December 17th, 2008, 3 Comments »
We’re back in Bocas Town for some internet access and a few days’ change of scene after a week out at Punta Laurel. I just uploaded sixty photos from the trip (here’s a slide show). If I had to pick three favourites, they would be:
Punta Laurel is essentially a series of thatched huts connected by walkways, built around a big rock and above a coral reef. It’s designed for groups of up to about ten people, but we’re the only people here.
It’s a bit like camp. Things are kind of rustic–there’s a generator for lights in the evening and recharging our laptops, a composting toilet and an outdoor rainwater shower. There are simple activities–swimming, snorkeling, reading, sleeping like a teenager. And somebody cooks for us. Two local women come over in a little boat from the nearest island. The food is simple–fish, lobster, shrimp, lots of rice and fresh fruit–but very satisfactory.
The weather here is as changeable as I’ve ever seen anywhere. The sun shines, it rains, the wind whips up, the sun shines, all in the matter of an hour. It’s been mostly bright, with occasional intense showers.
Muchos Flora y Fauna
It’s a joy to be surrounded by so much wildlife. I spotted my first ever moray eel (I mean, aside from the local aquarium) while snorkeling the other day. I was floating about three feet above some coral, and he unfolded out of a crevice. He rose toward me, all freckled and the bright green of an under-ripe tomato.
I’m man enough to admit that I panicked a little. His snout was easily as big as a small terrier’s. There was no doubt about who was the resident and who was the interloper. He stopped after a foot or so, though, no doubt intimidated by my manic thrashing. I’ve returned to his nook on several occasions to observe the eel, but I’ve kept a little more distance.
I’ve seen dozens of other species of fish whose names I don’t know. Big schools of them. I also saw bioluminescent algae for the first time in my life. Little clouds of it floated by one evening, looking rather like (I searched for a more decorous metaphor) irradiated semen.
There are also flocks of seabirds who regularly circle our little island. Pelicans skim over the waves, frigatebirds wheeling overhead, big white egrets fish off the rocks and little terns spend their evenings perched on the dock. We also saw a harpy eagle, Panama’s national bird.
We’re headed to a different, waterborne resort for a couple of days, and then back to Punta Laurel for another five or six days. On Boxing Day it’s back to Bocas Town, then back to Panama City the next day. We’re going to explore Panama’s capital for a few days before it’s on to Manhattan for New Year’s, and back home in the first days of 2009.
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December 10th, 2008, 1 Comment »
At the moment, Julie and I are shacked up in a little casita on Isla Carenero, a tiny island opposite Bocas Town, the largest town (with all of about 3500 citizens) in this far flung province of Panama. This is our third night here. We’ve been settling in, exploring and we’ve begun making deposits in our overdrawn sleep debt account.
Our place is on the water, surrounded by the shacks and tin houses of the local community. The setup provides a great view into how the locals live–they outnumber the tourists by at least twenty to one. Young couples chastely walk by, long motorized canoes deliver wood and kids play soccer, all outside our front door.
In terms of tourism, this region is relatively under-developed. I was talking to the house manager, and he said the region was like “Costa Rica, 25 years ago”. That’s the feeling you get when you walk down the main drag of Bocas Town. There’s a few rickety hotels, a bunch of open-air restaurants over the water, and a handful of eco-tourism services and surf shops. There’s also one nightclub–the only downside we’ve spotted thus far. The club’s rumbling bass carries across the strait all too well.
There’s a Subway restaurant in town–the only franchise I recognized. It feels like the advance guard of a wave of international money that’s likely to visit the region in the coming years. Hopefully they can retain as much of the local character and charm as possible.
An Ethnic Stew
This region has a fascinating ethnic mix. The Spanish never consolidated their hold on this part of Central America, so while there are plenty of ethnically Spanish Panamanians here, there are also many descendants of Afro-Caribbean immigrants. Combine those with the (sadly declining) people of several indigenous tribes and a smattering of grizzled gringos, and you’ve got a interesting ethnic stew. As you might expect from a Caribbean town in the middle of nowhere, everybody’s extremely laid back. I don’t think race relations are an issue.
The Latest End of the Earth
We are apparently attracted to places that feel like the end of the world. I know I said that about Gozo, but where we’re headed tomorrow might top that. Check out this Google Map:
View Larger Map
That’s Punta Laurel, a little group of buildings built on pilings about 1500 feet off the coast of Isla Popa. A mostly unpopulated island in the southern most part of the Bocas archipelago. Our guidebook gives the island a single sentence:
Isla Popa is crawling with fer-de-lance and other poisonous snakes. It should be visited only with a good forest guide.
We’ll stay out on the water, thanks. We’ll be there for about two weeks, off and on, and plan to do a whole lot of nothing (besides, you know, writing a book). To my shock, they usually have satellite Internet access on Punta Laurel. I was pleased to hear that it was out of commission at the moment–I’m trying to disconnect for a while.
I’d upload more photos, but we’re using a pretty dubious web connection at the moment. I’ll just post one for now, and save the rest for a fatter Internet pipe.
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May 2nd, 2007, 1 Comment »
We arrived in Malta yesterday, a national holiday. It’s Workers Day, or Labour Day to us, and the country’s in a celebratory mood. Many people are wearing red, the colour of the country’s labour party. Others have fashioned skirts and shawls out of the labour flag.
In the evening, there was a big open-air concert at Valetta’s city gates. Earlier there was a pretty good rock band playing–kind of a Maltese Gin Blossoms. Then there was some truly awful Europop (I mistyped that as ‘Europoop’, which is closer to the truth), and now it’s a kind of a rave thing.
It’s a very rowdy introduction to a country that will, I think, turn out to seem quite sleepy.
On first impression, the capital city of Valetta feels like a combination of Barcelona, Havana and Athens. It’s got a remarkably consistent asthetic, with everything made from limestone and very few new buildings. There’s a wonderful mix of gothic and orthodox cathedrals, and plenty of palatial facades that occupy entire blocks.
The people are friendly, and speak excellent English with an accent somewhere between Greece and Italy. We appeared to be the youngest arrivals at the airport–Malta seems to be a bit of a tourist destination for the bluehair set. We’ll see what things look like tomorrow, when we check out some villas on the sleepier, smaller island of Gozo.
Postscript: Things should return to normal around here next Monday, when the Internet man comes by to connect our magic Internet pipe.
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April 23rd, 2007, 3 Comments »
After a busy weekend in Dublin, attending Barcamp (more on that later) and recovering from the jetlag, we’re done in the tiny village of Argeliers (population: 1237) in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southwestern France.
Our friends have a gorgeous villa down here. This was my first time seeing it, and it’s pretty specatcular. It’s called La Lavandiere, which means ‘The Laundry’:
Built in 1836 in the small Languedoc village of Argeliers, the Barn was originally built by adding on to the neighbouring barns and distilleries. During the mid 1900’s the Barn was used for storing agricultural and wine-making equipment, a collection of which has been saved and moved into the back garden.
The surrounding grand homes had their laundry serviced by the “ancienne lavandiere”, the soap-making fireplace and wash-house. This outbuilding remains in the back garden.
They have a dog, and a small tortoise who lives in the backyard. He hangs out in the pool shed a lot, because he apparently likes the vibrations. Whenever he’s feeling a bit randy, he tries to get amorous with the pool pump. You can hear the clink, clink, clink of his menage a un if you’re standing nearby.
I had an exceptionally uneventful day, which is just what I need this week. Finished a pretty bad Steven King novel, took a walk around the village, and then went for a short but sweaty (I’m so unfit) bike ride to Montouliers, a nearby village (population: 201) where there are some nice ruins of a 12th century chateau and a 14th century church.
I also did some laundry, and hanging the clothes out in the midday sun was surprisingly pleasant. There are, of course, photos from the day’s non-adventures.
Tomorrow, I may do pretty much the same thing.
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April 8th, 2007, 30 Comments »
Can I get a quick show of hands regarding whether or not Monday is a holiday for you? I’m confused because:
- I’m self-employed, so I don’t often heed the regular holidays. Most of my peers are also self-employed, so they’re no help.
- Our clients are in four countries, so on any given day somebody’s working.
- My last full time job was in Ireland, where they (obviously) take both Friday and Monday off.
The Canadian government’s website lists Easter Monday on its public holidays and other important dates page, but fails to indicate whether its the former, the latter, or both. Wikipedia says Monday is a statutory holiday only in Quebec. I gather the kids aren’t in school, because my old high school is taking the day off.
It’s all a bit moot, as I’ll be working, but I wasn’t sure if everybody else would be.
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