.We found your Island!
That was the title of the brochure I still have and the impetus for our three trips to Panama. But, let me back up to the beginning. We, my husband and I, were sick of Southern California. It was fast paced, dirty and crime ridden. Or, at least that is how we began to view it. I'd not lived elsewhere within memory and I kept thinking that living outside of California might be wonderful. Thus began a quest for a place to move. The first choice, Hong Kong, was almost immediately scratched. It was becomming expensive and neither of us spoke Chinese. We had established a ground rule that, at the very least, we needed to speak the major language of the country. He was fluent in Spanish and I could follow it well enough that I did not fear living in a country where that was the major language.
Bill was an old Mexico hand, but he had decided that he did not want to live in Mexico because the land laws were too "iffy." And, we had already found that purchasing property in Costa Rica while residing in California was frought with difficulties. Bill, however, had a boating friend who was involved in the development of Viveros Island, a jewel of an island on the Pacific side of Panama City in what are referred to as the Las Perlas. The island to the right is Viveros; the line is the airstrip. The island to the bottom might be Contadora.
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So, we made arrangements with a local pilot at the Panama City airport to fly us out to Viveros and land on its dirt strip.
We had to wait quite a while, as the pilot left. He returned, prorperly attired in dark blue uniform with gold braid. We departed. The beach at the foot of the landing strip was fabulous.
2. Second trip to Viveros was a few months later. We made arrangements to charter a boat and go out to Viveros for an exploration of the island. We hacked our way through jungle to try and locate the property we had purchased. It is very difficult to navigate in a mangrove swamp or in a jungle.
3. Third trip to Viveros we flew our own plane, a Navion, down to Panama.
The guys went a day ahead of us to survey the landing strip and do necessary repairs. The long pole carried by my husband was an extendable orchid-plucking pole. I collected a few specimens, as I had a legal import permit.