Monday, August 1, 2016

El Valle


We took a day trip to El Valle while we were staying in Playa Corona. It's only a hop, skip and a few curvy turns up to this cool, verdant oasis. The temperature felt pretty refreshing after cooking the books on the beach. El Valle is nestled in the crater of an extinct volcano. I can tell you from experience that it was windy at the top. I was worried I'd be blown clear off the narrow rim where we were parked. This vantage point was my favorite part of the sleepy day trip.


The Crater



Pray you won't fly off.



Our ride.


There wasn't much to do in El Valle. Except enjoy being on vacation. But we did tour a water trickle. I mean water fall. And we had an amazing lunch at Camino del Inka. We had garlic chicken with buttery potatoes and salad. Chicken is so much better in Central America. I suppose chicken was good like that in the states once, in someone's backyard, when there was neck chopping involved. Now, an assembly line of millions of antibiotic injected jail birds, just don't taste the same. 

Then we did some shopping...




There was a nice outdoor market. The best part was the crafts. (not shown) I bought a painted wood plate. My husband bought a Panama man-purse. To put his i-phone in. 


This Rey grocery store was a little too gringo-fied for my taste. I couldn't find many local products. Let's see. Do I want local guava jam? Or Smuckers. Do I want an imported apple? Or a fresh local papaya. Another thing I can tell you from 9 travel years of experience in Central America, is that junk food like cheese puffs taste even better there. I think there's less artificial stuff and more real stuff. You know, the tasty bad stuff.

I love the above dog shot. It was so funny. The dog just sat in the opening, waiting for master and keeping the automatic door from shutting. Being that energy is at a premium in Central America, I'm sure the manager didn't like this dog letting out all the air conditioned air!


At least the gringo mart had local beer.  Which we enjoyed back at the beach. Just another day in paradise.

Meanwhile...

What superpower do you dream about? Is it flying? 


My top 5 superpower picks are revealed over at The Chorus of the Crows...

The Links:


16 comments:

DUTA said...

How cute is that - nested in the crater of a volcano!
I like volcanoes, especially the extinct ones, and I adore outdoor markets.
Enjoy your purchases (wooden plate and man's purse)!
The picture with the dog is priceless.

NCSue said...

Neat shots! So glad you stopped by http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/08/cats-consumate-contortionists.html to share!

DJan said...

Yes, my superpower is definitely fyiing. 68 hours in freefall helped with that one. :-)

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Local is always better.Love the cute dog. Beach sound good with that beer.

betty-NZ said...

Wow. What a great place to visit! Your photos are awesome and it looks like a great time.

Lady Fi said...

Lovely shots.

Pat Tillett said...

Great photos and words Sharon! It's always nice to be able to buy food fresh from the farm. I want the powers to fly and become invisible.

Creations By Mit said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE the photo of the dog outside the store!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

What a beautiful place to visit with such blue skies!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

What a beautiful and pristine place to visit! Love looking back at your travel photos! Hugs, Diane

Birgitta said...

Beautiful place and very nice photos!

eileeninmd said...

Hello, Sharon! wonderful images from your travels. I would think the fresh veggies and fruits and the local beer all taste yummy. The dog is waiting patiently for his owner, good doggie.

Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

carol l mckenna said...

Creative photos ~ love the dog looking in the store!

Happy weekend to you ~ ^_^

Linda Hensley said...

I can smell the produce through your photos :) Smart dog!

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Looks like paradise. Yes, I'd love to be able to fly there like superman!
~

Anonymous said...

The food over in Germany was so much better than the US too. I think it has a ton to do with how they farm over there and then the laws of what is consumable and not... their junk food was really good as well.

The image of the volcano is really cool with the vegetation and the houses tucked neatly inside of it.

Lisa @ LTTL