Vamos a introducir ... y despedir

We are Noor and Rike two tourism students from the NHTV in Breda. Since January 2009 we are both working for Tanager Tourism. Noor came to Panama to write her thesis about community-based tourism involvement. She has been working with the population of Palmilla, the tiny village in which Tanager Tourism is located. Rike is doing her internship with Tanager Tourism, and mainly works with the community of Flores with the objective to make the Cerro Hoya National Park easier accessible for tourists.

When we arrived in January 2009 we settled ourselves in the community of Malena. Mainly because of the experiences of Rob, the intern who stayed there in 2008. He was more than enthusiastic about Malena. As soon as we entered the community for the first time, our imagination about this village was confirmed. Malena is a friendly and centered village. Nevertheless, our first days were harder than expected….

fotos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanagertourism

….There we were: Two blond girls, two backpacks, no house, and plenty of Latinos whose language we were hardly able to speak. However, when we arranged our own house, with a latrina and open air shower we could settle. The cockroaches and bats were included in the rent and soon we realized: You are never alone in Panama! If one of our lovely pets was not giving us great company, one of the locals, mainly the men, would come to visit. We truly got in touch with the way of living of this religious fishermen’s village Malena. Especially after we finally managed to accept our goodbye to the luxury goods of the civilized world, such as, 24 hr speedy internet and cell phone reception. The closest internet spot is happily only four kilometer away, but public transport is scarce in the area. We quickly fell in love with the most common way of public transport: Hitchhiking. It does not matter if we find ourselves in the back of an empty cow truck, or in the cabin of a foreign investor, we always enjoyed ourselves. Usually the first car would pick us – muchachas rubias! – but note that sometimes only 1 car passes in an hour.

We also got more and more familiar with our new lives and found a rhythm for our daily working life, because was that not the actual reason why we are here? Our daily life here included: Taking care of the tourists and the “finca” of Tanager Tourism, visiting the communities, working in our house on the given assignments, food shopping in Mariato and to maintain our social relation with the Malena community, we started to participate very soon in the event of the day “Beach-volley”.

In the last seven months, we exchanged, step by step, the luxury goods of our daily life in the Netherlands towards a life like any member of a rural community. And yes, most of the time we were really happy with this life. Still, we are two girls that like to party and explore. Therefore, once in a while –work permitting!- we left to explore other parts of beautiful Panama. Highlights were Coiba, Santa Catalina and our road trip to the eastern side of the Azuero Peninsula.

Everything comes to an end and so has this adventure. We face it with mixed feelings. On the one hand friends, family and the hot shower wait for us in the Netherlands. On this side, we leave amazing people behind and the chance to see them again is lower than seeing those faces we said goodbye to in December 2008. Nevertheless, we will leave this place in August with a bag full of unforgettable experiences and knowledge. We know that we would never have gathered these experiences without Tanager Tourism. Loes, thank you very very much, for all the effort you put into us and, as well, for your patience. We wish Tanager Tourism just the very best!!!!! Esperamos que vamos a volver otra vez para ver los desarollos en este paradiso....

Saludos Nora y Rike