A “Whisk Hunt” in Panama

Wait, is that a whisk the witch is riding on?  It’s difficult to tell, she’s so far away.  It doesn’t look like a broom, no – - it’s a giant whisk! I am looking for a whisk exactly that same size.  I want to use it in my new huge, flat-bottomed  stainless steel bowl to make fluffy meringue, like Lauretta made in her cooking class.  Why not go on a “whisk hunt” ?

It’s almost Halloween and with any luck, I’ll find that witch’s whisk!

This morning was beautiful up on the side of Volcan Baru, I could see the Pacific Ocean from my kitchen window and the sky was clear.  That’s my way of forecasting the weather each day, if I can see the ocean in the morning, it’ll be a good day. But, if I want a more detailed report, I go to www.boqueteweather.com; there is no television reporting of local weather available here in Boquete.

Boquete has limited supplies of kitchen tools.  Our local La Reina Department Store doesn’t carry whisks at all, I always try to buy things in Boquete, if possible.

Because the weather was good, I headed to the city of David, 45 minutes south of Boquete, to begin my “whisk hunt”.  It’s less than a week before Halloween, so this is the best time for my hunt.

There are several large home-improvement stores that have recently opened in David and my favorite is Novey, located on the Panamerican Highway.  Novey had the cutest little whisk.  I had to buy it because it’s just right for beating an egg in my Pyrex measuring cup.  No big whisks at Novey.

Near Novey is Arrocha, a large modern department store with a big housewares department.  Unfortunately, the entire store was dressed up for Christmas and the housewares department was condensed into one aisle, my bad luck.  No whisks at all, but I did find heavy glass candle holders for $2.00 each and got 3 of them.

My whisk hunt continued to the far side of David to ERA, the only restaurant supply store west of Panama City. Luck was with me, I found the biggest, most beautiful, long-handled, delicate, grey and purple striped whisk you could imagine.

Guess what??? The lady who found the whisk in ERA’s back room was dressed TOTALLY IN BLACK!

When you come to my kitchen, you’ll see my gorgeous whisk hanging next to my other 3 whisks, waiting to be used to make a lovely meringue for Meringue Kisses.  They’d make good “Trick or Treat” candies, don’t you think?

Destination: Boquete

So many people read about Boquete, they hear about what a beautiful place it is, how the finest coffee in the world is grown here, and of all the wonderful things there are to do here. But, what they don’t know is exactly how to get here. It’s not an easy trip, and getting here is so much fun.

First you must get to Panana City’s Tocumen Airport and that’s the easy part. You can fly from about anywhere in the world and you can connect in several US cities. Iberia and other airlines fly directly to Panama City from Europe and other faraway places. Tocumen Airport has upgraded in the past few months and is now quite modernized with baggage belts and quick visa checkpoints.

Once you’re in Panama, you must get to Albrook, either the airport or the bus station. Aeroperlas and Air Panama Airlines fly out of Albrook airport, you may visit www.flyairpanama.com or www.aeroperlas.com, both are friendly sites and are easily read in English. You can print your own tickets quickly and easily. The connections are not always available on the same day your arrive in Panama, so hotel reservations may be appropriate for your flight schedule.

If you are adventurous, you could take a bus from Albrook Terminal de Autobus, just across the way from the airport. The fare is about $15 and it takes 6 hours on a good day. The coaches are air conditioned, really cool air conditioning, they have clean, comfortable seats and the drivers and attendants are excellent. The bus stops in Santiago for a “coffee” break and to stretch your legs, then on to David. If you have the time and want to see Panama up close, this is the way to get to David.

You could also rent a car at the airport and drive to David, which is probably the most difficult way to get here. The streets are not well marked and just to find the Panamerican Highway is a huge feat. We have driven the route several times and it’s still a challenge to make it the entire way to David without getting lost. I could tell you a story of how we went to Chorreara in search of David, but another time.

Once you’re in David, you can rent a car or take a yellow school bus to Boquete. Only one road goes north to Boquete, it’s the road just past TGIFridays, next to the big Novey store. In a short 45 minutes on a constantly rising road, you’ll drop down into our little town, our little paradise. You will be in the heart of the mountains, just below Volcan Baru, the highest point in Panama, the closest place to heaven on earth.