Beaches!

The young man on the beach asked us how we like Panama.  Just fine we said.  It’s beautiful but the city has a lot of traffic.  Si, he said, it’s bad.  We have too many cars! 

Stan picked up the rental car while I packed our things for the day.  He came back a little flustered.  First, the transaction at Avis took much longer than anticipated and although he purchased insurance through Priceline the agency would not accept it and he had to purchase insurance locally or else put up a $10,000 deposit on our credit card.  He bought the insurance.  Looks like he will be talking to Priceline!!!  Then he confessed, it’s quite an ordeal driving these streets.  For Stan, that’s a significant statement, one to take notice.  He loves to drive; he’s a good driver and has driven in several locations all over the world.

I’m the navigator; I call out the instructions as Stan does all the driving–thank God!!!   Yes, of course I use Waze or Google Maps but it was as if we were on the old carnival ride, The Wild Mouse.  I’m sure our eyes were wide!  Cars!  Cars and more cars, merging and maneuvering.  There were cars on all sides of us.  And absolutely no street signs!  Plus drivers can turn left out of the far right lane!!!  Astonishingly we re-routed only once.  After we left city traffic the drive was fairly straight forward with only a few highway changes.  Almost all of our route was south and west along the Pan American Highway.  Ahh, the Pan American Highway–sounds first class doesn’t it?  In some sections it is, with nice divided four or six lanes.  Then in other sections it’s two narrow lanes in either direction divided by a concrete drainage furrow.  Stores, shops and stands sit roadside.  And it can be rough!  Some sections are like driving on a rub board.

Our first stop was Punta Charme.  Just as the blog I found describing the twelve best beaches in Panama said, Punta Charme is simply gorgeous, and could be Panama’s prettiest. It is located on the Cape Chame on the Pacific coast of Panama about 50 miles from Panama City.  There is a small fishing village there with a population of less than 500.  Although we saw none on this visit the beach is known as a favorite spot for beginner and advanced kite surfers.  The beach is broad and as the tide goes out it becomes truly vast.  It’s flat and its water is crystal clear.  We walked among a cluster of well-used fishing boats and followed the coast a mile or two to a point facing a distant island.  Green mountains stood in the distance over our shoulders.  We hardly met a soul.  Just us and the crabs.     

I need to add that we didn’t just drive up to suddenly find the beach.  You have to look for these things.  We followed Google maps along no-name roads that appeared to get us close to the water.  In the case of Punta Charme, we parked in a grassy alley between walled-in backyards of homes and walked the path to the beach.

It was exhilarating to be on a beach again.  It’s surely been a while for us.  After our walk, we drove the 15-mile winding road back onto the Pan American highway again and headed another 15 or 20 miles more down the coast to Playa del Coronado.  This beach is private.  Most of it belongs to the luxury resorts of Coronado.  We found a spot that was not exactly private, but the local couple in a shed at the opening to the beach asked us for $5 to enter.  We didn’t stay long.  It was pretty, very pretty for sure.  We took a few quick photos and decided to explore the area a little more.

I am sure there are lots of other areas in Panama where people have luxury homes and vacation homes but we saw many lovely, lovely examples of such near Coronado.  What a life these people must have!

Google Maps showed another beach not too far away.  Oh boy, Punta Teto was something special.  We followed Google’s directions until there was nothing but a bumpy dirt road to follow.   We parked the car in a wide space in the road at the foot of an aristocratic-looking Panamanian estate sitting on a well-established manicured garden. The little road made us think it had been cut through a hillside going down to the beach.  It was rough for walking and would have been dang hard on the little Kia we rented.  We walked and then!  Oh!  Then!  The beach was wide; the sand was black and white and was pure Pacific Ocean.  Like wide rivers of lava the low tide had left big beach ripples in the sand, some white and some black.  In the background the rock wall carved out by time hosted the grand casa we passed earlier.   Another row of beautiful homes overlooking the sea was strung out on the other side of the road’s opening to the beach.  Gosh it was pretty.  The wind blew gently and the waves made a soothing sound.  A young man and his son stood at the shore fishing – what a heartwarming sight . . . a dad and his son out together fishing.  A family came to enjoy the evening and sat far out where the waves rolled in.  Their kids shouted and romped in the sand and surf with their puppy, 

The afternoon was growing old.  Storm clouds began their daily gathering on the horizon.  A rainbow was vaguely visible hanging in the eastern sky.  We know this story.  We headed back to the car to only just beat the rain.

As we reentered the Cuidad de Panama I was awed by the beauty of this city – especially true at night.

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