Short Walks, Day Trips and New Friends

El Valle

As the guide book states, "El Valle is a picturesque town nestled in the crater of a giant extinct volcano, ringed by verdant forests and jagged peaks".  It is about 45 minutes from here by car and we arranged to take a day tour there with a Panamanian tour company. 

The valley is about 3 miles across and is surrounded by the hills seen in the distance

The thing that El Valle is most famous for is being home to el rana dorado (the golden frog).  We visited a conservation center where they are working to preserve this endangered species.  It seems that there is a virus spread by fungus that is killing off many species of tree frog across the world. 

One of our stops was Chorro El Macho or Manly Falls.  There were many old Indiana Jones-type suspension bridges we needed to cross to get to the falls. 

Chorro El Macho in the back

William and his wife were with our group.  William is from the Nederlands and his wife is from Pakistan.  William works all over the world for the European Union and they were spending the week in a number of countries in Central America.  The gentleman next to me was our guide, Jose.

Our lunch spot, a small family-run restaurant on the main street of El Valle

There is a large market with Central American crafts on one side and produce on the other

Panamanian Hospitality in the Neighborhood

We live near Gorgona, a very small village that has 2 restaurants.  We previously shared pictures of La Ruina (one of the restaurants) and wanted to share something about the other one across the street.  The second restaurant is called Rincon Catracho and we were told it was open for breakfast and lunch Thursday through Sunday.  We decided to walk over on Friday morning and have breakfast.  When we got there we could see that is was closed, but I wanted a closer look at the menu that was written on a chalkboard posted outside.  As I was looking through the gate, the lady who runs the restaurant (who speaks only Spanish) asked us to come in.  Through gestures and with our little bit of Spanish, she communicated that she would make us breakfast. 

The restaurant is also her house and all the tables are under a covered porch in the front

The mural pretty much captures life in Gorgona

Getting ready for breakfast.  Yes there were also real chickens running around.

Breakfast was excellent!  It was the only place we have ever been where there was horse on the menu.  (Neither of us selected that as our entree.)

New Friends:

Over the last few weeks we have met many wonderful people living and/or taking extended vacations in the area.  Last night we were able to have dinner with the people who picked us up on the side of the road (previous blog post) and took us to the book signing.  They brought along another couple and we had a delicious dinner at the restaurant here at the condo complex.  Most of the people we have met here are world travelers, so it is great to listen to all of their interesting stories!