To market to market to buy some veggies (and bananas)

On Fridays there are two markets that open in the morning and offer some choices that are different than the normal offerings at the grocery store. The first one opens early and it's called the "gringo" market. It is mostly gringos selling stuff to other gringos. They have things like homemade cheeses, sauerkraut, kombucha, herbs, spices, local coffee, and amazing bread. The bread is from a bakery in Boquete called Morton's Bakehouse (http://www.mortonsbakehouse.com), the sourdough is really good. The other market is one hosted by the Catholic church. They have various veggies and fruit at the cheapest prices in town. You weigh and bag things yourself, then mark what you have down on a clipboard and take it to the cashier to pay. We picked up some fresh parsley, green peppers, and a couple of other things which, including the $0.50 donation, came to a grand total of $1.05.

We decided to walk into town to go to the markets. As we were walking to the gate one of our neighbors drove by and asked if we were going to the gringo market. She said we wouldn't make it in time and to get in for a ride. We got to town and made it in time to get the last little bananas and cinnamon bun! We had time in between the gringo market and the Catholic market, so the ladies we were riding with decided we should go up the road a bit to see some of the other produce stands.

Not too far up the road they decided we were just about to Cerro Punta, and should just go all the way. Cerro Punta is where almost all of the produce for the whole country, and a large amount of exports, comes from. It is about 1,000 feet higher up the mountain than Volcán, and is very steep and mountainous. It is beautiful. We stopped at a roadside shop and got strawberries with hand whipped fresh cream.

​We didn't get our walk in, but ended up getting a tour, some great veggies, and a very nice day! We have heard that typical Panamanian days never turn out as planned. We're kinda glad it didn't!