Pan-American Highway Road Trip - Capira to Santa Clara

This past Sunday, Tom and I were invited to spend the day exploring some sites off the Pan-American Highway between Capira and Santa Clara. Our friends Eric and Debbie, who also live in El Valle, picked us up early in morning for the excursion. Eric and I share a love of photography, and had been planning a "photo safari" so we could practice our hobby. Debbie and Tom, both lovers of sweeping vistas, were great sports as Eric and I fiddled with equipment (Eric) or took dozens of frames from slightly differing angles (me), and just generally hung out taking pictures for a good, long time.

Eric had already scouted out this area - the Mirador National Park - which is a good thing, as it is up a long, winding road and is not really the type of place that one just happens across. There are some little pull-off areas for cars, and a viewing platform, so that an incredible view of the Chagres River flowing into the Pacific Ocean may be enjoyed:

This neat little house is situated to take full advantage of that gorgeous view. Debbie and I thought this might be the perfect house for us...if only the grocery store wasn't so far away...

It's hard not to sit and stare for a long time...

Debbie and Eric - they are happily retired and living in Panama!

Driving farther up into the mountains, it's one magnificent scene after another. There are some quiet little villages tucked away in the hills, which had modest homes surrounded by lovingly-tended gardens. We'll have to go back and explore them someday!

Birds of prey such as hawks and Harpy eagles ride the thermals...

When I look at this photo, I can't help thinking that the von Trapp family is going to suddenly appear and break into "The Sound of Music."

Back out on the Pan-American highway, heading west, there is an incredibly intriguing place that compels a closer look! There are hectares of metal and wooden parts of endless variety and origin, and near the road there are numerous examples of what the ingenious owner can craft out of all of that "stuff."  There are dinosaurs, conquistadors, giant insects, horses, dragons, elephants (oh, my!)...

This reminds me of a horse statue in Fountain Hills, Arizona, made in a similar fashion.

This is quite a handsome and happy guy.

This car is mostly made of old parts that have nothing to do with cars! Our son, Thomas, would like this one.

This pterodactyl is something our daughter, Alex, would appreciate.

"Take me to your leader!"

After all of the vista viewing, picture taking, sculpture perusing and driving, we started looking for a place to get some good criollo (local) food. There are lots of restaurants, fondas (small restaurants) and parrilladas (grills) all along the highway. We pulled into a parrillada - you will know you have found one when you smell the meat cooking before you even see the place! Typically, parrilladas will have various dishes based upon the meats being grilled, such as pollo (chicken), cerdo (pork), chorizo (sausage) and carne (beef). There are usually accompaniments on offer such as arroz (rice) and patacones (fried plaintains), but this place had arepas (similar to flattened cornbread stuffed with cheese)! Anyone who knows me or has read this blog more than once knows that I love cheese - so I quite enjoyed my pollo con arepas, muchas gracias!

Chorizo and arepas on the grill.

Hot off the grill.

With full bellies, we continued going west on the Pan-Americana, all the way to Santa Clara. While in Santa Clara, we stopped by the XS Hotel right off the highway to visit the fantastic collection of birds that live on the property. The hotel itself is very nice, with an inviting pool and lush landscaping. One of the macaws spends the better part of the day in the tree near his cage, only using the cage for eating and sleeping! He looks extremely pleased with this situation.

What's next?

Tomorrow, we will be heading down to Santa Clara for a few days of "beach time," and our next report will detail that area of the Pacific Coast. Many folks have contacted us with questions about the desirability of one Panama beach area versus another, and since we chose to (initially) live in the mountains, we can't really answer that question yet. Tom and I do enjoy the beach and will probably move closer to it at some point; however, we are learning that beaches and beach towns in Panama vary greatly. So, we are taking on the arduous and unpleasant task of assaying as many beach towns as possible for the benefit of our readers!