Tobobe
10 June 2011 | Tobobe, Panama
Steve
Tobobe is an isolated village on Peninsula Valiant, part of mainland Panama. There is no electricity or roads. The town is connected by a long well built concert side walk that runs the length of the village that is built along a bout a mile long stretch of shoreline. We walked the length of the sidewalk passing well kept houses built on stilts many constructed with board and baton. There was no garbage on the ground and the lots around the houses were landscaped with the grass and weeds cut short. It was great to see such a well organized village after all the dumpy towns we have been through. Finally people who don,t thing the ground is a garbage dump. Along the pathway where bread fruit, lime and banana trees As well as pineapples growing in a small plot. The trees seemed very communal.
We had been visited by young boys in there dug out canoes when we first arrived and had given then packs of Ritz Crackers. Most dry goods are sold here in perpotion sized packages so when you buy a large package of chips, cookies or crackers the contents are packaged in smaller portion like we buy for halloween. This is a great idea because with the humidity down here an open pack of chips would go soft within minuets. When we returned to the boat after our outing in town their where two canoes with women and baby's in them , Mrag practiced her Spanish then we gave them a package of powdered milk to get them to move on. Soon a man arrives in his canoe on his way home from work in the fields with his machete. We talk to him for a while and he is thrilled to death when we send him off with some Barracuda that we had caugte on the way in. At one point during the evening we had 6 canoes positioned of the boat. Luckily we finely realized that the didn't want anything from us and we were just the nights entertainment. They would drift off Lion's Paw staring and pointing and discussing what they saw some staying for over an hour. I guess we do the same when we are in their village but I hope we are more discreet. It was great to see them having fun and I hope we were more entertaining than some of the movies they make these days.