Anyway, we went to the Las Olas Resort and Condos. This is about 75 minutes from Boquete so it is closer than the other beach I blogged about earlier.
Saturday morning, I started early and went to David to pick up our repaired generator. After a two hour trip and $90 dollars, the generator was back at our house. Construction was delayed 3 days by the loss of the generator so I was anxious to get the generator back in service.
We headed out to Las Olas Resort and Condos at 9:30. I am afraid I was behaving badly at this point.
I didn't know where the condos were, the directions were fuzzy, we were sharing a condo with a couple we don't know well and bringing food without any coordination.
I didn't like it.
Then we stopped to get food. Yella went in and I stayed to watch our stuff in the back of our borrowed pickup truck. I waited and waited and waited and waited. After a really long time, Yella emerged.
I was not happy.
Looking back, I just don't like to wander into unknown situations with this little bit of preparation. And that makes me cranky.
I did recover nicely, though.
We had a great time. The condo was ritzy and our friends were easy to be with. That solved a lot of problems.
A little about the beach, La Barqueta. (This beach goes all the way to Costa Rico 30 miles to the west.)
It is dangerous. There are powerful rip tides with several people dying each year. This is terrifying because few people go to this beach. The resort is almost empty. If you can see 20 people on the 30 mile stretch of beach on any given day, that's a lot.
So, the death to people usage is ridiculously high!
We were going to a benefit to raise money for a life guard for the beach.
Let me put this in perspective.
The life guard was living in a closet behind a bar without windows, water much less bathroom, or kitchen. Gringos with houses or condos on the beach were giving him stuff like a gas hot plate so he could cook. Panamanians have a different perspective on what it takes to live.
And, he is an extremely qualified life guard who has already prevented deaths and saved lives.
A little aside about the dead bodies...they wash up on one of our friend's beach, in front of her house. Now that makes for a pleasant morning. I can hear their morning conversations: "Good morning dear. Take a look at the newest body on our beach. Do you or I want to call the police this time. Pass the toast dear." She seemed proud that her beach was the chosen one. Got to love those rip tides!
The benefit was a concert held in an open air restaurant on the beach. It was lovely. A cool ocean breeze, a fantastic jazz band that wasn't to stuck up to break out in some rock and roll and, of course, Yella sang a few songs.
As the night wore on, the drunkenness escalated. One of my friends got in a drunken frenzy about losing his wife. I took pity on him and searched the beach only to find her in our condo getting rip roaring drunk with a few friends.
That didn't go over well with the husband, but he was just as drunk as she was. Do 2 drunks make a right?
We got up this morning and went boogie boarding. Now, that is fun!
What you say, why and the hell were we swimming in water that kills people?
Well, there is a life guard now. And, the beach is safe at low tide. And, we were with surfers and several others on boogie boards.
There were no rip tides.
One last thought...holy shit it's hot on the beach! I am so glad we didn't buy property on the beach! It is too hot!
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