Boquete is complex and great.

Conversation overheard at the Boquete Tuesday market yesterday: "Now we should do yoga. We are old enough that it doesn{t matter if we make fools of ourselves." "Yes, and even Fidel Castro says yoga is healthy!" These were Norte Americano retirees, the region abounds in them. The market had some indigenous folks selling beautiful crafts, but mostly Norte Americanos offering wine tasting and selling pies, vegetarian chile, crafts, and more. The conversation and atmosphere felt like Marin County, which we can visit with a half hour drive from home, it was rather surreal. The serious problem is that people pay large amounts for houses, rising property values so locals are priced out and sometimes lose land. This happens in Costa Rica and Nicaragua too. But we explored, and this area has grown on us a lot. The garden Kate photographed is beautiful and bizarre, with sculptures of painted cows, a dodo bird, a golfer, a woman in a bikini and much more. The views of the mountains are wonderful. We walked through an agricultural community where people grow tomatoes, strawberries and more. Kate included a shot of that. We stopped in the cafe she photographed for a strawberry smoothy. The people promote the health benefits of strawberries, and you can get them in smoothies, milkshakes, sundays, with amaretto or kahlua. Fascinating walk. We will stay here and hike until Friday, more to come.