ruthkennedysretirementblog

2019 Playas….beaches…Pedasi

This time of the year makes me wonder if I am crazy for not being home for Christmas. Sure miss those grandkids.

And then we go for a drive and as I look at the splendour all around I think maybe we are ok. This is just a random view from the car.

We have been to quite a few beaches since coming to Pedasi. Each one is beautiful and somewhat different. For the most part there are good size waves….but not always.

Thought this beach was my favourite…. up there for sure, but maybe no longer number one.

Playa Destiladeros is the first beach we visited, this is where we lost our sunglasses (my first pair of many) and hats. Wild waves.

We went back a couple of days ago and it was much calmer. I love how the road ends where the beach / ocean starts.

Playa Destiladeros goes on forever…I swear. According to my phone we walked 7000 steps, and still beach as far as the eye could see. At some point I had walked far enough….

Daryl was so far ahead I could not tell if he was coming or going. He did come back…lol

The scenery on this same beach changed so much, from wide sandy beach to rocks to large red pillars.

Playa El Toro…Bull Beach… is quite close to town, maybe a couple of kilometres. it is one of the more popular beaches, but a tad rocky. Quite windy when we were there and that kept me out of the water in conjunction with the picture about the crazy currents.

We also went to Playa Playita. During the entire month of November this was the calmest beach. Unfortunately we have no pictures of the beach itself, except one and the color is off.

Arenal is another beach close to town. Lots of fishing boats, also where you can catch a boat to go to Isla Iguana. We still haven’t been there but need to, supposed to be the best place around for snorkelling.

This trip to Playa El Arenal was on a Sunday, lots of families out enjoying the water.

What’s a person supposed to do when they lose their hat, haven’t yet found one that fits and it is blistering hot outside?? Umbrella’s work (it was $4 at the fish market in Panama City when we got caught in the rain).

Playa Venao, I heard it’s the best surfers beach around.

Early on we had been to Playa Escondido and it was quite rough. A couple of days ago we went back and it was absolutely calm.

This sign indicated there is a coral reef quite close to the beach. We went snorkelling. Sure nothing like Roatan last year. Felt really good to be in calm water.

The mask was so tight, I had marks on my face for two days….truth.

After Playa Escondido, on our way home at a fork in the road we turned left, instead of right…doing a bit of exploring. We came to another fantastic beach. There was no signage so no idea what it is called.

There was one other group besides us. Definitely could have gone swimming but we had just finished snorkelling.

The beauty surrounding us is outstanding. I am beyond thankful to have the opportunity, and the health, to be able to enjoy this experience.

There is still so much to do and see.

Cheers

Ruth

2019, Pedasi, Panama Daryl goes fishing

Daryl was up before day light and headed out for a day of fishing with our neighbour and his wife. I have to say nine hours out in the ocean in a small boat without a cover is not my idea of fun so I didn’t go!! But I am loving the pictures… and the fish.

At day light they started from Punta Mala, the water was calm, but I heard it didn’t stay that way all day!

Looks like the vultures and pelicans were waiting for a good catch.

Good bye land.

Something is biting….and it has to be successfully brought in.

Yeah! successfully landed. Although the fish Daryl is holding is not the one being brought in… as Daryl was the official photographer.

Here it is in all its glory.

Chilling and waiting…more like roasting and waiting!!

Time to clean up the mahi mahi and yellow fin tuna, and go home.

Those birds know a good thing when they see it.

By the time Daryl arrived home, I would say there was a little hurting going on. Looks like the sunglasses did their job.

I might not have liked the small boat ocean fishing, but I sure liked the outcome.

My job for the day was to get wasabi and soya sauce and I was successful. We had sashimi for dinner. Unfortunately it was such a great taste sensation, I totally forgot to get a picture.

The next night we had mahi mahi, or dorado, as it is called here. Thankfully our outside stove worked.

With a good glass of wine we were set to go.

Yummmmy

Cheers

Ruth

2019 Flowers around Pedasi

I have about a 7 or 8 minute walk to yoga. The pictures of most of these flowers and shrubs/trees have been taken on this short walk. There are so many shades of green and then the most brilliant splashes of color. Unfortunately I don’t know the plant names, maybe that will be my next project!!

Pretty sure this one is ginger.

I initially thought this lovely white flower was growing out of the newly shorn ‘tree stump fence post’, but there is a plant behind it that has shot up.

This Aloe Vera is sitting on our driveway, Daryl sure used it after getting burnt to a crisp on a fishing trip.

Outside our front door we have this tree with barely any leaves. Then one day it flowered.

This tree is just at the end of our street.

I do believe this hibiscus against the brilliant blue sky is my favourite. We have lots in our yard.

There are so many beautiful flowering plants and fruit trees providing splashes of color throughout the shades of green….loving it. And if you are able to identify, please let me know.

Cheers

Ruth

2019, Food and other interesting little tidbits Pedasi, Panama

We found the cutest little juice bar…. I had my first green drink since arriving in Pedasi. Daryl had a papaya smoothie. And what did we talk about, the absolute best blender for making smoothies is a Vitamix. It did prompt us to go out and buy a blender….although not a Vitamix it works like a charm.

The lady who owns the juice bar is also my yoga instructor. She is the gal who brought changa to yoga for breakfast.

Shopping in Pedasi is not bad, we can get most things we need in one of the four grocery stores in town, or the Friday morning market.

The bacon slices are huge, one slice plenty for breakfast…or dinner….for one.

The fruit and apple cider we can get locally, the hydrophonic lettuce and smoked meat came from the nearest ‘bigger’ town. The lemons are from our back yard. There is also trucks driving around selling their wares, this one has large shrimp, for $3 a pound. We enjoyed them, both grilled and sautéed with garlic and ginger.

Our quest to learn Spanish continues. This year we are taking lessons with just us and the instructor…and then we come home and have to do homework. The top line on the board….how to order at a meat counter.

I know it is a little weird showing cemeteries, but every one we have seen….and there are many…. are beautifully maintained.

I have seen only one lawnmower in the Pedasi area, whipper snippers and machetes seem to be the tools of choice.

When this guy was finished all of the greenery was gone, only the “tree stump fence posts” were left.

The world’s tiniest front end loader…ok, so maybe a slight exaggeration. It was neat watching it drive in front of our place.

Wet mold on a driveway is as slippery as sheet ice… I tried it out, went down hard. Amazing what a pressure hose can do!

We heard the little town of El Paraiso had the best smoked meat… at a fonda, a restaurant selling typical Panamian food. With great difficulty we found it but they were all out of smoked meat. We did get pastelitos de maíz nuevo…yummy deep fried new corn patties.

The friendly little parrot was the only customer in the restaurant.

It sure gets hot around here. With the humidity it feels even hotter. We keep hearing dry season is coming, temperatures will remain high but there will be a nice breeze.

Sure is an interesting little town. When we stopped looking for touristy things, and started to live our day to day life, we found so much to do.

Cheers

Ruth

Sorrel….and Hibiscus, 2019 Pedasi

We have a lot of Hibiscus trees in our yard. Even though the flowers don’t last long, more keep coming.

Daryl decided to make Sorrel. We found a recipe on-line and started the process.

First he dried some Hibiscus petals. Then added to water.

Next he added orange peel, a cinnamon stick and star anise.

A little stirring, let it simmer for a bit, and we watched the color coming out of the Hibiscus leaves.

Then we let it sit for the flavors to meld.

Next came the straining….we don’t have any fancy equipment so we used a coffee filter. It worked like a charm.

And another straining.

Almost taste testing time. The recipe said to add sugar to taste. We didn’t.

A nice refreshing spiced drink. Next time we will use more dried Hibiscus leaves to try and make the drink a richer red.

Cheers

Ruth

Making Changa….with verbal instructions

Where in the world can you go and your yoga instructor brings freshly made changa for breakfast. It happened in Panama…. Pedasi to be exact.

This was a new taste sensation for me and I loved it. I also got to bring some home so Daryl could have a taste.

The ‘dough’ is made with fresh corn, water and salt. One of the ladies at yoga had an extra bag that she gave me….along with plantain leaves.

The dough was super soft. Initially I tried to roll it out like pie crust. That didn’t work so I put a handful on a plantain leaf and flattened it out.

Then I wrapped it up

And put it in a frying pan

After 7 or 8 minutes I flipped them over.

The first attempt was a little skimpy with the plantain leaves, so I added extra, and back to the frying pan.

Much better.

Almost testing time.

The changa is supposed to be served with Panama cheese…queso panama… but we didn’t have any and it was pouring buckets outside, so we used what we had. Gouda. It was also too late in the day for coffee…so we made do with a different beverage.

Worked for us. The most flavor I could taste was corn…. there was another taste, probably the plantain leaf, but nothing I could identify.

Now this is how the pro’s do it

Thanks Clarissa and Mirayda. Mine were good too.

Cheers

Ruth

2019, Playa El Rincón, my favourite beach so far

We had heard there is a beautiful beach not far from Pedasi. We drove to the little town of Mirabé and headed down a side road. We took a nicely paved road that ended at the ocean.

We went to Playa El Rincón during the week. We were the only car in the parking lot, and the only people on the beach.

Facing the ocean, to the right was soft, sandy beach as far as the eye could see. To the left it was a little rockier.

And, of course, we provided our own entertainment.

**This sign always freaks me out, makes me want to stay out of the ocean.**

In the distance you can see Isla Iguana, where we will go snorkelling, its about a 10 minute boat ride.

We walked to ‘the corner’ of the L shape on the beach…la rincón…. absolutely no shiver factor, but quite rocky on the old toes.

**Couldn’t get close** enough to get a good picture.

So much awesomeness….blows me away.

Just us and the dogs on this beautiful beach.

Absolutely loving retirement.

Thanks Dave for help wth bird naming.

Cheers

Ruth

2019 Critters around Pedasi

Somedays I realize a good camera would be such an asset. However, when you travel with only carry on luggage (love my Away Carry-on with pocket) suitcase, everything has to be small. I might need to get a new phone if this is going to be my primary camera…sure would like a good zoom and a tripod.

This not so little critter….they mostly seem to be around 2 to 3 inches long…. was sitting on the back of a chair when I went outside to wash the table before dinner. And we have a resident cat, we call her Day. Her sister, who visits less frequently, is Night.

They are all different, but seem to have pokey eyes and lots of legs.

This baby was about 3″ long, not sure how Daryl spotted it in the dark.

Praying Mantis

This little lizard (about 9-10 inches long) was running around, then it disappeared down this hole. Shortly afterwards we saw the cat with his paw all the way down the hole….but she came away with nothing….thank goodness.

This little gecko was only about an inch long.

And we have frogs….all sizes and shapes.

There are many butterflies and moths….but they flit around very quickly! This is a Moth Caterpillar being destroyed by the over-sized ants.

This brown moth….maybe a Black Witch Moth….thanks Dave C, was sitting on the wall one night when we were BBQing. Its wing span was about 4 inches.

This butterfly was blue when wings were open, and as below, brown when closed.

And we have so many birds, but way too fast for photographs. A good camera with a zoom would be a big help.

Maybe a yellow Headed Caracara….thanks Dave. It’s a big bird.

This big fella went for a swim in the pool, right besides the ocean.

Can’t really see those two besides the rocks, they have the cutest red beaks.

Scarlet Macaw

There are so many crabs on the beach, again hard to capture as they run into the millions of little holes in the sand.

Those two were “rockin and rollin”, I could not get the 6 second video to upload.

Pretty sure these are Hermit Crabs, they walk side ways and disappear inside their shell if you get too close.

Then we have the big critters

Daryl got to feed the monkey.

This little deer was walking around the beach, not even a wee bit of fear.

The horses were almost in our back yard, only separated by the barb wire fence.

And don’t you just love the hump back cows.

Now that is a bunch of critters.

Cheers

Ruth

2019, Pedasi, out and about

Hard to beleive we have been in Pedesi for a month already. There are not many tourist activities to do, so Daryl and I have started driving down country roads and doing a bit of exploring.

On our first outing we drove to Limon, just a couple of km from Pedasi, and took a side road.

We ended up in Punta Mala. The road ended at the ocean and the views were spectacular.

The humidity was quite obvious as soon as we stepped out of the air conditioned vehicle.

There was one other couple besides us (the gentleman had inadvertently gone for a swim). A fishing boat had just come in with those lovely trout…ok I don’t know what they are, maybe yellow snapper….or yellow jacks…or amber jacks??? But those suckers were big. One of the guys took a lobster out of the white bag, we couldn’t buy as El Capitan was not around to give a price.

The water was very refreshing…even if the beach was a tad rocky.

One might easily be confused and think we were home. Besides grain farming we also passed herds of cows.

The cows sure look different.

The next day we went in the opposite direction to a little town called Pocri. This road started out differently. But, hey, landfill has to go somewhere and the vultures were happy!

We ended up in another beautiful fishing village. Even better there was fish for sale.

They were all cleaned and ready to go.

And so yummy.

We have had torrential rains for the past two days which has curtailed our adventures. Sounds like we are in the transition period between rainy season and summer.

Cheers

Ruth

Hi, my name is Ruth

In the summer of 2018 we retired. Our goal was to do a bit of travelling and we have. With absolutely more to come.

We spent the first winter in Roatan. Before we left Calgary at the end of October 2018 I decided to keep a record or our trip…and started a blog.

My attempts at creation have been a labor of love…and frustration. I have to add probably not the greatest quality, but memories for years to come.

So we are now into our second year and I am trying a different blog site…one that I am actually paying money to use.
My hope is this site will be easier to navigate

It is mostly a record of our trips in photos.

Anyone who views this, I sure hope you realize that retirement does not have to be the end of the world. Matter of fact it has been one amazing adventure after another for us.

Cheers

Ruth