Packing up

Coming to the end of three and a half months here in Colombia. Can truly say this is a great place to be.  Some of the highlights are:
1. Climate. The days average 75 to 80 and the nights drop to 65 to 70. There are many days with rain in the afternoon or evening but it seldom lasts very long. The daylight is a constant near 12 hours all year. Super bonus when I am here in winter and then even better in WI in summer.
2. Natural beauty. The countryside is amazing with hills, mountains, rivers furnishing amazing views around every corner. Lots of green everywhere with colorful flowers and birds.
3. Cost of living. This is the part where living here is very easy. Went out with Gloria's son, spouse and grandson last night at a neat rooftop restaurant downtown and we all ate, drank and enjoyed for $20 including tip. We often go out for lunch for 4 or 5 dollars total. Housing is also very affordable, many new developments selling new 2-3 bed apartments for $30,000. We visited a friends place, newer high rise close to where we are, it had 4+ bedrooms, very high end kitchen and two balconies and was huge. They bought for $130,000. Movies are about $2-3. Have had dental, eye exams, lab work and such here, all very reasonable just paying as I go, no need for insurance here. Was hoping to stretch the budget by being down here for half the year or so and that is working well.
4. Friendliness factor. This might well be the best part. Most everyone you meet is courteous, friendly and willing to help with anything you need. A lot of positive energy here, It seems the priority is on enjoying time and each other, working as needed for paying the bills, but focusing on life outside of work.
5. Good overall health. Good natural foods, lots of walking and fresh air. I am happy so say that for the first time in a very long time I am just under 200 pounds. I can truthfully say that retirement plays the biggest factor in this having the time for walks and such. Having peaked at just over 250 a couple years ago this sure does feel good. I am really looking forward to some bicycle time again in WI.
So next week we head back to visit family and friends in the good old USA. I am very ready as it has been about seven months away. Gloria has been studying English hard and is very excited to see more of the US than just Florida. We have a place lined up in Wausau for the summer and will forward the new US phone number next week after we can get new sim cards. Hoping to see many of you soon.

Spring break vacation

Down to the last month here, we will be headed to Florida on April 28. Very interesting last couple of weeks. A friend of Gloria's knew someone willing to rent his car to us for 10 days, very reasonably. So we headed about 5 hours north to Medellin, big city similar in elevation to Pereira so temps similar also. We did the explored many sights and enjoyed it a lot. Part of their metro train system is are a few cable car lines that go up high into the mountains, that was very cool. Parks, museum, gardens....lots of people and driving there is a challenge. After a couple days we headed east to Lake Guatape and El Piñol, a big rock sticking straight up. We did climb it early one morning, 760 steps at an altitude of 7,000 ft., but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and the views were amazing! We also took a boat tour and enjoyed the little town of Guatape, it was very pretty.
The fishing has been good as we keep exploring new lakes around here. The strange thing is they are all private and when your done they weigh your fish and you pay. Hard to imagine that going over well in WI. The ones we kept were mojarra and cachama, the latter fighting like a bluegill but are around 2 lb. They are a lot of fun to catch and great to eat.
All last week was Semana Santa, Easter week. There have been processions everyday downtown with people carrying statues that tell the events of Easter as they progressed through the week. Gloria's son and spouse were in all the adult processions and it was a privilege to watch.
Easter is now past, the Badgers are poised for great things and baseball starts today. Enjoy the spring!

 View of Medellin from hotel

Metro train station

 Way up

In botanical gardens

 Dinner at Pueblito Paisa, high above Medellin

Lleras Park near hotel

 Park Berrio, with gallery of art of Botero

View of El Piñol from hotel

Stairs in the crevass

Proof we made it to the top

Streets of Guatape

El Piñol from the boat

 One of Pablo Escobar's places on the lake, next to two others that were bombed by police

 The old pueblo El Piñol, now 60 meters under water, this monument remains.

 A replica built of the old town

 Back to Guatape

 Awesome taxis, also Nissan 4WD similar to LandCruiser

 Lake Guatape

 Very happy with my 2.5 lb cachama

 Mauro pausing in the procession

Eight days in Panama

Just returned after a week with my brother Jim in Panama. We enjoyed the local sights, the canal, the old Panama, the causeway and the city waterfront. We took off west to find a beachfront town and drove for hours without success. It seems there are condos, or an occasional restaurant on the beach but not much. So we headed back to Panama City the next day. We did a drive a couple days later to Colon on the north end of the canal and to Gamboa in the middle. We arranged a morning of fishing in the canal at

At low tide . . . is this right?

Amazing.

Nothing more to add here.

Jim was proud to help protect and serve with his cardboard buddy.

Blue boat was ours, here at the boat landing.

Seeing the boat they come and jump on the roof looking for peanuts, taking them from our hands.

Peacock bass and a sea bass

A lot like the Mississippi.

Gamboa for the next day. I used my tablets alarm and it went off at 5 instead of 6 for the fishing trip because of the time change(I had it set for eastern time). After we were still in the dark a half hour later, we figured it out. Then after wasting time till 7 the owner told us the captain had earlier booked someone else, so we waited another day to fish. Worth the hassle, the fishing was great we caught Peacock and Sea bass, saw and fed monkeys peanuts, and saw a crocodile.
In the city we walked everyday, a lot! Enjoyed great food from Italian, Lebenese, Japan, Mexican, maybe even Panama. It was hot, mid 90's or more. Very interesting town, and as Jim said "more cars than streets". Enjoyed viewing the different car models you don't see in the states and we figure the busiest guy in town is the Suzuki 125 repair guy, as they are everywhere. Lots of ideas and stories shared. Next year he is hoping to visit Colombia as long as I can find him a bike to rent or borrow.