Flaming LaCrema....It's good to be home

Aside from the normal travel pains it was a pretty good trip.  The occasional "Do you have some reserves?" always makes one a little nervous at the ticket counter especially in Bocas Del Toro.  The fact that there are only a couple of flights a day and they are all full, thanks the the competitor calling it quits, makes for some excitement where it is not expected.

One of the great pleasures for me is to come home and have some wine that actually tastes like wine to me.  I am certain that the topics will get their wine groove on one day but it's a ways off right in this moment in history.  The evening back at the Villa was very calm which was nice.  It made me realize what a quiet place I live in.  Behold....Flaming LaCrema.

Stay Thirsty My Friends.

Miles

Life in the tropics and Indian french toast

I realize that this photo may be shocking to some of  you but let's face it.....  All travel is not pretty.  After the humidity, the rain, and hours of walking one has a risk of getting a massive heat rash.  I will let the photo speak for itself and let you make the call.   Note to self on this one.  Baby powder.....baby powder....baby powder.


This morning I encountered a truly interesting food choice.  Indian french toast.  I think the name even conjures up images.  It was a wild assortment of onions, coriander, cummin, and other spices, somehow cleverly attached to a thick piece of latin bread that I'm sure never dreamed of being a piece of french toast.  It was spicy for sure but I do not believe it contributed to the overall problem discussed above.

Tomorrow Panama City and the Marriott.  I wonder if they have baby powder there?

Miles

Bocas Rain

It was a long slow steady rain.  Not the kind that makes you uncomfortable but one that kind of soothes you without giving in.  That was Bocas Del Toro, Panama today.  The most interesting thing today was the fact that the rain didn't bother me.  I guess its staying in a place longer than I usually do and not feeling that somehow my experience was diminished by some rain drops. Maybe the opposite can be said for the Noise factory next door....5 days of this....     There is a quiet calm to being in a place long enough to know your way around and have a few people on the street look familiar to you.  Another amazing thing is the passage of people that go through this little hotel from day to day.  Douglas the owner is a very different kind of guy.  Very nice and attentive but he really has other things to do than associate with his guests.  After 10 years I assume that is the way anyone would want it.  So, tonight the dinner choices are a bit limited but all good.  Maybe the wine bar for a drink and some more incredible Indian food at OM.


Or maybe just go back home on work on the latest best unknown literary underachievement .  "9 Degrees South".

Ciao,

Miles

Meet the Bag Man of Panama

Alex is a peace corp volunteer that is working to do some good in the world.  He is helping Indian women in the village where he works to market these amazing bags they make  from plant fiber in the surrounding Jungle.  These things are crazy strong and colorful.  So....yes, I bought some to sell at the Villa.  The goal is to get that money back to the Village in Panama.  If you are out and about on First Monday next.  Stop by the Villa Hilla on the mountain for a marg and a story about these cool bags.  For more on this great idea go to Alex's blog.  welcometothejunglepanama.com  

everything you always wanted to know about turtles

There is something surreal about watching a prehistoric beast the size of a queen bed drag up on the beach and begin a ritual that was been the same for thousands of years.  That was my night last night on a remote stretch of Bluff Beach on Isla Colon.  The spectacle was more than I had bargained for on this dark and moonless night.  I spent two hours walking in the deep soft sand with the surf raging in the dark only to be turtleless.  It was well after midnight and the taxi was not going to wait for me.  Somehow the prospect of a sandy night on the beach was not that appealing.  Just as I was ready to leave Emilo came running out of the dark.  The ship had landed.  Emilo was one of the young guys who guarded the turtles on this stretch of beack.  Doris as I am now calling her was already hard at work digging out a nest to lay her 80 or so eggs.  Her single minded determination was obvious even through the red glow of the turtle flashlight.  

The only thing that would have made it better was if Pakis was open at that hour.  It wasn't of course but I had gotten to enjoy Pakis after my long hike in the afternoon.  Some great food and a couple of wonderful Cipiranhas and I was ready for the turtle night.  It's impossible to know what is just around the corner where to road ends.

Miles

Hola to the Banana Republic

What makes a banana republic?  It was once a very cool travel store...very cool.. Those of you who remember the Khaki jacket....yes, I wish I had it back.  Maybe it's a rhythm that comes from the culture and it's close love affair with water.  I'm just not sure....  Today was exploring the town of Bocas  and the multitude of small hotels planted around the city.  No guidebook could to this justice.  There are so many and most are quaint and wonderful.  None more than my crib, the Cocomos.  Last night I talked to a 23 year old restaurant owner, a young lady who was brought to Panama by sailing partners nine years ago and a cheeky Spanish bartender named Jaime who makes a killer Martini.   Ok?  Question.

What makes us afraid to travel?  What is it?  Time?  Security? Money? Bacteria?  (yuk).  Tell me.  I will be holding a contest and sending a prize.  From Panama of course.

PLEASE PLEASE  think about "Sliding in Sideways"... Tell me if you haven't heard that one...

Ciao from the Banana Republic,

Miles

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Live from the Cocomo, Boca del Toro, Panama

I just got here a few hours ago and think I have found one of those places....you know what I am talking about...one of those places that seems to have this immediate feel to it. The same as you knowing that this guy or gal was the one....at least that time...

A small fishing village was it's past. now it is fast moving toward something completely different. I have felt the charm and wonder in this place in just the first few hours. It seems to be on the backpackers trail which is crazy to me but true. With that fact you find odds and ends of youth that are extraordinary. I will share their stories in the coming days...if I decide to get out of bed.

The hotel is amazing. a cluster of clapboard rooms over the ocean. Nothing can come close to drowning out the sound of the waves hitting the foundation of my room. It's amazing. So please take a minute to join me in celebration of the that simple but amazing fact that these places still exist.

Enjoy,

MIles

Live from the Cocomo, Boca del Toro, Panama

CHOICE......we all have it and we all make those decisions that determine what happens to us in our lives. What is often overlooked is the size of decisions that propel us into the void. Most of the time they are tiny seemingly inconsequential choices about what to eat, where to spend that precious moment of free time, or the choice to sit it out or dance. All of them small in their own right but put together draw the line of your life.

Sitting yesterday at the airport I noticed one of those choices. I couldn't help but wonder how confusing it would have been if Mayo was allowed to participate. Or maybe this gave the appearance of choice but in reality was no choice at all? HUM. So next time you want to get somewhere other than where you are now....remember this.

It's the tiny choices we make everyday that either propel us toward our dreams or push us away from them.

Author...me of course.

Enjoy the ride,

Miles

Downtown at the Denver Diner

Every city has it's late night hotspots. Austin used to have Katz's now locked up, and the Magnolia. Baton Rouge had the funky waffle house on the highway which for a long while was one of my personal favorites. Of course its hard to beat the Clover in the Quarter in New Orleans if you think about characters. Even the little places have their entries. How about the Dairy Palace in Canton? Really the food is good all over the place but the thing that sets them apart are the folks inside. Clientele as they say. The wide variety of cuisine can be mind numbing late at night with just a hint of peach vodka circulating the medulla. My personal favorite these days is the steady eatery.... The Denver Diner. The DD has the prerequisite 285 menu items from meatballs to grits. Numerous street characters come in and dine day and night and the wait staff is bitchy enough to scare just about anyone. If you get a chance and you're hanging around near downtown Denver on some snowy night head on over to Colfax and get a cup of joe and a triple decker club with extra cheese. Go on I dare you....

Miles

it's all in the Plan...Mutate or Die

We have all enjoy a bar napkin romance or two in our lives...Ok. maybe not. But today I submitted the plan for this years LOVE CABANA. Credit to the ever creative JL for her last years artistry on the Pharaoh boat. I am hoping the DMV hotties will approve the design of the Cabana and all attached info. What do you think? The beast sits quietly outside the villa waiting for the makeover. I just hope I can figure out the details of getting it there. Prior to Burningman I do see the LOVE CABANA making a trip down Congress in Austin. Make your reservations now... The word will get out.

Enjoy the ride,

Miles

Let the Games Begin....NOISE is back

Hola my fine friends.

It's taken a few months and some motivational tapes but I am back. The Blog and one photo a day has returned. I doubt that I will have a photo for you every day as that was one of the hardest things I have ever done... but I will do my best and for sure there should be some interesting journeys in the "Slow Dance Around the World".

The HQ these days is the porch of the Villa HIlla as it has been off and on over the last couple of years. I am using new software to try and get out to the world what crazy things are going on, So this time you actually have to confirm your my email to you. You also can subscribe directly to the blog through the website. There are some new things on the website so jump over and take a look. Please tell your friends about the blog and have everyone you know become a subscriber and follower. Won't they love you for that one.

So, here is what is coming up....

A trip to Boca del toro, Panama
A road trip to photograph the Bears of McNeil River Alaska
A crazy NOLA trip
Burningman
An african photo safari
Bullfighting lessons
Ultralight airplane lessons
Ecuador
Dogsledding
The Terlingua Chilli Cookoff
The Texas Water Safari
A few tennis tournaments sprinkled in..

And a bunch more.....that just fall out of the sky.

So, new websites going up

The Rogues Club- a site about reinventing your life
La Encore- the photography site about beauty over 40
One More MIle Travel- the site about road travel in the US.

I will be back on Facebook under Miles Hill. If you haven't friended me there you will have to "get r done".

So Please spread the word and stay tuned.

Ciao,

Miles