Buenas Amblers! It seems like just yesterday I was greeting 2012 with my head bent to Chicago’s frigid winds, and then bam, just like that I’m back in Panama smiling into the sunshine. And yes, I do mean “BAM!”
En route to the island (from Panama City) we took a detour to The Lazy Farm, a permaculture farm nestled into the rolling hills near Penonome. Now, if you think hopping off the Pan-American Highway for a quick jaunt through rural Panama sounds easy enough, you’ve obviously never tried to follow “directions” in the countryside of Central America : ). It goes something like this:
“Wow, this is gorgeous. Wait, is it that farm? No, it must be that one. Are you sure? No. Watch out, baby on the road! Did he mean that hill? No, I think this one. Look, over there… so beautiful. Did you see a sign back there? Is it that yellow house or the one we just passed? Did he say the second dirt road or the third one? What did that say? Careful, there’s another kid. WAIT, TURN!”
We spotted a sign for the Lazy Farm just barely peeking out of the roadside shrubbery and turned off the winding road with a shout of accomplishment. Just seconds after celebrating that we had managed to find the farm without a single wrong turn, our Nissan Pathfinder came to a loud, horrible, crashing stop – the thin, winding round was thinner than we thought and we ended up half-lodged in an irrigation ditch.
Silence.
Luckily, our horrible, unnatural clunk had neighbors young and old appearing like magic out of the thick vegetation to help (that’s how quiet this vibrant green valley really was). The people were kind, full of smiles and eager to help – their wrinkly old patriarch barking directions from under his Panama hat, an ever-growing fleet of young men transporting large rocks, and women and children gathering on the hillside to offer their opinions from the cool shade. After some bilingual brainstorming, giggles, carefully-placed boulders and some help from the lazy farmer’s car and chain, we were out again and on our way. The lesson – when you get stuck in a rut in Panama, it takes a village to get you out. Luckily for us, there was a bunch of kind folks on stand-by.
The cutest moment was when a four-year old helper first saw me get out of the car and shouted in surprise to his sister, “Is that a gringo?!?” She giggled and covered his mouth.
What gave me away? 
People start appearing from all corners to watch the spectacle, including the lazy farmer, John Douglas, and his pup
These two don't seem to have much hope for us!
After taste-testing our way through juicy oranges straight from the tree, ripe-as-can-be mulberries, and a new-to-me berry with a delicious nutty flavor with the lazy farmer, John Douglas, we were back on the road again, racing the setting sun to Isla Palenque.
She sure knows how to welcome us home. We pulled up on Jacob (our boat) just as the sun was setting, and were whisked off to camp for a dinner of freshly-caught grilled tuna and stargazing. 
Not a bad start to our week on Isla Palenque. I can barely wait to hear the monkeys howl me out of bed in the morning!
TAGS: Isla Palenque Panama Travel
