La Peñita de Jaltemba. Dec 28-Jan 18, 2023

The purpose of this trip was to connect with Debra and Charles and celebrate New Years together. This was important to us as we had to cancel our July visit to Fort Myers, Florida due to my cardiac incident in Seattle. Three weeks in a small Mexican beach town is a very pleasant time, especially when shared with good friends.

Chocolamor was our favorite nearby coffee and breakfast cafe. Randy loved the chai latte with canela (cinnamon). We shared crepes, ham and eggs, BLT’s, carrot cake and more. Bolivar and his family were a pleasure to visit with.

View across the street from our 2nd floor balcony. We actually had about 1800 sq ft.

Dancing salsa in the street with a dog joining us. Good times! (below) Acting crazy.

The beach and the buffet at Chacala were awesome and we made several trips there.

We enjoyed a boat ride to Isla de Coral (Coral Island) for Debra’s birthday.

Thursday Market was always a good time. We found nuts, jewelry, bowls, a bag and a hat.

The view was incredible from Vista Guayabitos overlooking Guayabitos beach.

Pelicans begging for fish and a 7 color canary at Chocolamor.

Sunsets at the malecon were a frequent meeting time to enjoy conversation.

The last supper at Avanti Trattoria for a pleasant farewell before our return to Panama.

Our time with Debra and Charles was absolutely amazing. Robin was able to reconnect with her longest and dearest friend in a way that only 3 weeks in an unstructured environment can provide. I was able to spend quality time with Charles, who is quite a pleasant, charming and intelligent man with a great sense of humor. We can’t wait to meet up with them again, as we traveled so well together. Perhaps Panama or Portugal? Time will tell.

Now we head back to Panama to install new tile on our terraza floor as well as complete a few other small projects. It will be great to connect with friends and fellow expats in Playa Blanca.

Next travel adventure: in May we head to Portugal- starting in Lisbon for a week and then to Lagos in the Algarve. We are still selecting our 3rd Portugal location and after that, we are off to Morocco for a month, Madrid for a week, and then to Boston to visit Joe & Amber.

Happy trails!