To the Mountains we go

One weekend we thought we could try a change of scenery, and decided to explore the nearby mountain town, El Valle. The town itself wasn't much to write home about, very touristy, but the scenery leading up to there was pretty. This post is just for some pictures from the trip.

The air was balmy, not as hot and humid as down by the sea-level. It was quite possible to drive with the windows open, which we had to do since the car overheated going up and down the mountain roads.

Chuck likes the mountains, whereas I prefer the ocean, but we reached a compromise and will look for a little finca (farm) up in the mountains too, where we can grow apples and berries we can't grow down in the tropical zone.

This last picture should show the ocean shimmering far in the background...

Congratulations to the new President of Panama

Last night, there was a general election in Panama and a new President was chosen for the country. The voter turnout is usually 70 - 80 %, which means that most of those who can do vote.

The banners and ads were out in full force at least 3 months before the election, when we moved here in February.

On the Saturday, before Sunday's election, stores stopped selling alcohol at noon, and restaurants stopped serving it until the election was over. The stores must've been busy before the noon deadline... On election day, the buses were free, and there were no tolls collected on the roads. 

There are 3 major parties in Panama, and none of the parties have been in power more than 1 term in a row since Noriega. It is perceived that Panamanians don't want any party to rule beyond 1 term... or there is a danger of dictatorship (somehow I'm reminded of Nicaragua, go figure.)

So it came to be that a center-rightist Juan Carlos Varela was elected President by a 7% margin. 

Jose Domingo Arias, despite being backed by the incumbent President, spending lots of money, and having the president's wife as the vice-presidential -candidate, lost.

In general, it's not expected that a lot will change with the new president, and why would it? Things are going well for Panama, with the growing economy.  However, in the local congress, the new president-elect's party has only a minority of representatives. This means that he must seek to cooperate with the 3rd party, in order to get anything through the congress. He cab't go to Arias's party, because being the former vice president, and later falling out with the president doesn't grant him a warm welcome there...