The Long, Long, and Very Long Road to Pixvae

If you are looking for a place to visit off the beaten path, I have found one. Pixvae is a small town, pronounced “pix – bye.” The majority of Panamanians do not pronounce the letter “v” instead they substitute it with the letter “b” and pronounce it. It took a whole year to acknowledge this language custom, I know shame on me!

So, where exactly is Pixvae? Many asked when mentioning I would be making this trip. Its location is on the Pacific side of Panama in the district of Las Palmas, in the Province of Veraguas. It borders the Chiriqui Province, located by the ocean but still on the mainland, it is a township with eight small communities.

When you are driving to Pixvae never, attempt the trip on an empty tank of gas or even a half tank. Fill up again in Sona (pronounced so-nah) or before. A full tank of gas is crucial for the reason that Pixvae does not have a gas station furthermore a four-wheel auto is essential. Sona is located just before turning onto the long, long journey to Pixvae. The drive is up and down many dirt, rocky, and steep hilly roads.

After driving and leaving the town of Las Palmas and Sona, the fun begins. Right outside of Sona we stopped at a family run dulcera business “Doña Isabel” where we bought some yummy milk sugar balls, tasty sugar cubes which had been recently made and still warm.

It takes two hours to drive from David to Las Palmas, from there to Sona, driving through small towns and finally arriving in Pixvae 2 and half hours later. However just when we thought, we had arrived in Pixvae guess again more dirt roads, with deep crevices, and rocks to maneuver around and drive over. One hour through our drive, we thought we were lost and we had to double back. One point to remember if you are not driving along the river you are going the wrong way.

We would ask each other – “Where is this place?” Does it even exist? Was this Roger's dream? Roger who was traveling with us had made this trip 17 years earlier so there we were two cars, nine people out for an adventurous weekend traveling on long, long, and very long road to Pixvae. I have never traveled over so many hills in this two-hour drive. Another way to arrive to Pixvae is hiring a boat from Puerto Muntis but then again it would take just as long to arrive there.

Despite the intense, exhausting drive, though I was not the driver, it was worth the effort to visit Pixvae. The views along the road are magnificent and breathtaking. The town sits on the edge of the Chiriqui "buffer zone" of Isla Coiba National Park is a hidden gem surrounded by “green luscious cerros” situated in a beautiful bay. The location is very remote and very self-sufficient, the people Pixvae are extremely gracious and very proud of there town. When traveling to this area of Veraguas, few to none speak English, so it is best to be able to speak and understand Spanish.

Pixvae dates back to the late nineteenth century taking its name from the abundance of pixvae palms popularly known as “Pixvae Chichero.” The Pixbae Palm is Bactris gasipaes, Peach Palm in English. They are grown for the edible nut in colorful bunches of green to orange. The fruit is available in July and August and sold both cooked and raw in the markets or on the sidewalk in front of Super Baru in David. The cooking method of Pixvae is to boil in salty water for three hours and eaten out of hand; the flavor reminds me of a winter squash. The palm trees being quite attractive and attract nesting for birds and parrots.

Nearby beaches and islands are Pixvae Moline, Doña Juana, and Manglarito with the sea a pleasing turquoise color. Most of the islands along the shore are covered with small very colorful turquoise and brown pebbles instead of a sandy beach, large shells are along the shore. The water was most pleasing both invitingly warm and calm without humongous waves bashing onto me. Some of us just lounged in the water or floated on our back taking the opportunity to enjoy the ocean.

Isla Manglarito has a mound of green vegetation in the center of its small cove about 250 meters inland, there is a waterfall which is between 25 to 30 meters high and stunningly nestled under it is a nice water hole to swim in.

While boating to small islands in the area you can see many rivers, flowing into the ocean it is a superb sight to see. The fish frequently caught are Mackerel, Snapper, Corvina, and Snook similar to Bass, Dorado, or Dolphin but not related to the Flipper family, Roosterfish a game fish weighing 100 pounds, and Palm whatever type of fish it is I do not know.

A few suggestions for your Pixvae trip take enough bottle water for your stay or buy some in Sona. Pixvae does not sell water that I could see, take a flashlight, snacks, bug spray, all toiletries, towel, and small dollar bills ones and fives - no twenty bills; wine, though they do have beer at Augustina Soto’s Restaurant. There are two hostels in the town of Pixvae and another under construction. We stayed at the Hostel Jois our hosts were Doris and Ruben they charge $8.00pp for the night and have three private bedrooms, one open room with 4 beds on a very wide terrace that is outdoors but with a roof, which is where I slept comfortably. Dinner was $3.50pp, and the boat ride for the day was $5.00pp. A flashlight is necessary since electricity is absent in this town, although homes have TV’s they are run by generators, and lights turn off at 10pm. As we walked around town after dark, flashlights came in handy preventing us from stepping into large puddles of water from the afternoon rain and everyone uses one. There are not many cars in Pixvae so walking on the town’s main street road is ok to do.

Call before traveling to Pixvae to let Doris or Ruben know you are coming. In addition, if you plan to visit the small quiet town of Pixvae once you are there be ready for a relaxing time since there is not much to do in town. I suggest taking a walk through town, listen to the folk tales about Pixvae from your host Ruben, and enjoy a day on deserted islands, do some exploring, hunt for shells, and unusual pebbles. There are two separate cemeteries one is for the children the other is for adults.

The accommodations at the hostel were clean and our dinner of fish the catch of the day, rice, and salad were very good. Our breakfast at Augustina Soto’s Restaurant on the hand was not perfect. However, hey - who needs perfection when the climate and stay in paradise was fantastic!

Below is a map with Pixvae's location, although it does show the long, long road there, also included Hostel Jois’ telephone number. Happy traveling - Explore – Dream – Discover!

http://travelingluck.com/North%20America/Panama/Veraguas/_3702755_Pixvae.html#local_map

Hostal Jois. Tel. 998-0167 y 6636-9582. Cabina telefonica en Pixvae 333-2902