Our New Office

This is the last day of our international exploration. Today, we get on a plane in Panama City and return to Denver for a wedding and to get caught up on life and to see family too.

It’s a little sad to leave Panama, but it’s also exciting to think about the next leg of our trip. Although we’ll be in the States, our lives will be far from “normal” for the next couple of months.  Once we get back we’ll have to dig through the storage unit, buy a car, and start to piece together our next set of travel plans. First stop Denver. Second stop Iowa. Third stop New York City.

You see, Jason and I have always planned on spending time in New York City. Originally, we were going to head there straight from Denver after Jason’s condo sold, but those plans morphed into something much bigger. Instead of one destination it’s now turned into 12.

New York was pushed off for a few reasons. First, we figured we didn’t have a mortgage so we might as well take advantage of our freelancer status and enjoy a little “telecommuting” in Asia. Once that was over, the timing worked out to meet my parents in Costa Rica. We liked it and so it just made sense to stay. Then, Panama sounded interesting so we thought we’d give that a try too. But now all that’s over.

Since this is my last post from abroad, I thought I’d recap some of the highlights from the last 10 months. It’s sort of amazing to think about all we’ve done.

1. We’ve been to Aruba, Tahoe, Des Moines, China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Hong Kong/Macau, San Francisco, Costa Rica, and Panama.
2. We both turned 30.
3. We have attended several weddings, including our own. Here’s Jason at our friends Kim and Kevin’s rehearsal dinner. Isn’t he handsome?  That’s the bride there in the background. Sorry Kim — action shot.
   
4. I spilled a glass of water on one laptop and we have failing hard drives in two others.
5. I only had two injuries to speak of. The first in Aruba when I got into some nasty coral and the second was in Costa Rica where I took on a big rock with my shins.
6. Took thousands of pictures and hundreds of them with silly faces.



7. Dozens of near-death traffic accidents.
8. Two free upgrades to first class…now that’s living.
9. One possible food poisoning event.
10. Have worn the same clothes over and over and over again. Including this purple t-shirt, which you probably recognize from almost all the pictures.



11. Only one accidental mooning.
12. Worked very hard.
13. Fell in love with a brand of coffee in almost every country (sorry China).
14. Walked through several of the stinkiest streets in the world (once again, sorry China, but your fish markets stink!).
15. Eaten some of the best and some of the worst food of our lives.

16. We’ve met some amazing people.
17. I bought and wore out four pairs of flip flops.
18. No serious sun burns.
19. Eaten 82 meals (including breakfast) that involved some kind of rice and bean combination.
20. Not a single case of theft, but we were overcharged countless times.
21. We grew to really miss our friends and to be super happy when the joined us on our travels.



22. Lost two ATM cards, had one ATM card expire, and made four consecutive trips to the ATM before said expiration to make sure we didn’t run out of cash during our last 3 weeks of travel:).
23. Rode an elephant and an ox cart and never need to do it again.
24. Saw 4 different kinds of monkeys, and scorpions, tarantulas, and countless types of lizards.
25. Speaking of lizards, Jason killed two of them.
26. We never saw a toucan:(
    
27. Jason and I had a lot of fun together. Who said couples can’t live together, work together, travel together, and still like to hang out?

Part I - Metropolitan Park

In case you were wondering, this is me doing the “bird watching pose” at the Parque Natural Metropolitano in Panama City. According to Frommer’s, this is the only protected tropical forest within the city limits of a major urban area in the Americas. As a side note, and just in case you were wondering this as well, my blond highlights are real.

While this was a nice hike and a nice afternoon break, our bird watching was not all that successful. I think bird watching may be one of the most difficult sports I’ve done. You hear them, but they’re darn near impossible to see — especially in the rain forest with all that foliage.

But it wasn’t entirely fruitless. We did manage to see a few birds and even the infamous “Jesus Christ Lizard” who ran over a little pond as we finished up our hike.

This is a red-headed woodpecker that Jason managed to get a shot of.

Part II - The Non-Bird Watching Part

On Saturday we went to Panama Viejo, which is a part of town where you can find the ruins of the “oldest capital city in the Americas.” I could go into the details of the history here, but Wikipedia will be much more informative and accurate. Suffice it to say that Captain Henry Morgan came here in the 1600s and destroyed the city. After that, the survivors relocated to Casco Viejo, the other “old town” in Panama City. The good news is that many of the old ruins remain.

It rained in the middle of our tour so Jason and I played an impromptu game of cherades in the old cathedral. Here he is looking for birds.

Part III - Soberania National Park

A few days after our in-town bird watching trip, we drove out of town to Gamboa where you’ll find a rain forest and Gatun Lake — the man made lake that allows all those ships to pass through Panama. We got up nice and early so we could see the much-heralded toucan, but like I mentioned before … there are no toucans in Central America.

We did, however, see a lot of amazing sights. We climbed up a 90-foot tower to look at the tip tops of trees and we hiked down several paths to find monkeys, leaf cutter ants, and other fun jungle creatures.

This is Gatun Lake - quite a sight.

I’m not sure what is in the air here, (it is the world’s largest urban jungle after all) but something makes me itch in Panama City.

I’m on day 7 of Clarityne and day 5 of benadryl and not much is helping. I’m best off wearing jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts to prevent the crazy itching I’ve got going on.

Anyway … I know you don’t care about that and neither do I really.

What I really care about is the fact that this whole “toucan” claim that Central Americans make every chance they get, is actually a big scam.

There are no toucans here. I’ve looked everywhere. I’ve officially put toucans in the same category as unicorns and leprechauns.

And don’t be leaving any comments here about how you’ve seen all kinds of toucans. I’ve heard the stories and even seen the pamphlets. I still don’t believe it.

On the other hand, Panama and Costa Rica do have an abundance of humming birds. These little guys are loud! And fast!

Recently, Natalie from the Nomad Backpackers blog reached out to us for a virtual interview about our telecommuting lifestyle.

Of course we were honored, and of course we participated. If you’d like to read the whole Q&A, head on over to Nomad Backpackers and read the Our New Office interview.

Natalie even makes a reference to tiny bananas. In case you haven’t already heard, they are delicious.

1 - You hear the non-stop sound of honking horns and car alarms.

2 - You can find bite-size-bananas; 18 for 50 cents. They are delicious.

3 - There are fireworks most nights right in the middle of the city. I’m talking big, exciting displays next door to the high-rise building we’re staying in.

4 - The Red Devils

5 - Coke out of the bottle. Also, delicious.

6 - Colorful handicrafts. It appears that all the random handicrafts in Panama are authentic, unlike a lot of other places we’ve visited.

7 - 49 cent beers

8 - Flowering trees and shrubs of all colors. The orange is my favorite.

We’ve gotten to see quite a bit in the last week or so. We’ve also gotten a lot of work done, so it’s been a nice mix of work and play in the remote and ever-changing Lancaster household. Here are the highlights:

We toured the Old Downtown (a/k/a Casco Viejo or Old Quarter or Casco Antiguo), but unfortunately forgot the camera (Doy). Out of 10 months of travel this is the only camera mishap so far, which is actually pretty impressive, I think.

Anyway, trust me when I say that it was an afternoon filled with:

• a delightful walking tour
• Cuban food for lunch
• Italian espresso after lunch
• nice views of the coast and city skyline
• interesting colonial architecture
• beautiful renovated theaters and churches
• impending storm clouds, and
• a museum devoted to the history of The Panama Canal, which we were told included English language descriptions, but actually only had one small sign in English out of the 100 or so other signs in Spanish.

But, there was air conditioning so we didn’t complain.

Over the weekend we rented a car and headed to Coronado, which is about an hour to the southwest of Panama City. On the way, we realized we had made a big accomplishment without even realizing it.

We’ve officially visited South America. All this while we thought we were in North America, but Panama City is in South America. This means we’ve officially visited three continents in our travels. Above is a picture of the Bridge of the Americas, which connects both North and South America. It’s also along the road you take from Panama City to Coronado.

According to the sign, “Coronado is Life,” so I’m glad we got to visit. Who knew what we were missing!

Actually, there’s not a whole lot here except a black sand beach, which was tough to get to and the water has some crazy waves and rip tides going on so we didn’t even get in.

Just to get on to the beach we had to wade through this … ick.

Besides the not-so-great beach, we did manage to find one of the best restaurants we’ve ever eaten at. Fire roasted chicken with fried yucca is my new favorite meal — but only from Restaurante Don Chacho in Coronado.

We also found our way to El Valle de Anton, the world’s second largest extinct volcano. The town of El Valle sits right in its crater.

Funny thing is that we had no idea what El Valle was all about until I started researching for this here post. I think its apparent that after so much time exploring new sights, Jason and I are starting to get lazy. First we forget the camera and now this!!!

But the good news is that without knowing the details at the time, El Valle was still a lovely place with its cloud forest, cool temperatures, and market.

We finished off the day with a mini photo shoot and some adventure travel in the car. Turns out navigating Panama City isn’t as difficult as the tour books will tell you.

Wanted to share a travel tip with all you fellow roamers. Actually, this tip might come in handy for all of you, even if you aren’t traveling.

When out and about and looking for a place to pee, you might want to refer to SitorSquat.com on your fancy phone. The site lists different public bathrooms including photos of the toilet and information about whether or not it is suitable for seating.

This is one handy tool. I mean, which one of us hasn’t struggled to find a place to wee that is clean and comfortable?

The reviews are all generated by bathroom users just like you. I searched for Panama and there are not bathroom reviews yet, but then I checked into New York City and wow. There are a quite a few reviews for NYC and some I’m certain to refer to once we’re there in June.

On the page I also saw a funny YouTube video of a bear trying out for a Charmin commercial. I know this seems random, but Charmin sponsors sitorsquat.com. You should watch it, it’s kind of funny. There’s also a nice shout out to my Des Moines peeps.

It took less than a day in Panama City to notice the crazy bus system they’ve got going on here. The city buses are privately owned and operated completely independent of the city.

The “Red Devils,” as they are affectionately called, were obvious to us for a few reasons.

1 - They are recycled US school buses.

2 - The Red Devils are packed so full of passengers that people are normally spilling out of the doors.

3 - Since they are all private, each individual bus owner does their best to make each bus splashier and more eye-catching than all the others. Bright colored paint, air brushing, and graffiti-style designs decorate many of the buses.

4 - The bus’ destination is printed on the wind shield in wild and wacky colors, and there is normally a man that stands on the steps of the bus and yells out the destination.

While I really like Panama’s Red Devils, I could see why others look at them as an eye sore and a hazard. Apparently, they aren’t always that safe.

Straight out of our Fodors travel book it says: “Tourists are most comfortable in cabs here. There are no written bus routes and the “Red Devil” buses are often in the news for their unsafe conditions.”

This, to me, is a bummer. I’m a fan of mass transportation. I feel like you haven’t really explored a city until you’ve navigated the maps and routes of mass transit. But, I’m also a fan of safety. On top of that, we can walk many places and cabs are only $2 within the downtown area so I’m not complaining.

If you want to know more about the Red Devils, check out my Squidoo lens on Panama Red Devil Buses. Time magazine published an article about the buses yesterday too. There’s a link to the article on my lens.

Today was a big day in our month-long Panamanian journey. First things first, we headed to the Panama Canal to watch the ships pass through the Miraflores Locks.

It was quite a sight. To be standing there watching something we’ve been hearing about all of our lives.  I learned a lot and am wondering what will happen to the environment, the economy, and Panama once they’re done expanding the canal with another set of locks so the real big dogs can pass through. Did you know they are going to use the dirt and rock they dig up from the expansion to build an island in the Panama Bay?

From here we drove up the Cerro Ancon (a big, random hill) for a few spectacular views of the city. Again, another amazing sight. This one reminded us that there is still so much for us to see and do in Panama City. If it weren’t for the rain and lightening headed our way, we might’ve seen more. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.

After our brief adventure in Bocas del Toro we made our way to Panama City where we will stay for the next month. I think it’s safe to say that Jason and I are both ecstatic to be in a city again. In fact, as the plane was landing Jason was so excited that he was bouncing in his seat.

Of course, four months of Costa Rican eco-tourism has its perks: clean air (sometimes), clean water (sometimes), wildlife, starry nights, and the just plain quiet is oh-so-nice. But if you were to ask me what I like more, I’d tell you I like the sound of honking horns, the shopping, and the crowded sidewalks of a city more.

After just a few days here, it’s obvious we are in for a big change. On our first night there were fireworks being lit off the roof of a nearby club.

The next day we went to the grocery store and I couldn’t help but notice that no one is wearing beach attire. My wardrobe of flip flops and summer dresses is no longer applicable. Why didn’t I bring my heels and black pants?

We took a walk to the waterfront and managed to see almost every American restaurant chain known to me. It’s my goal to not go to any one of these places, but if I find a Starbucks I might make an exception.

Our place in Costa Rica was nice, but our apartment in Panama City is fantastic. Its much bigger than I expected and we even have a view.

That’s about it for Panama City so far. Well, except for the $29 Jason won at a nearby casino and our shoe shopping extravaganza at the mall.

The real excitement will come later. For now, we need to recover from a couple of colds, catch up on work, and make the time for bus tours, walking tours, and ship watching.

Stay tuned…