Piraeus and Sifnos

Flying from Panama City to Frankfurt was with Lufthanza, but this became Sun Alliance, when we arrived at the airport. The flight from Frankfurt was then with another subsidury group. Apparently the planes during the off-peak season for tourism are run by other smaller companies, not Lufthanza, who pull their own aircraft out from the skies for annual major maintenance. The air cinditioning was on "dry" mode, so it didn't matter how much water you drank your nasel passages and throat dried up completely.
Peter has surcumbed to something that has made him dizzy and weak. He sounds nasally, but can breathe easily!?!?
This meant that in Piraerus, we asked to a very late check out at 3:00pm, to give Peter enough time to recouperate enough to get on the ferry to Sifnos.
Unemployment in Greece is extremely high after the Greek economic collapse. We found ourselves escorted to the port by a Masadonian gentleman, who insisted on showing where to go, for the price of a beer.
We caught the fast ferry to Sifnos with a transfer to the hotel. The owners were away so the mother and father stepped into the breach. They spoke not a word of English and we speak not a word of Greek.
In the morning, we wanted to ask how much a taxi would cost to take us for a tour of the island in the afternoon as Peter felt too ill to walk or to go in the morning.
So now we had a confusion between languages. "Nai" in Greek means "yes" in English, "ataxi" in Greek means "all is ok" in English.
So can you guess what happened?
There was a knock on our door some half an hour later, with a taxi service waiting for us. Peter answered the door and promptly collapsed on the doorstep. There was much agitated talk in Greek, none of which we understood, except the word, "taxi".
Later, I went down to reception again with iTranslate on the ipad to try to make out hosts understand what was required. Obviously iTranslate converts literally and therefore makes no sense to the Greek ear. So after much gesticulaion and indignant cries, I was finally transferred on the telephone to the taxi driver who did speak some English, but was eventually beaten by too many words. The result was that I ended up speaking with a woman, Emmanuella", with a very English acent, who translated both us and the taxi driver to each other.
Emmanuella was coming back from a memorial funeral service in the taxi when I rang it.
We asked about a tour around the island in the taxi. Yes it was possible, would we mind if Emmanuella came with Nikki, the taxi driver, as she was on her way home from the village above Kamares, where we were staying?
Emmanuella, turns out to be the volunteer hiking guide for Sifnos, speaking atvleast 4 languages. She was born on Alexandria, Egypt of Greek, Sifnos parents. She is delightful and guided us for the remainder of our stay.
We dined on the best that Sifnos has to offer (the island boasts to be the birthplace of the very best Greek chefs). The food was deligous and beautifully fresh!

Flight over the European Alps.

We arrived in the dark and were not aware of the dramatic landscape of Sifnos until the next morning, when we awaoke to this. A view from our hotel window!

Our room is the top story.

Emmanuella guided us on a walk through historic Kastro. As you can see the houses are joined, one on top of the other. They form the outer protection and inner protection walls for the village - Protection against pirates. The village was constructed in 6 and 7C DC, using materials from the ancient Greek temples. So here you will find ancient sarcophoses and marble columns used in the construction of everyday houses. Amazing and sad. The ancient Greek temples were covered by churches and chapels of Orthodox Greek religion. So nothing remains of anything ancient Greek. Surprisingly the ancient pre-Ancient Greek, Mycenean ruins still exist, dating back to the 12C BC!

The beautiful church of Chapel of The Martyrs. In the winter time, the sea surrounds this chapel!

Panama

Delightful - what surprise, we find that we love it here!

A tour of Mierflores on the Panama Canal. Wow what a feat of engineering.
I have always wanted to come here, ever since we left Uganda, and Mum and Dad said that we would return there, through the Panama Canal.
And now I'm here, 52 years later.

The gates in photos above are still working, over a hundred years after they were built. In 2016 two new lanes were built allowing the canal to take super tankers and vessels. We watched a tanker pass through the two gates at Mierflores. Boats have to be lifted 26 metres in irder to get them over the ismuth.
The first attempt by the French was based on the Suez Canal design. But the French hadn't considered the nature of the topography or the fact that they were trying to build over basalt and a fault line.
The second attempt was made by the USA and the design was based around a lock system that allowed the ships to be lifted and then lowered through the canal system. It takes approximately eight hours for a ship to be able to pass through the entire system, ie from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean or vice versa.
At the Pacific side (Mierflores) there are two gates, then a large man-made lake which snakes through hills until you reach the highest point where there is one gate. At the Atlantic side there are three more gates. The old design uses an enormous quantity of water to operate. The gates are hydronically operated. On each side of the vessel; two on each side and one on each side at the back are electronic "mules". These mules do not pull the boat through, merely prevent the vessel from touching the sides. A Panamanian pilot is required by regulation and he directs the boat on its entire journey through the canal. Boats are charged a toll for utilising the canal and this is based on tonnage.
The record for the least tonnage was, Richard Bonnington (I think), who was duly weighed and charged the princely sum of .36 cents. Of course he had to have a pilot accompany him through the canal. He also had escorts with revolvers in case there were crocodiles. It took him eight days to swim it, stopping at night.
The electricity for the whole canal operation all comes from a thermal power station built in the area.
The history of the construction and final ownership of the canal is astounding. The canal really has been the catalyst for Panama to become one of the most economically wealthy and pollitically stable country in all of Latin America.
The Panamanians are very proud of their struggle to gain independence from Spain, France, Columbia and USA, who either governed Panama or owned the entire canal - 80 kilometers long by 16 kilometers wide. The width kept expanding with the Americans, especially during WW1 and WW2. Many treaties were made with the different authorities, and over time and with people power these treaties were slowly reversed. The Panamanians recognise that people from all over the world were involved in this mega project and with this in mind believe this canal belongs to the world.
Two dictatorships in Panama have altered the political destiny for this country. After the brutal dictatorship of Noriega and after the USA stepped into capture him, Panamainians voted for a democracy, where no leader can be elected in succession. The term of office is for five years. They also disbanded their army.
Panama City had two old centres. The first was built in the early 1500's by the Spanish. The Spanish burned this to the ground, when the city became an undefendable target for pirates seeking to steal the gold from them coming in from Peru.
The second city, a walled city called Casco, is a UNESCO World Heritage area. Totally unique in that the foundations are protected by law, but as an owner you can choose any kind of architectural style as long as the records show that the building had at some time been that style.

First old city.

This one is for Zalea. The founder of Jazz Latin America.

As you can see there are examples od American, Jamaican, Spanish, French architectures.
And finally, we stayed in a newly renovated apartment hotel, Las Clemantinas. We had a bedroom with bathroom, huge living/dining room, kitchen and balcony overlooking the street.

Last night as we returned to our apartment, we heard a church service happening. We looked outside to see a loudspeaker set up in the street, the squatters from the building next door sitting in rows of plastic chairs. Hymns were sung, a sermon preached, prayers said and a reading from the bible, just on the street.
Now we are waiting in the airport lounge for our flight to Athens. We have had the best time in Central America. It is many thanks to the very kind people we have met, that we say goodbye to these amazing countries.

Journey to Panama

I must tell you about our last afternoon and night at El Romanso. After lunch we were chatting to some British visitors when the troupe of Howler Monkeys passed in front of the restaurant to eat Cecropia leaves. The male appeared first, follwed by four or five females , most with young.
The youngsters were happily copying mum, eating the leaves and generally wandering around the tree. One tiny female leapt to a nearby branch which promptly broke, plunging her to the forest floor. We all watched in horrified silence. Just as she was about the hit the ground she managed to grab a protruding branch from a bush near the ground. Here she sat, for some time, looking dazed. None of the adults above gave her much notice except to note that she had fallen.
Well she tried every which way to try to climb back up the Cecropia tree, including climbing up the structure beneath the balcony on ehich we all now stood. Her little arms were to small to get around the tree to climb up it and the closest bush's branches to weak to hold her weight. None of the other monkeys paid her any attention. She tried for at twenty minutes. The staff thought she was about 3 months old.
She started to get desperate, especially when it started to rain. Then she just sat on top of the bush and cried.

Calling out for her mother when it started to rain.
At this point, mum decided that urgent action was required. So she tried to come down the tree to rescue her baby. She tried several times, but was defeated by the girth of the tree. We all watched fascinated by what she would work out as the rescue response. Then the mother sat very still at the lowest fork of the Cecropia tree and eyed every possible rescue route. The only way was down the tree trunk. So with that, she wrapped her tail around the trunk, desperately trying to grip with her claws she rushed down the tree, slipping slightly and calling to the baby. When she almost reach the baby, the mother shot out an arm, grabbed baby and pushed her onto her back, then madly scrambled back up the tree. Baby was very traumatised and required a soothing hug and suckle from mum, who then removed both of them to the safety of a nearby palm tree.
David Attenborough, eat your heart out!
The rain then turned into a tropical thunderstorm which continued all afternoon, which was still happening went we went to dinner in the evening. During the course of the evening, there was quite a strong earth tremor, which shook the restaurant building and which lasted for maybe 10 seconds. Suddenly there was growling above our heads. A White-nose Coati, appeared in the roof space and started threatening us. Our guess is that he had taken shelter her from the very heavy rain and that the tremor had awoken him. He of course blamed us for the disturbance of his rest.
Up at 4.00am in the morning after a restless night, during which the rainstorm continued with much thunder and lightning. The flight on a single engine propeller plane was smooth and uneventful.
At San, Jose, Costa Rica, we changed to a much bigger aircraft for our flight to Panama.
We arrived near Tocumal International Airport on time, but were not allowed to land. A severe weather alert had forced the officials to close the airport. So with this we circle around for over an hour, flying in and out of the storm. The flight was very rough and the circling most disconcerting.
Eventually we were given permission to land on the rain drenched runway. Strangely there way no bay for us and the pilot ended up parking the plane near some disused luggage carriers!
It was vgreat to be met at the airport by our friendly guide, Fabio.

El Romanso

The drive to El Romanso took far longer than expected. Heavy traffic and severe damage to the road, with road works everywhere. Our driver Ernesto was very patient and stopped in many places to allow us to take photos of the beautiful scenery.

And birds....

Scarlet Macaws.
The camera was having problems again with condensation. No matter how often I wiped the lense, this was the best shot I coulg get!
Eventually we reached Peurto Jemenez, where we were picked up by a driver from El Romanso, in a four wheel drive Landcruiser.
Three wet water river crossings was the reason for the Landcruiser. We saw more animals (not birds) on the road into El Romanso than we had seen anywhere else. Edwin stopped to allow us to take many photos. Squirrel Monkeys, Spider Monkeys, Howler monkeys.

Two Screech Owls, iguanas, other birds.
El Romanso is located on the Osa Peninsular. Nearby is the Cotaverde National Park. This area is reputed to be the best place in Costa Rica to see animals.
We are here for four nights. And have chosen to stay put in the hotel and its grounds to recouperate from all the previous travel and rush.
In just the first two days we saw White-nosed Coatis, White-faced Capuchin Monkeys, Howler Monkeys, Spider Monkeys, Agooti, Scarlet Macaws, Toucans, Puff Bird, Roadside Hawk, Masked Owl, Red-headed Manakin and many other birds.

White-faced Capuchin.
On day two we walked one of the paths through the jungle. There are two suspension bridges on the propert, from which you can see over the canopy and into the stream below.

On this walk, a troupe of Howler Monkeys passed over our heads in the canopy above.
Our room is delightful.

A house really, with verandah, lounge chairs and a hammock outside.

No glass windows, only wire netting and wooden shutters to allow the sea breezes to flow through.

A king-size bed with inside and outside bathroom; separate toilet. Very cool and airy, very comfortable.

El Romanso is situated about 250 meters from the Pacific Ocean, but about 300 meters above sea level. So as you can imagine the path leading to the beach is VERY steep.

Dining room and swimming pool area face the sea and are completely open. The dining room is a bamboo structure built into the forest overlooking the canopy. A beautiful setting.
The lodge prides itself on its ecological sustainability. It has reached the highest possible grading for eco-tourism in Costa Rica. Very strenuous regulations are applied to the ratings. So this is no mean feat! Even the linen is sun-dried! In an area that receives 8 meters of rain a year, and with 98% humidity, I don't know how this is achieved! As we stay, a consultant has come to advise the hotel and staff on the most ecologically sustainable cleaning and washing products to be used in the laundry. Already the soaps provided for guests are 100% biodigradable and fully organic as are the floor cleaners etc.
Yesterday we ventured down to the sea.

As stated before, very steep. From the hotel you cannot see the waves, although it is so close.
The beach is black, volcanic sand, lined with palm trees and native red hibiscus.
On the beach a fresh water stream runs into the sea. Further upstream there is pool below the fresh water cascades. Here we saw cat prints, quite large, but failed to see the ocelot that had made the prints. The prints looked very recent but...... unfortunately not a cat to be seen. We were told that ocelots are very fond of turtle eggs and often dig up the nests. This would indeed explain why the tracks went around in circles.
It took 25 minutes approximately to get down to the beach and very tough going on Peter's knees. A short walk along the beach before we had to return to the hotel for a scheduled telephone call with Nigel and Mum.
We gave ourselves a good hour to get back as we had been advised that the walk back would take at least 40 minutes. Peter almost sprinted up the hill, with me following much more slowly behind. It was hot and humid. We were saturated with sweat by the time we reached the hotel. So much so that, we had to rinse all of the clothes we were wearing, including undies. Peter wished that he had walked up without shirt, because this now meant we had to dry two of his shirts, in 98% humidity. It looks like we will be taking wet clothes to Panama!
For the past two days it has rained and mist has settled in right up to the edge of the dining area. Indeed the mist has drifted in whilst we've been eating.
This has been a great place to relax and gather energy again for our next frantically busy next leg of the journey. We have slept to the sounds of rain in the roof, crickets and frogs in the forest and the crashing of waves on the beach below - wonderful!

Trogan Lodge

The devastation from hurricane Nate was sobering. This is reconstruction occurring to the road down into the valley where Trogon Lodge is located.
The Pan American highway lost a major bridge and the main highway from Cartagena to San Gerada de Dota was reduced to one very narrow pass from which you could see that the land had just fallen away, taking with it guard rails, the asphalt, lighting and cats eyes.
All land communications were destroyed, so no telephone or internet. Hence the large gap in posting these blogs.

The scenery on the drive to Trogan Lodge was stunning.
The lodge is situated high up in the Costa Rican mountains. A beautiful setting, where the ponds are breeding ponds for Rainbow Trout, served in the dining room.

San Gerada de Dota is very cold. The drive to the lodge had taken a extra two hours due to the landslides and huge amount of traffic, mainly trucks, on the highway. Our driver, Horatio, had never been to Trogan before. It must have been a fearful drive for him, in the pitch black, torrential rain, dangerous roads that were barely passable in thick cloud. And then the final descent down the one car width, very narrow, windy road with hairpin bends down to our hotel. The visibility was so poor that he oped both front windows to be able to see the edge of the road. Poor man!
We were warmly greeted by the manager, Galvin, who quickly took our luggage and organised dinner for us.
Our small room was very welcoming, with a heater on when we walked in.
Food at this lodge is exquisite. All local produce with 0 kilometers on it! The portions realistic sizes, ie not a large as those served elsewhere.
In the morning we went bird watching and found 26 species all endemic to this area and ones we hadn't seen before. The magical Quetzal unfortunately eluded us.

On arrival back to the lodge, the owner asked if we had seen the Quetzal. When he heard that we hadn't, he organised for Galvin, the manager to take us to find one. So we went straight away, to a wild avocado tree (a Quetzal's favoured food. They only eat wild avocado and blackberries. The owner told us that Galvin was THE bird expert!
And so it proved to be. Despite it now being 11.00 am, not a good time to spot birds, here is what he found......

a female Quetzal.
Quetzals eat wild avocados whole. The avocado is the size of a plum. But they don't sit on a branch to peck it off, they fly to it, like a hmming bird and pluck it off in mid flight. Then they sit on the branch to digest it. After some time they expel the whole seed and collect snother avocado. The seeds will not germinate without this symbiotic relationship. So whilst the Quetzal is reliant upon the avocado, so the avocado is reliant upon the Quetzal for reproduction.

Not far from Trogan Lodge is a cafe called Kahawa (meaning coffee in Swahili). We were very interested to find out the story behind the name.
The owner of Trogan Lodge is also the owner of Kahawa. No, he is not from East Africa, he is Costa Rican. He told us he loved Kenya so much and loved the Maasai people so much that he called his cafe, Kahawa. He lived with the Maasai in their manata for 10 days. We failed to ask him what they fed him!
The photo above and below were taken from Kahawa, further down this beautiful valley.

Pacuare Lodge

Another chaotic transfer from Aninga to Puerto Blanco, where our luggage was unceremoniously plonked once again in the mud, and where we had to retrieve it fom a precarious position just next to the river. A 30 minute wait followed whilst everyone scrambled for cover with suitcases in tow to the meagre shelter of a nearby restaurant.
Incidently the restaurant charged everyone $1USD to go to the toilet. After a 3 hour boat trip back to the port or a rough one and a half bumpy drive to the port, needless to say everyone needed to use the facilities. They made four dollars from us alone. There were signs everywhere around warning people not to go near the vegetation because of dangerous snakes! Make your own conclusions!!
Why were we waiting? Well it was a shuttle service! Bring 120 + people in and ship the other 120+ people out. Very cost effective no doubt, but hardly made the experience feel special.
Lunch was served, at the same restaurant as breakfast two days before, after the hour and a half bus drive back.
It was a tremendous relief to be collected in a 4X4 Toyota Landcruiser by Pacuare Lodge. One of the German tourists Ana, looked on with great envy as they were herded back onto another bus to collect their rent-a-car.
We believe that Ana would have been far less envious when she saw the dirt road that we took to get to the lodge! Our faces broadened with great smiles. Here was a road that really needed a four wheel drive. Very steep, narrow, with large boulders and ruts, much like the roads we drive on in the outback! This place was obviously seriously out of the way!
The car eventually stopped besides a rushing river, the Rio Pacuare.
No bridge!
Our driver spoke no English and spoke not a word to us all the way.
When we reached the river, the luggage was removed from the vehicle and placed in a basket attached to a rope. We were directed to get into the badket with the luggage and told not to touch the rope. With that we were suddenly being wisked across the river by two men pulling the rope with a pulley on the other side.
Here we were met by Willman, the manager of Pecuare Lodge, in an electric golf buggy. "Hello Peter and Sue, welcome to Pecuare."
Driving besides the river were well manicured lawns and beautiful vegetation - all indigenous to the local area.
The reception was in a wooden building with no walls, just open to the elements.
STUNNING!
Our room was a River Suite called Gavalan, named after a bird.

Outside and inside bathroom, with private balcony.

The personal touch in this lodge is exemplary. All the staff knew who we were and called us by name when introducing themselves. Extraordinary.

Even the water bottle in the bathroom had a welcome message.
Service even better. An eco lodge that prides itself on sustainability, Pecuare Lodge is listed by National Geographic as one of the "unique" lodges of the world.
We were scheduled to take a hike to the cascade the next day. Very steep and very slippery. Peter chose to take the short cut back. Good choice as there were three streams to cross over slippery, unstable rocks. Not helpful with a very painful knee.

Not an elegant photo. It was hot and steamy, so the very cold water was blussful. I was already so wet, getting wetter didn't seem to be such a bad choice. So jumped with clothes and all.
Before reaching the cascade, we passed the display indigenous hut. Local indugenous families still live like this higher up the mountain.

When we arrived back at the lodge, Willman had arranged to upgrade us to another cottage. Peter was diffident as we had to pack everything again. I thought it might be interesting. So we moved......

A private swimming pool with fresh spring water flowing through it. An inside/ outside bathroom with bath. Full verandah with hammock and recliner lounges. Full sitting room with chairs and sofa. Very decadent, luxurious and a deligtful way to enjoy a jungle setting. How lucky were we?

Bar upstairs, dining outside. At night all lit by candles.

It was with great reluctance that we had to leave this paradise.
One more piece of excitement......
We had to raft out on the Pecuare Ricer on class 111 and class 1V rapids. Wonderful experience, with great staff, delucious lunch and wonderous scenery.
No photos unfortunately. Too dangerous to take photos mid-rafting here and the wet/dry bag not good enough to withstand the soaking that we received. We spent 3 hours rafting plus time for lunch and a swim in the river.
At 2.30, we arrived at the Pecuare warehouse to dry off and get into dry clothing. Our driver was waiting to take us to Trogon Lodge near San Gerada de Dota.

Beautiful scenery on the way.