What's been happening in Boquete?

We are now in the midst of Tourist Season..... and all I can think of  is the bumper sticker that was common in Colorado. "If it tourist season, why can't we shoot them?"
Ok, that was a bit negative......
The town of Boquete has increased by at least 1/3.  And by the end of the dry season, if this one follows the usual pattern, the town will increase by at least 1/2 or 3/4.
This is really good for the economy, and it makes for good street witnessing, and we also get a larger number of visitors coming to the hall from all over the world (last night we had at least 3 from Bermuda).
We have the Messer couple- from Tennessee
The Probasco's, from Vermont
And there will be many many more coming and going.  As the months progress I will try to compile a list of all our visitors. Currently we have 42 people with publisher cards here as part of the congregation.  Last night we had 57 in attendance (Dec 27th)
The picture below is one of our service groups for midweek.

. In all truthfulness we do not have groups like this everyday. This was exceptional, and I don't even remember the ocassion......

 But when you have 20 pioneers in a group of 42 publishers you do get some large groups for service.

No Blog would be complete without reporting on our climb up Volcan Baru, the highest peak in Panama.
12 of us started out, 8 made it all the way to the top.....
The best part is those of us that did not make it on this trip will go again.  It is a 19 km hike UP HILL ALL THE WAY.  At some points it was a gradual climb about as steep as a wheelchair ramp, and at these points it felt so good not to be doing a 10% gradient that it felt nearly like flat ground.  Those sections I nearly ran across !!

It was sunny and warm for at least the first 12 km.  At about 6 km from the top, as night was falling, it got quite chilly.  But as I was still climbing hard, all I needed was a hoody and some gloves for my hands.
Lawson, at about 4 km from the top said that a cloud went overhead..... or more accurately, the cloud surrounded him.... the temp dropped to 34*F with freezing sleet.
The sun sets between 6:30 and 7 pm every night, and this night it set at 6:45.
We opted to turn around and go back down the mountain, collect the 2 people left behind, and return home.
The mountain will be there another day.
We got a late start-- will not do THAT again-- and with all the difficulties of the climb the rest of the group ended up doing 11 hours of straight hiking.
I was quite happy to say that I made it 3/4 of the way up the mountain.  And yes, I will try again.
The pictures below are some of the gorgeous views seen by the 8 at the top.  And, Oh yes...... why would any sane person do this?  Well, this is one of the few places in the world where you can see BOTH oceans at the same time.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE !!! If you come to Boquete and plan to do this bring your equipment with you or make sure that you have supplies that you can buy or rent THE DAY BEFORE YOU LEAVE !!  Renting supplies is NOT always possible.
Our plan was to stay overnight.  We got a late start.
If you start together as a group, STAY TOGETHER AS A GROUP.  NO MATTER WHAT.
There was a serious accident on the mountain that day (not in our group, thank goodness) (more on that later)
For the average person I have created a list of the things that you will need for an overnight trip.  And unless you are superman or superwoman and can do 15 hours of hiking in one day......(7 to 11 up and 2 to 5 down)....... plan to stay the night.
The walking trail is also a four wheeler trail to the top.  It is really meant only for 4-wheelers, and we were told that in places even the riders of the 4-wheelers must get off and guide their carts over the rough ground because it is too rough to ride it out, the ruts to deep, and the road too bad.  The truck that helped us (high truck with 4 wheel drive) was forced to stop because the rocks were simply too big to go over.


Supplies:
tent
sleeping bag
extra coat and or sweater
extra socks
extra shirt
warm ups under your pants
a knife and hand-axe
10 bottles of water 20 oz. or larger per person. (you WILL want all that water)
energy bars (about 10)
food for 3 days (never assume that things will go without trouble- more on the accident that day)
energy drink (we took red bull)
walking sticks (I had 2 and appreciated their help up the steep parts)
hat and /or scarf (2 layers)
gloves
GOOD hiking boots
first aid kit that includes duct tape (the best band-aid for blisters ever invented)
cell phone that can be used if there are any emergencies. (there is not always phone reception on the mountain, but if you are traveling and something bad happens you will have the means to send someone to a reception area and call for help)
we also brought 100 feet of rope
toilet paper and clean-up bag for taking it with all out with you.

So why take all this stuff?
Our back pack weighed close to 40+ pounds......
On our way up the mountain there was a severe accident involving four 4-wheelers and a jeep.  Apparently the 4 wheelers were going UP the mountain at HIGH SPEED AND DEFINITELY NOT SAFETY CONSCIENCE..........and came to a sharp corner..... the jeep was coming down at a speed that we don't know.  The jeep swerved so that he wouldn't collide with one of the 4-wheelers and he lost control.  The jeep rolled over at least 4 times and landed upright with the 2 people in it, with at least 1 badly hurt.  They had to send in a helicopter to airlift the badly hurt one to the hospital.  Several hours later the four 4-wheelers and the jeep came past me on the trail carrying extra people, and I am assuming that at least one of them was also injured.
So, not to be morbid or anything....but just imagine if instead of a jeep and 4-wheelers in that accident it had been instead 4-wheelers and a person on foot?  The trail is very narrow in spots with nowhere to get off if a 4 wheeler or a jeep were to come down that trail.......

Always be prepared.

The Beauty of Panama

To all my readers:  I often spend so much time on this blog joking and telling events that make Panama seem strange and weird that I thought it time to show the beauty and serenity of this country.  Yes there are many strange things here from my perspective, and perhaps from the perspective of many from other parts of the world.  But focusing on that might eventually ruin the joy of being here.
This post is intended to show how much joy we receive from being here.  From seeing the beauty that is all around us, and appreciating that no matter how much we see, there will still be MORE to appreciate far far into the future.

So time flies when you are busy.  Very sorry I have not been update.
So here goes.
I will start with Aug and Sept.
Believe it or not, here in Panama they function like the United States in at least one respect.  When a dignitary is coming to town they put on their best face, work like mad dogs to dress the place up and try to pretend that "we always look this good, not just when you come to town".
The President came to town in the middle of August and around the end of July there were GANGS of workers all over the place.  More activity here than we have ever seen in the history of Boquete, or will likely see again !!!
I told you in the last post that they removed all the telephone poles, but that was only the start of many good things to come.....
In the last week of July into the first 2 weeks of August these bevy of workers filled in the highway medians with black dirt (dumped by truck and put in place a shovelful at a time), rolled out sod (more on that) and PLANTED FLOWERS !! Hydrangeas, Impatiens, and one more lovely flower (that changes color) as the flower ages it turns from rich blue to light blue to white.
(Pictures below). All of these are shade loving plants.....and they are planted in the middle of the Highway ??  So up till now (Dec) it is still partly cloudy.... but summer is coming so we will see how they do.  And of course in all this work there is no waterlines laid or sprinkler systems installed so that things will get water..... How will they do that?  By hand?  Don't know yet, but will try to keep up with that.  It is bound to be interesting.
So..... how do you lay out rolls of new grass?  I will never take this for granted again.... A truck comes along, places a roll of sod in the island/median where it is intended to be and the workers ROLL it out????......NOT HERE.
The grass rolls are placed by the truck and the workers CUT OFF SQUARES AND CARRY THEM TO THEIR NEW LOCATION !!.  They hand-fit the grass into all the medians here one square at a time.  Part of that "logic" (?) I can see since they placed the flowers in the medians first, smack down the center, and then brought the grass sod rolls in next.  Rolling out the grass would have crushed the new plants, so cutting and carrying the grass into place makes sense..... but it begs the question.....why put the plants in first?
Welcome to Panama......

Ahhh yes, and then the issue of sidewalks and cross walks....Below are some
 pictures that will explain what words can not.  Note the signs that are in every median..... Translated they mean don't walk on the flowers, Watch where you walk, .......
Look closely, the crosswalk goes right through the middle of the flower bed !!!
So in the order of events......
widen the highway, pave the new road, around the stray outhouse,
THEN remove the old streetlight/power poles,
then put in the medians to separate traffic (there were no medians for about a year),
Put in the new power and light poles up the middle of the new medians (but they don't actually function for several more months)
then bring in dirt and plant flowers up the middle with signs that say don't walk on the flowers.....
Next ..................put in lines in the road (that is ALL THE LINES- we drove without lines for nearly 1 1/2 years), including the lines that show crosswalks/crossings.
Next place the grass-rolls in the medians and cut and lay them by hand.
And lastly, and only in the last 2 months, put walking/stepping stones over the median where the crosswalks have already been for 6 months.
The President arrived to "grace" Boquete with his presence right after the grass was laid and trimmed.

My next post will cover cover Oct Nov and I will be posting it very shortly.....