Visiting Panama, one of our plans were to visit a banana plantation, in a town by the border of Costa Rica two hours away from David. But, a protest by workers changed plans, they had a strike. We couldn’t find out any more details, except for that some other Deaf people told Alvin, who joined our travel team as one of the guides, that it was not worth going due to lack of Deaf workers in that region. We didn’t know where these Deaf workers were, having to change the plans as a result.

We were lucky to meet another Panamanian native, Pedro at the Chiriqui Association of the Deaf meeting, he mentioned that there was something to see in Volcan, a small Panamanian mountain community an hour away from David. We asked him to join us to Volcan, and he happily obliged.

Volcan is the land of the eternal Spring season, always having Spring-like weather. It is a good retirement community, with a dormant volcano sleeping by the valley.

Upon making new arrangements with Pedro, we had nothing to lose and we went driving on a uphill road that was a very windy route. During the drive, I gazed at and admired the spectacular view of the dormant volcano Volcan, that had a white cloud drifting by it. We finally pulled over on the side by a very small looking house, the wine farm nowhere to be seen.

“Where is the winery,” I thought?

Pedro came out of the car and greeted the elders of the house as if they knew one another. A lady named Silvia introduced her daughter, Mely to us. Silvia had a sister who was Deaf, a lady named Marina. I was very impressed because Mely could sign very well. Silvia said, “come follow us behind the house,” while warning us to watch out for the “slippery trails” because they were so steep.

The nine of us were walking down like donkeys winding deep down the Grand Canyon in a thick forest. The thought, “Farming in what? Why in a thick forest?” kept bothering me. I didn’t really have an answer for it.

Along the way I saw many magnificently beautiful flowers, and were so thrilled that we got to see the true “Bird of Paradise” flower. The herbaceous plant is a tropical flower that features a striking resemblace to the shape of a bird with wings.

As we continue walking, I am wondering again, “where is the farm?” The question poses in my mind because I am anxious to get there in spite of surroundings which didn’t look like there was one lingering someplace.

Finally, we escaped from the dense forest into the beautiful open view of a river streaming alongside a deep mountain cliff. It is a big land of moraberries, a very delicious type of berry, and our mouths watered as we ate them. It was simply too delicious to resist eating a handful of them.

Said Silva proudly, “My family has been making Mora wine.” Seeing the berries ignited a debate about wine between me and Iris. I told Iris to keep asking them more than ten times to make sure we got the right information, because I did not realize wine can be made with berries. Mora wine has between 14-16% in alcohol levels, tasting so naturally sweet, with a perfect aftertaste for a dessert wine. I mistakenly thought wine was made by grapes only. The wine was one of the best dessert wines I have tasted in my life.

We walked back to the road, and ran out of breath going all this way. We continued to talk there, and they explained to us that they put berries into the barrel for one month then drain it and wait another three weeks to build up the sweetness of the wine. That was a complement to tasting such fine wine seeing how it is processed.

Having enough of the wine, we were lured by the aromas of the best premium central american grown coffee. Can you picture yourself having gone for days without your favorite cup of coffee experiencing withdrawal symptoms, becoming a little bit highstrung and cranky? Come see and find out!

We then went to Boquete, well known as a coffee community, being guided by Osman who lives there. We tried to locate Deaf coffee pickers but the harvest just had completed few weeks ago. All of the Deaf coffee pickers were scattered out of town because Boquete is an extremely expensive city to live in Panama. There are lots of Americans, Europeans and other foreign nationals living there. I couldn’t believe my eyes over the fact that the town of Boquete is so beautifully scenic especially with the mountains. Many new estates are being constructed.

My crankiness was building up as I approached our destination – the coffee farm.
We arrived at the coffee farm, located on the slopes of Mount Barú in Western Panama, called Hacienda La Esmeralda farm, it produces premium central american export coffee.

My cranky manner was instantly subdued when I stepped inside a real coffee farm boasting one of the best brews in the world, I sipped very slowly as not to down the whole cup in a minute because its the best coffee as ever I had. I had no coffee since my arrival to Panama City, and tasting a very high quality premium coffee felt like a cup straight from heaven. I discovered that in 2007 at the auction, their coffee was sold at $130 a pound. Sounded like an award-winning coffee to me.

Looking at the green bean in my hand, an unroasted bean, I asked if I could take it with me. They said to find Rachel Peterson, the family coffee farm owner, to ask her. I was pretty lucky to catch her since she was with another media group doing the tour. I hastily wrote a note to her, asking if I can have some green coffee beans. Peterson was impressed of the fact that I roast my own coffee beans at home, so she dispatched her staff to give me a pound of her best coffee.

We had our picture taken with lots of coffee bags stacked up in the background. The stacked coffee was waiting to be shipped out to the world within only a week. The coffee owner Peterson then dashed off with the media group to their own endeavors. It was a thrill meeting a coffee owner and sampling coffee grown onsite. Having visited another coffee farm in Guatemala too, I feel like a seasoned coffee connoisseur.

“You look like the happiest boy in the world,” remarked Iris. I told her, “oh yes, since I just sipped the world’s most expensive coffee.” I felt very fortunate to be able to visit a coffee farm and to taste the best coffee in the world.

As it was time for us to drive back down to David, we stopped at the plaza, following a tip that there was a nail salon on the sidewalk. Nail salon owner Abdis has been running the two seated caged booth for the past 13 months. She admitted that her business is thriving with lots of customers and added that all profits are being saved for her dream in opening her own nail and massage salon, one that is much bigger than her small caged booths. “Many hearing customers return here,” said Abdis, “because I always take care of their nails while the other nail salons don’t treat the nails as gently.”

Iris decided to have her services. Great pampering for Iris on the street! I told Abdis that her dream in running a big salon will come true in the future, because she has a dream to live for.

Iris had her nails done, and I had my coffee.

We both walked away from the Chirique highlands with our bosoms satisfied, from meeting great people, and sipping fine wines, perking up with the most premium coffees.

That is what I call a true tour of Panama, it is all about tasting and seeing.

Get connected with Sorenson VRS® for easy to use features and free services. Sorenson provides access to industry-leading E911 services.  Sorenson has handled more 911 emergency calls than all other IP providers combined.  Learn more at www.sorensonvrs.com.