Surfin' Dude

When I decided I was coming to Panama, I knew I wanted to try to learn how to surf ... again.

I have only tried it once before in Huntington Beach California, but my lesson consisted a couple of surfer dudes giving me a board that was too small for me, pointing me to the ocean and telling me to paddle out and stand up when a wave came along. I didn't do very well, and after about 2 hours was exhausted from trying to paddle out to where the waves were.

Panama is apparently an important destination for surfers and there are numerous world-famous places here to 'hang ten' - some on the Atlantic/Caribbean coast and others here on the Pacific side. Here is a video of what we were hoping for at El Palmar Surf Camp in San Carlos:

Based on these videos, it looks like we need to go there at low tide

Turns out, this really isn't surfing season here so our trip down the coast to San Carlos led us to the El Palmar Surf Camp, a busy black-sand beach and a lovely man named Sergio (pronounced: Sayrheo) but the waves weren't happening.

But we did have a nice time watching the Panamanians bobbing in the waves and watching their beer cans float away.

As a result, my sister, her husband and I turned to Boogie Boards on the beach here at Coronado with some hilarious results.

It was a good day, but not one that you could write a musical with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon about! LOL

Bienvenidos a El Valle de Anton

Yesterday we drove about an hour up into the mountains to visit one of the most famous sites in Panama - El Valle de Anton.

El Valle de Anton, known simply as El Valle has a geologically unique setting, it's nestled in the second largest volcano crater in the world. A five by three mile crater created when a volcano blew its top off five million years ago. After flooding to make a lake, then emptying when the walls breached, the result iss a lovely steep valley surrounded by jagged mountain peaks and rich volcanic soil that gives way to flowers and verdant forest. El Valle also boasts a near perfect year round spring climate.

In the image above, you are looking Northwest with Lake Gatun and The Caribbean at the top and the Pacific on the right. You can clearly see the flat area inside the mountainous peaks.

While there we stopped at the market that you can see in this video (by someone else):

The secret to a happier future

This is an inspirational video from the people who brought you The Secret. A little optimism never hurt anyone!