kilometre canal, thus shaving off about 20,000 kilometres they would have had to travel around Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of South America.<\/p>\n<p>We bike alongside the canal, tracking the progress of the big ships that contribute about $2 billion in tolls to the Panamanian economy each year.<\/p>\n<p>This is probably a lot less than the amount taken in by the highly corrupt Panamanian banks, but it\u2019s still a lot, and I hope that some of it ends up helping the people. Quiet musing on government corruption is made possible by the flat ride, which is the entire point of the lock system that allows big ships to travel from sea to sea in just a few hours.<\/p>\n<p>Our pleasant and easy cycle along the canal takes place on the same day, and in the same area, as our more demanding mountain-bike ride along the Las Cruces Trail in Soberan\u00eda National Park.<\/p>\n<p>The Las Cruces Trail is more than 500 years old, part of the ox-cart route Spain\u2019s slaves cut through the poisonous jungle to get the precious gold from the New World to the Old.<\/p>\n<p>Both routes are a wonder, by which I mean something to marvel at, as well as something to wonder about.<\/p>\n<p>When we really want to, with the right payoff in mind, our species is capable of great accomplishment and great tragedy.<\/p>\n<h3>Lost in Casco Viejo<\/h3>\n<p>The first thing you want to learn when picking up a new language is all the good swear words, the lingua franca of humanity.<\/p>\n<p>Every language has them, and they allow for a certain honest enthusiasm and linguistic colour when conversing with the locals. The locals might not understand every mispronounced word out of your foreign mouth, but they get the gist: This gringo is upset about something.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight I\u2019m letting fly with the colourful language because I\u2019m upset about what may have been the world\u2019s worst attempted robbery and\/or kidnapping, in one of the most dangerous parts of Panama City.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m OK \u2014 we\u2019re all OK now \u2014 safe in a restaurant with two pints of excellent Panam\u00e1 beer, one in each hand, telling the locals about the evil and\/or lazy cab driver who abandoned us in a dark and dangerous corner of ancient Casco Viejo, the historic district of Panama City.<\/p>\n<p>Our excellent guide Hanzel had arranged for two taxis to deliver the group to a restaurant for a final meal at the end of our ride. The first taxi, the one with my darling wife in it, took off and arrived at the restaurant in about four minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The second taxi, the one with me and the darling British couple, veered off the agreed-upon route to drop us on the corner of a dark and lonely park on the edge of the zone clearly marked \u201cdo not enter\u201d on every tourist map.<\/p>\n<p>Our cabbie charged us double the normal fare, waved vaguely at our unknown destination, and zoomed away, leaving us to predation by his scumbag pals or, possibly, one of more than 200 violent gangs in the city.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s tough to navigate when you\u2019re scared and tired, when it\u2019s dark and there are bats flitting about your head, and \u2014 this is the critical bit \u2014 when you neither know where you are nor where you are headed.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m still not sure how we got out of there, but thank God we did.<\/p>\n<p>After many frantic phone calls, Hanzel got the first cabbie to track us down and bring us to<\/p>\n<p>the restaurant, hardly any the worse for wear despite the ocean of adrenalin washing my system.<\/p>\n<p>There were kisses from my worried wife, the aforementioned beers with our group, hugs all around, and many Spanish swear words.<\/p>\n<p>Bad-guy taxi drivers aside, today Casco Viejo is a mostly safe part of the city to explore.<\/p>\n<p>Casco Viejo was built and settled in 1673, following the near-total destruction of the original Panama City in 1671, when the latter was attacked by that jolly English privateer, Capt. Henry Morgan. Again. That guy really got around.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the district is a World Heritage Site wonder, its beautiful Spanish Colonial architecture slowly being renovated by<\/p>\n<p>deep-pocketed developers who have ousted most of the squatters and gangs who once made<\/p>\n<p>Casco Viejo very dangerous indeed.<\/p>\n<h3>Homeward bound, maybe<\/h3>\n<p>Leaving Central America is difficult for us.<\/p>\n<p>I mean that literally: The catastrophic blend of a) Panamanian airport efficiency with b) a certain national Canadian airline that really \u2014 truly, deeply \u2014 does not care, means that we don\u2019t actually leave on time, or day, or week, as planned.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, we do return to the Great White North, by which I mean a snowy Toronto, before heading west and home. It\u2019s a long journey, long enough to get tired and jetlagged and sore, because we are old.<\/p>\n<p>Long enough to ponder the beautiful places and peoples of Central America that now live happily in our memories.<\/p>\n<p>Long enough to start planning a return trip.<\/p>\n<h3>About Panama<\/h3>\n<p>\u2022 The Panama Hat actually comes from Ecuador (but is shipped through Panama)<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 In 1821, Panama broke with Spain and joined Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela to form the Republic of Gran Colombia (which broke up within a decade)<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Coffee comes in varieties, just like wine. Growing international demand is driving up prices<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Last year, roasted Geisha coffee sold for more than $600\/pound<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Indonesian Kopi Luwak coffee, famously ingested and pooped out by a civet (a small<\/p>\n<p>ferret-like rodent), is just a novelty for tourists \u2014 you\u2019re better off saving your money for non-pooped coffee.<br \/>\n\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f16536-o1\" lang=\"\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"16536\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22698#wpcf7-f16536-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<fieldset class=\"hidden-fields-container\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"16536\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"6.1.6\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f16536-o1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_container_post\" value=\"0\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_posted_data_hash\" value=\"\" \/>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p><B><I>Sign Up for our Newsletter:<\/i><\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>Your Name (required)\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-name\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"your-name\" \/><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>Your Email (required)\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-email\"><input size=\"40\" maxlength=\"400\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-email wpcf7-validates-as-required wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-email\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" value=\"\" type=\"email\" name=\"your-email\" \/><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Send\" \/>\n<\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Sovka wrties for Times Colonist about his adventures to Panama. To paraphrase Groucho, outside of a dog,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[10,12,247,241,39,248,34,33,62,42,219,11,249,243,7,246,244,44],"class_list":["post-22698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-articles-panama-perpsective","tag-bocas-del-toro","tag-boquete","tag-boquete-boca-chica-real-estate","tag-boquete-real-estate","tag-buenaventura","tag-casco","tag-casco-antiguo","tag-casco-viejo","tag-coffee-in-panama","tag-estate-homes-in-panama","tag-move-to-panama","tag-offshore-real-estate","tag-panama-offshore-real-estate","tag-panama-papers","tag-panama-real-estate","tag-relocate-to-panama","tag-rum-in-panama","tag-travel-to-panama"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>David Sovka explores Panama: Smooth cycling and a dodgy detour - Blog and Newsletter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/david-sovka-explores-panama-smooth-cycling-dodgy-detour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"David Sovka explores Panama: Smooth cycling and a dodgy detour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"David Sovka wrties for Times Colonist about his adventures to Panama. 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