TOWN CLEAN UP IN PEDASI

Some of Liz's little helpers, who gave her a hand (and a smile) separating recyclables at the Pedasi town cleanup.

In case you missed our last post, we'll sum it up: we love this place.

A quaint town of 2,500 of some of the friendliest people you'll meet in Panama, Pedasi is a place where city folks go to slow down and old folks go to die, slowly and happily.

Quiet streets, gorgeous views, quality bakeries and restaurants, a short bike ride to wide, empty beaches--no wonder U.S. News recently named it one of the top places in the world to retire.

Who knows. Maybe we'll be back in a few years...

If you see trash, pick it up--that's what the mayor said.

Hanging with Pedasi's Mayor Ricardo Barrios

While many of the people who live there take pride in keeping their community clean, a few holdovers and passers-through haven't gotten the message, as noted by the cans, bottles, food wrappers and other kinds of trash littering the ditches and empty pastures along the roads. 

But, this being a great community with very active citizens, they were doing something about it. A local Spanish school, together with the mayor's office and the local Girl and Boy Scout troops, was holding a volunteer town clean up while we were there (we found out by googling "volunteer Pedasi," as outlined in our Tips for Volunteering).  And of course, we were only too happy to join in and happily demonstrate our expertise in the area of trash clean-up. Plus, we got to meet the mayor!

Perfect opportunity for a little 1 of 7. 

The entire Pedasi clean up crew.

PEDASI, PANAMA

There are certain places in the world that just feel right. 

Maybe it's a deserted beach, sometimes a tiny town, or maybe even someone's backyard. On our way down the Azuero Peninsula to sleep in the jungle at Eco Venao, we passed through one such place. Unfortunately, we were on the last bus of the day and couldn't hop off to explore, but something about Pedasi made us want to return.

Kip walks in front of one of the pretty painted buildings along Pedasi's main street.

And return we did, just a few days later.

We somehow missed the giant billboard paying homage to Mireya Moscoso, Panama's first female President, who was in office from 1999-2004. She was also born in Pedasi, a fact that local residents mention often, and which explains why nearly every street bears her name.

Mireya Moscoso still watches over her hometown of Pedasi.

Politics aside, there are so many reasons to love this small town. We liked it so much, that we came for one night and stayed for a week.

Not only are the surrounding waters full of tuna, making this area a game fishing mecca, you can also see whales breaching from the beach, or take a short boat ride to Isla Iguana to snorkel in the wildlife refuge or relax on the white sandy beach.

Kip bikes on a deserted beach in Pedasi.

As if that wasn't enough, the beaches are pristine, and seem to go on forever. At least that's how Liz felt when we rode our bikes through the sand. What was supposed to be a 15-minute ride turned into 45. But another great thing about Pedasi is the friendly town folk. 

This family was only too happy to throw our bikes on the roof, take us for a spin around town (which oddly enough involved a poker game with a seven year old) and drop us off at our hotel.

Our heroes!

They even took Kip surfing with them the next day, and kindly returned Liz's purse that she'd irresponsibly left in the car the day before.

Like we said. Beaches, whales, and strangers taking care of us. What's not to like?