Adventures in Panama: A Long Tale

After taking numerous modes of transit, I found myself in front of a large cement brick structure in a sleepy fishing village on the Pacific side of Panama. That morning I had been at my Venice apartment, nestled in my corner of one of the largest cities in the world. That's when my friend Pope came to pick me up at the local super market

He greeted me with a smile and a deeply burned face. His friend Alice was driving a tiny jeep-esque vehicle, we popped in for a few supplies, and soon were on the road to my digs for the next 48 or so hours. I've always enjoyed my LA digs, but nothing prepared me for what was available to rent in the middle of nowhere Panama. At a thousand words a piece, I'll let the pictures tell this story.

The tiny dirt road leading to The Place...

The Place.

These were only two of the half a dozen nuts staying at The Place.

The Pacific. At lower tide, the sand is nearly all black.

Yeah.

Always finish with a Panama.

"They were indeed a queer-looking party that assembled on the bank--the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and uncomfortable. 

"The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite a long argument with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, `I am older than you, and must know better'; and this Alice would not allow without knowing how old it was, and, as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to be said. 

"At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of authority among them, called out, `Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'll soon make you dry enough!' They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon."

 - Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Tomorrow, I get to know some of the interesting characters that Pope had assembled in Panama.

To Be Continued ...