As I said before, this is a place I normally pass through, maybe stop to refuel myself and the car at the Los Tucanes bus halt. Santiago is one of those places that the PanAmerican Highway skirts around, and it's easy to miss the town itself.
Along the highway its a collection of hotels and filling stations, with absolutely no redeeming features. Hopefully spending a couple of days here will allow me to find out that there is more to the place.
Checked into the hotel Gran David, easy enough to find as its on the right just before the bus terminal and it looks decent enough from the road, plenty of parking and a security guard overnight. Single occupancy of a double room here is about $20 a night, but a bit of chat with the delightful young lady on reception and John's jubilado card got that down to $11.15 as it was a weekday. The room was acceptable, much the same as any other budget hotel in Panama, The aircon worked, and the screw in thingy in the showerhead was missing........ standard fare here. What i liked most was the way the rooms were laid out, all on the ground floor and arranged in blocks around small courtyards with plants in the center. My room was towards the back of the hotel so no traffic noise at all.
Theres a decent size pool with plenty of sheltered seating around too. Beer in the restaurant was a buck tho, bit steep for the interior but we solved that problem by going across the road to the Hotel Hong where local beer was 45cents.
Headed into the center of town, hoping to find some nightlife. The square or park by the church is usually a good place to start in these interior towns. Folks tend to congregate in these places early evening, and it's a handy place to strike up a conversation with a local to find out what's happening.
Not in Santiago!! The place was almost deserted. We found a decent little parrillada though, not much variety, pork or chicken with maize, but cooked on an enormous woodburning stove, great flavour and plenty on the plate for $1.25.
Well fed, we set off looking for life. The streets were virtually empty and the couple of cantinas we looked into were not overly welcoming. Maybe this place has some hidden virtues, but we didn't discover them. Ended up in a poor excuse for a casino, had a few beers and watched the big screen entertainment in desperation. Not a good 1st impression.
By 10.30 we had had enough of that place, so went back to the bar at hotel hong, thinking there might be more activity along the highway. Chatted to some local lads, who confirmed our opinion. They were off to Aguadulce for the night for their entertainment.
Up bright and early next day, thanks to an early night. We headed off through the town which had unrolled its sidewalks for the morning trade. Our plan was to explore some of the side roads and countryside between Santiago and the coast.
Being the rainy season, heading into the mountains would have been a waste of time, too much cloud and wet roads up there.
We had seen a sign for Puerto Mutio the night before, and headed out in the direction shown. A decent (by Panama standards) stretch of road led us to a small town called Colorada. Pleasant place but not what we were looking for.
Apparently the road to Puerto Mutio turns off this road before leaving Santiago, but someone forgot to put up a sign so we missed the turning. Que sera sera. We spent an hour or so looking around anyway, although we never did find the beach that's supposed to be there.
Headed back to Santiago and found the turning we missed on the way out, definately no sign, but now we knew what to look for thanks to local directions. The road to Puerto Mutio is in fair condition, although not as smooth as the one to Colorada. Being Panama, I guess no legislators live out here.
Puerto Mutio is a small fishing village, just a cluster of houses around the port area, on an inlet that is full of muddy water coming down from the river. Sounds bad, maybe, but it's a pleasantly relaxing place with a good seafood restaurant right on the water. Chilling out with a plateful of fish and a beer, while watching the locals go about their business on the water works for me. Lots of activity to keep one entertained.
After feeding we headed down to the pier, still feeling like we were in another world. We were, this place is definately outside the mainstream. A few beers in the cantina where we felt welcomed, an hour or three chatting with some of the local fishermen and I could easily subscribe to the life there. So long as I had a boat to keep me occupied.
Got back into Santiago around 6, just the same as yesterday, I reckon they roll up the sidewalks at night along with the people. This place is dead at night. Found a decent enough local bar/restaurant in a square just off the main drag this time. Standard fare for the interior, chicken and patacones for $1.50 and 50cent beers, it kept us occupied for an hour or so. Still no sign of any entertainment though, even the casino had taken down the big screen and clogged up the bar area with more machines. The big screen entertainment the night before was apparently a one off because some local was in a competition to see who could make the loudest noise, a form of entertainment to the locals from this area.
By 9 we had made up our minds............. tomorrow we are out of here. No way we are going to waste more time on this place. Maybe there is some entertainment at weekends, but I feel sorry for folks who live here. We still have a couple of days, so no long distance................ tomorrow we head south into the Azuero and see what Chitre has to offer.
(0 vote)
Up 
