We found a beautiful town called Chitre that really made us feel that we had at last found somewhere that we could get a feel for ‘real’ life. Technically, it was a city as they have a lovely Cathedral - but it was only a miniature one so it did feel more like a town.
Our hotel, which for once was a reasonable price, looked out onto the main plaza and it was great to be able to sit on the balcony and observe the locals emerging as the sun went down and it becomes cool enough to sit and chat. As we had moved inland from the coast we were beginning to really feel how hot is does get here. It must be in the mid 30s by 11am and can only really fall to the high 20s during the night. The guide book talks of massive deforestation which contributes to the heat but does also ensure that there is a fairly constant wind blowing which helps to keep things bearable. On the minus side it also makes the place a tinderbox that flares up very regularly.
The locals are really lovely, there is often a smile and a Buenas Dias for us and they humour my attempts to communicate with them in Spanish very generously. It must be really painful to hear your own language being so brutalized, but they smile through it all and manage to understand enough of it to give me an answer that vaguely matches my questions. Brett makes me laugh as his attempts at Spanish generally emerge as Italian and he is constantly surprised when this only elicits polite, yet quizzical, looks. Still, it’s early days and I’m sure we’ll get a bit better at it.
We decided to hire a car from here so that we can really explore things a bit better. The buses are great but you are limited to their timetable and their routes, which is OK to get from A to B but less so for those hidden corners. Plus, it has also meant that we have been able to experience something that we wouldn’t have known about - car hire and driving in Panama.
The distances are not so great between towns - it is only about 350 Km from Panama City to the other side of the country. OK the roads are a bit hit and miss. The best roads have a dual carriageway and are newly tarmac'd/paved. But mostly, it is long single lane roads with that really bumpy old concrete and peppered with amazing potholes. Consequently, one driving skill is knowing when oncoming traffic is going to swerve in front of you to avoid their potholes whilst mananging your own swerving to avoid yours!!!!! Most of the cars are 4x4s because they have to be.
For example...
We did manage to squeeze past this one and only grounded the car very lightly honest.
We are only driving here in the dry season and it is perfectly understandable that only the bigger cars could manage the side roads in the wet season - in fact there are quite a few roads that we weren't able to risk because of their poor condition.
An American couple had told us to be careful if we did hire a car as the wheels of the car they had been given had fallen off because of stripped wheel nuts. So, the usual car hire once-over became more like an MOT check. Not in vain either as 2 bald front tyres (I kid you not) needed changing. I swear all he did was find a different car and swap them over. I can only hope the person who gets that one knows to check it thoroughly.
Day one with the car …
… we mosey off on a scenic loop with the traveller’s fantasy that we will find little gems here and there. In reality, the roads we travel bear no resemblance to the road map that we have and the Panamanians seem to have a marked aversion to road signs. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they have a inverted aversion to road signs. The signs they do have aren’t any that are marked on the map and those we are looking at on the map don’t exist on the road. So, imagine the car conversations. “Look there is a sign that says left for Cerricito is that on the road we want?” “Uhhhhh, No, can‘t see it.” “We’re just coming up to Pueblo Alejedro, is this the right road?” “Uhhhh, can’t see it on the map.” “Just coming up to a fork in the road darling, which one will I take?” “Can’t see a fork on this map.”
Plus, the map and guidebook tell you that you are potentially within 50 yards of something rather special but there is nothing on the ground to help you pin it down any more accurately. Consequently - the Villa where they wrote their letter to Simon Bolivar, the ancient stones and the beautiful, oldest church in Panama will remain as hidden gems for us. But we did get to see Trinidad up the dead end road. Most of the time you only know you are really on the right road because all the buses have their routes marked on their windscreens, so this lets you know you are driving towards where they start or where they finish - with luck you are going in the right direction.
Overall, the scenic loop did us very well as we saw lots of villages and village life. The main way of life belongs to cattle and sugar cane farming, although it’s hard to see how each family makes its living.
We had a particularly hairy 20km drive back to the main road on our way back to the hotel. Inevitably, we didn’t have much time to spare because we wanted to be back before it got dark and we hadn't bargained on the fact that they were resurfacing the whole road. I'm not sure why car rental places bother giving people white cars! I hope it doesn't say anything in the small print about it being my responsibility to clean it.
By the way, if anyone knows the Panamanian etiquette if you hit one of their chickens with your car, please do let me know. I swear it jumped in front of me on purpose.
The following day (Wednesday) we decided to head further inland towards one of the mountain towns. Well blow me down if a lovely policeman didn't decide that I was speeding! OK, it is feasible that I was - but you can't keep an eye on the road, potholes, brush fires, overtaking juggernauts and your speedo all at once surely?
We tried to blag our way out of it but he was adamant that we should have seen the speed sign that really wasn't there. He then proceeded to explain that we would have to turn around and drive 40km back the way we had come to pay the $100 fine and until then he would keep my licence. We had heard and read about the propensity for the police to accept bribes - but how do you introduce this in broken spanish? I'm sure the poor bloke was thinking - I'm making it as hard as possible for them to pay this legally when are they going to get the point? It was very funny, I've never seen a policeman so reluctant to start writing on a ticket.
Eventually Brett managed to ask him, in Italian, could we possibly pay it more directly. Hooray ... now all we have to do is to negotiate the price. Well, he got $30 out of us which is the usual $10 plus the tourist tax! Next time we will only have 10 bucks in our wallets and I'm sure that will suffice. I wonder if the locals or those in the know don't even bother getting out of their cars when they get stopped - just chuck the $10 at them and save everyone the time.
Some more pics for this one later I hope. We are taking the car back to Chitre and I hope to get a few that I missed the first time.
Bye for now ...
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