PANAMA'S MOUNTAINS

                                    A Trip into the Mountains

   The mountain valleys of Panama are popular places for well to do Americans and South Americans to buy property and build retirement or second homes. The large stucco homes with tile roofs we saw in El Valle de Anton were large on big manicured fenced lots. From what we were told that is quite typical for this segment of the population. The stucco of the few smaller homes were painted with pastel colors.

   It is  the world's largest inhabited volcanic crater! Once a crater lake, this quiet village became home to Indians from the surrounding mountains who have been there for thousands of years. The flora and fauna of two continents converge along this unique land bridge.  It has a special micro-climate with its cloud forest and exotic animals and plants.

   The rich volcanic soil and year-round spring-like climate allows almost every species of plant and animal to thrive in the environment. There are countless species of flowers and trees, and hundreds of species of mammals and reptiles, as well as an incredible 500 species of birds that live in Anton's Valley.

  My perception of this valley was totally blown away. I pictured a caldera where one could see the edges and a small village in the center. Wrong! The caldera is so huge that all one can see are mountains and if one did not know he would just think he was in a valley. The ride up 2000-feet to the valley was a pretty one with many fruit trees close to the road and scattered houses that did not appear to be part of any village. I saw many banana, papaya, mango, persimmon, and palm trees.

   When we stopped at a zoo we found the temperature delightful. The rustic zoo was fun and  lovely. We had no bug or mosquito problem. Paths were well packed dirt and dry. The roots of many of the trees appear to be rather shallow as there were visible small roots everywhere. It is probably because of the frequent rain and the avoidance of deep watering.  The tropical landscape and flowers everywhere was a delight. Impatiens in all colors abounded as did hibiscus, torch ginger, anthuriums, jasmine, bougainvillea, croton and many more I could not identify.  It seemed strange to see a grove of pine trees and another of eucalyptus among all the flowering and tropical landscape. I saw hedges made out of any flower and some you’d never think about training as a hedge!  And I can’t forget the many kinds of cacti growing about. There was some good signage, especially in the frog house, and there was some very primitive hand painted signage and then there was also none. There was a wonderful frog house with 21 different frogs in large glassed enclosures and it was a thrill to actually see Panama’s icon: the tiny golden frog.

   El Valle’s one main road is called Avenida Central or Calle Central and runs east-west across the town. A main landmark is the town's public market, open 7 days a week.

           

The Legend of The Sleeping Indian Girl

   Luba was the youngest daughter of the Chief Urraca, leader of one of the Guaymi Tribes, of the sun-kissed mountains surrounding the crater.

  They called her air flower, and they knew her as a simple but rebellious young Indian girl: an inheritance of  her strong race, that fought against the Spanish conquerors for years. What Luba least expected was that she would fall madly in love with one of the Spanish officials who occupied her town. It was thus that Luba

undermined Yaravi, a brave warrior of her tribe who loved her with all his soul, but that love was not reciprocated. Seeing it was impossible to win her love, Yaravi takes his life, throwing himself into the emptiness from the height of a mountain before the sad and perplexed stare of air flower.

   Luba, not wanting to betray her town, renounces her love for the foreigner and, crying desperately, mourning her misfortune, loses herself among the bushes, extends herself on the savanna and dies.

   It was then that the hills and the valleys, in a melancholic embrace, covered her and decided to perpetuate her figure, sculpting it in a majestic mountain to remember her always.

           

SOME STRANGE TRADITIONS--OR NOT

                         Mostly Down Under  Traditions  

  Parts of Europe do some strange trimming to their linden trees. I’ve seen this several places and am always in awe, but it was most prominent in Belgium. Maybe it was just the right time of the year. The Linden tree is   deciduous so the trimming seemed severe and was most obvious. The linden tree is a decorative fragrant tree that can be long lived and grow big. It appears that the severely trimmed trees are meant to be kept medium height so they can be trimmed each year. The best answer I could ever get anywhere was, “It’s a European thing.”

  In the days of the English witch hunts the thumbs of a supposed witch was tied to her big toes before being thrown into the water, river or whatever. If she floated she was guilty and if she sank she was innocent—either way she was dead.

         

  Pierre Cardin described The Queen Victoria Building (QVC) as the most beautiful shopping centre in the world. Built in 1898 and occupying an entire city block the building is an outstanding example of Byzantine architecture. It was built to replace the original Sydney Markets. Remodeled in the 1930s it has housed a concert hall, City Library, and municipal offices. Refurbished in 1984 it now accommodates more than 200 shops. With a series of domes and domelets and exquisite stained glass windows along with extensive wood paneling the building has retained the turn-of-the-century charm. When in Sydney, Australia the QVC should be on your to see list.

            

    If you’ve been where sugar grows you may know that sugarcane is cut once a year and then regrows. After the third cutting the fields are burned and the remains plowed under.  Beans are then planted to replace the nitrogen to the soil, and then the next year sugarcane is planted to start the cycle over again.

            Australia’s Vegemite is made at the very end of the sugar process.

           

 The story was framed in our Sydney, Australia hotel room. The second part of the building was built of sandstone with Georgian flattened brick arches over the windows. Built as six terrace houses, it was known as Scarlett’s Cottages. Scarlett was a well-known lady of the night who lived and died in the area.

            Scarlett was Eric’s one true love, but although in a moment of thoughtlessness she declared her love for him, she did not mean it. However, Eric died before learning of Scarlett’s lie. It is well known that to this day Eric wanders the halls and rooms of the cottages searching and calling for Scarlett, who had met an untimely and tragic death. On occasion Eric has appeared in front of unknowing hotel staff members, questioning them of Scarlett’s whereabouts.

   We were staying in a haunted hotel! However, none of us ran into Eric’s ghost during our stay.

A really clean modern restroom:

 Our van driver detoured into Ashburton to show us an ultra modern restroom. The clean public unisex toilets were all push button. A button was pushed to close the door. Another button was pushed to dispense the TP. The toilet flushed only when the sensor activated soap and faucet were in use! Another button opened the door.

  A sign warns that at 9 minutes you will be given a warning and at 10 minutes the door will automatically open--- best that you be finished with your business! Really a very neat system. We again saw the same system at Queenstown, New Zealand Botanical Gardens.