Portobelo weekend

Panoramic view from the porch.  The island on the right is Isla Grande, a famous tourist spot. 

 This weekend, eight friends and I packed into a beach house on the Caribbean coast. We didn't do much besides cook meals, drink wine, swim, and read books.  And the house was literally 10 ft from the water.  While my friends waded through the coral shoals (and came back pretty cut up from some wave-induced wipeouts), I sat on the porch and read my book.

This is the upclose shot of the brave swimmers.  As I look again at this picture, I can see them gingerly picking their way across the rocks.  

Yandup Island Paradise

When Amanda, Nora, and Jen were visiting last month, we got on a tiny little airplane and flew to the unpopulated coast of Panama.  The native tribe, the Kuna, live there, and have tapped into the tourism industry.  Some of the Kuna hotels are dodgy, but we stayed an Yandup, the top of the line.  It was like staying in Bali. 

Amanda and I spent a lot of time on our back porch, reading legitimate novels and trashy magazines.  We even saw a baby swordfish and a stingray swimming around under our back porch.  It was pretty much like paradise. 

Morning birdsong in Penonome

A few weeks ago, some friends and I went to the mountain town of Penonome.  It was a lovely mountain town.  Turn up the volume on your computer, and enjoy a little piece of Panama.