The bus picked us up at the corner at Venao Cove as we waited with the couple from Hungary. We had a scenic journey in the small local bus, that picked us up on the corner. The back seat was small so I had to sit sideways, but I was grateful to have transportation. It made several stops along told the bus driver that we were looking for the Terpel gas station. Christine, the home owner of our vacation rental said her house was just up the road from there. We went to a local cafe and called her and she picked us up from the cafe. The one bedroom house among her flower garden was beautiful!
Her dogs were there to greet us.It had a large kitchen,many fans, and big windows that opened up into farmland with fields with cattle grazing, and chorus of birds singing, with the breeze flowing through the house . We organized ourselves first walking to the Chinese grocery close to our new accommodation,and bought food and a cell phone. The cell phone was 25.00 US the sim card was 3.00 and we bought 15.00 worth of minutes for local calls, this has lasted us a long time. We noticed that the temperature was extremely hot, dropped our groceries in our well equipped kitchen,and took a taxi to the beach. This particular beach was where the fishing boats come in. Fish we are told can be bought locally, however most of the fish at this time of year is sold to restaurants.
We walked along the isolated beach…the heat was extreme. I went down to the water. The beauty of it was breathtaking, with the beach continuing on for miles and miles. The water had many powerful waves, and I stayed along the outskirts. As we strolled along I saw a bug about one and a half inches long with a curled tail approach my leg. I screeched loudly as it bit me feeling like a wasp bite x 20. Pain in the hand of nature was sculpting me to stay in touch with my highest self. Swelling and red, the pain was searing and lasted for a long time. At least with a wasp you know what it is. Once we reached the road, there was a policeman, and I tried to ask him in English with sign language as to what the insect was. He shrugged and walked away. It had a curly tail and was very aggressive in the manner that it bit my leg. Are there scorpions on the beach? No one seemed to know. I decided it was just going to get better, and put on polysporin that I had in my bag.There was a local area where the fisherman were drinking beer, so we had a Balboa for 1.00, and I used it to ice my leg.Here is some information I got from the internet on biting insects on the beach in Central America. Apparently the best treatment is to put vaseline and then a bandaid,and use deodorant for the itching.It was about an inch and a half long with a curled tail..that is what I know for sure, and I thought for sure it had wings.If anyone can what bit me was actually a large type of sand flea please let me know for my research.All I can find is what I have below.
Tungiasis: Tungiasis is caused by the burrowing wingless flea Tunga penetrans(Tunga penetrans is also known by the following names: chigoe flea, sand flea, nigua, chigger flea, jigger flea, bicho de pé, pico, sikka, kuti, and piqui, ) which is endemic to certain areas of the world including Central and South America, the Caribbean Islands, Africa, Pakistan, and India. The impregnated female burrows into the upper dermis resulting in a lesion resembling an abscess. If secondary infection does not occur, the lesion usually resolves without treatment following discharge of the eggs and the death of the female. Complications can include secondary infection and rarely tetanus and gangrene.
We eventually got a taxi by spotting one and running down to the road. It was driven by a Panamanian man who looked 80 and he wore a cute hat with the front curled up.
I was getting hungry, and needed to have nutrition at this point. We asked to go to Smilies which is a local restaurant that is owned by an expat, and is a popular place that expats go and listen to music. I ordered a big salad with fish. Glenn had a great conversation with John the owner of the restaurant. John loves music and plays music with his friends and comrades in the band. John has an amazing history of the events that led to him and his wife becoming expats and settling in Pedasi.The town is quiet and clean with friendly local people and expats. Fresh vegetables are difficult to get in the Azuero Peninsula, and I am told that expats shop for them in David. Eighty percent of produce comes from the Chiriqui Province in Panama.
The next morning we woke up with the intention of looking at real estate, and connected with Mark Heilbron who gave us an incredible safari tour of properties for sale. There were some amazing properties in the area, and Mark gave us some insights of the land in his four wheel drive that were very thorough and well informed of years of them first visiting the area and renting and then living in it for many years. We went in his four when drive to many areas of Pedasi and had honest local details and accounts of people, places and possibilities.There is a prince and an ex president that have chosen this beautiful Azuero Peninsula to live.We saw cattle round ups,horses grazing in lush grass and stunning rolling pastureland with rivers running through it, with many large beautiful tree.Howler monkeys are living in this area along the river.
After much research we decided to rent a car to travel across Panama.We asked local expats how to bus to Las Lajas in Chiquiri and then onto Boca Chica and they were not sure of the logistics. We researched buses online, and although they do travel between Panama City and David ,It was tricky to travel from Pedasi to Boca Chica. We would first need to find our way to Las Tablas, transfer to Chitra and then Santiago and then hope that our connection could get us there all in one day. At this point in our trip driving was the only reasonable option. Glenn rented a car from Thrifty’s in Pedasi, and they provided us with a nice compact vehicle for a reasonable price with good seatbelt and airbags. We were happy to have the freedom of the vehicle, but were aware there could be challenges with driving in Panama. We packed and were on on way to the Chiriqui Province.
My next blogs will be about driving the Pan American Highway from Pedasi to Boquete, Las Lajas,Isla Boca Brava,Boca Chica,David, Boquete,Isla Bastisimos,Colon in Bocas Del Toro Panama.
