Gringos in Panama

  You Just Never Know What You’ll See Yep. A chihuahua standing guard from atop the house, a hitch-hiker on the hood of the car, a music video shot in the park, (Does anyone know who this is???) a parking lot used by the Embera Indians on their route from  San Antonio (their village) to Gamboa and a woman returning home with groceries. “A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Na…a..ame,” and Cricket - “We will never understand this ga…a..ame!” 😊 Retired school busses rocking new looks, what teamwork by little bitty ants can do, this kind man who shared his story, craft and passion with us, the view of a farm from high atop a hill, the lucky shot of a monkey with a not-so-good camera, massive trees, ships at sunset with a good man, signs you feel you should understand but don’t, and signs of simple and true beliefs, good friends, New Friends: Pam, a delightful English woman from Peru and Gamboa! and Ivan (pronounced Eee- Vaughn) aka Shorty Mies and special people to share it all with.

  Kirby’s Biggest Fear and Flower Power Gamboa is a “Birder’s” paradise.  With over 1,000 species in the area, people come from all over the world for a glimpse of that elusive, rare bird to add to their collection.   While some birds are difficult to find, a “Birder” can be spotted from far away - large, floppy hat up top, expensive, high powered camera or binoculars around the neck, fanny pack about the waist and hiking boots round out the look.  Kirby has never understood this - “It’s just a BIRD,” he says.  But now, his biggest fear may be happening - could we be turning into - (insert scary music in your head) BIRDERS?!? Over the last month we have been eager to catch sight of a toucan and have taken several walks with this goal in mind. After learning what to listen for, with craned necks we have been chasing their sound all over Gamboa   as they flit from tall tree to tall tree.  We have not yet seen one in the wild, up close and personal.  (The above photo was taken at the Summ

 Portobelo - Not Always a Mushroom! The locals tell us that when Christopher Columbus sailed into this bay he cried, “Port o’ Belo,” which means Port of Beauty and the name stuck.  Makes me wonder how a mushroom came by the same name??? 😳 To be honest, we weren’t sure about this town at first.  There was unrest in the air and the main part of town felt crowded and dirty.  Needing to borrow wifi so I could recharge my data plan - still haven’t mastered this - we stumbled into a building marked “turista” and met a man named Able.  He kindly offered to show us around, which meant he escorted us to all of his relatives’ establishments - drumming up business for them. But it was obvious he is a kind man as locals called out to him and he made small talk with them in between giving us a history lesson on his town.   Portabelo was first established as a large shipping port and it’s history is full of tales of pirate invasions. Evidence of the old forts that were erected to protect the villag