WHERE HAS THIS YEAR GONE???????

December 31, 2014

It is hard to believe another year is gone.  We will be leaving the dock tomorrow to return to the anchorage just off Red Frog.  Dock living is nice for a change but we miss the quiet and the space of being at anchor. 

BOQUETE

We took a road trip last week and traveled to Boquete.  45 min by water taxi and 3 hours by air conditioned  bus and we arrived in a sleepy small town tucked into the craggy mountains of Panama.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Flowers, pine trees and the occasional palm covered the mountains. The sparkling Rio Caldera runs right through the center of town not far from the town square. The temperature was in the mid 70's in the day and the mid 60's at night.  Ahhh...... what a wonderful change form the heat of the coast. 

HEADING UP THE MOUNTAIN

Jules and John on Island Dream own a 4plex just outside town and we slept in the first house we have been in for more than a year.  A little hard to get use to, there was no water around us.  After we got settled we walked into town for wine and a few groceries.  The air was crisp and the air smelled of flowers and pine. 

 14 YEAR OLD OSCAR WALKED TO TOWN WITH US
THE GUAYMIS INDIANS ARE ALMOST AS SMALL AS THE KUNA INDIANS

We spent four days and 3 nights and it seemed a world away from our cruising life. There is much to see and do.  Most of our time was spent walking the streets of the town, looking at the gardens and hiking to the top of one of the mountains.  The Guaymis Indians live and work in this valley.  They provide most of the labor for the vegetable farms, orchid farms, coffee plantations and bananas plantations that dot the mountainsides. On the weekends you find them selling souvenir's, vegetables and hand crafts in stalls around the town square.  In Bocas almost everyone speaks English but in Boquete Spanish was the most common language.

The terrain and town reminded us very much of Cloudcroft in the mountains of New Mexico and we are looking forward to spending time there when we return to the states.  For now it is back to work, many things still to do before we head north to bring It's Perfect back to the United States.  We will be here for another 2 to 3 weeks before returning to Portebello to provision for our trip home.

We would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year.  We are looking forward to seeing everyone while we are at home.