Natural Solutions Foundation Volunteers

Hi there, greetings from Portugal. Wish you all a good day!

Hi, and thank you all for joining the Natural Solutions Foundation Volunteers Forum. Last Wednesday we have a very interesting call and I invite all of you to join us this coming week. The call is on-going every Wednesday at 10 PM Eastern. Call 219-509-8322, PIN 937848#. You will be asked to say your name and press # again. When you do, you will be joined to the call after a moment or two of elevator music. Many of you have asked about transportation options. There are many ways to get to Volcan: After you fly into Tocuman International Airport in Panama City you have two options: If your flight gets in early enough you can take an afternoon flight on either Air Panama (http://www.flyairpanama.com/) or Aeroperlas (http://www.flyairpanama.com/), both of which depart from, and return to, the regional airport. You can buy your tickets online. You will need to show your passport when you take the flight. The 45 minute flights are equivalent, the airplanes are equivalent and the schedules are similar so, with identical prices, I would suggest that you just take whichever one is most convenient. That is the good news. The bad news is that you are permitted to carry on a 10lb piece, a personal item like a purse or briefcase and check only 25lbs. What we do it give Manuel, our honest and bilingual taxi contact in Panama City, our other luggage. He takes it to a company called Fletes Chevales which ships it up to Volcan for about $5 per bag and we pick it up for you. It really does arrive. We do it all the time. Going overseas, we do the reverse: ship our cases down to Manuel on Fletes Chevales the day before our departure. He picks them up for us, meets us when we fly in and then reunites us with our suit cases. Good system, small cost, totally reliable in our experience and we have done this many, many times. if your flight does not allow that, we suggest you go to a hotel, stay the night and either take an early flight up or, if you want to see Panama City a bit for either shopping (exactly like any mall in the world - nothing special because they have the same stores, the same prices and the same food with almost no exceptions) or a trip to the Miraflores locks (very interesting - go at lunch time and have the excellent buffet luncheon while you watch the ships and locks from a location so close that you can almost touch the ships!) Then you have Manuel pick you up and take you to your flight when you are ready. Second option is to come in to Tocuman Airport and either overnight in Panama or go to the bus station and take the bus to David. The buses are clean, comfortable, we understand, and have bathrooms. The fare is under $13. from David to Volcan the fare is about $2. The night bus is really, really cold, we hear, so bring a warm blankie! If we can, and we know in advance that you are coming, we will be happy to pick you up in David for the 45 minute ride to Volcan. The third option is to rent a car and drive. The drive to David is about 7 hours. The roads are excellent, safe and, for the first half, have gas stations and at least one rest top (half way, in Santiago). The second half of the drive is up over the comarca, or Indian Reservation, which is safe, beautiful and really empty. Nobody there except occasionally a stand to sell tourists the local bead work or typical Indian dresses (I like both a lot, by the way). No refreshments, no pit stops, nothing. Bring water and toilet paper with you. David is 45 minutes from Volcan. Here are the driving directions: from David, take the TransAmerican Highway, also called the Pan American Highway. Same road. Go through David (unless you want to eat at the quite good Lebanese restaurant - just ask for Domino's Pizza - it is right across the street!) You go out of David toward Paso Canoa, which is the Costa Rican border. Don't get excited: there is nothing you want there. Anyway, continue onward in that direction for about 15 minutes out of David until you come to the town of Conception, also called "Bugaba". Why does the town go by two names? I have no idea. You will see a Delta Gas Station on your right, then a Shell Station. Now look out for a green sign, also on your right, that says "Volcan 38 km" and turn right. If you go straight and get to the Costa Rican border, you went about 26 km too far. You have turned right and are now on the "Via Volcan". Keep going for about 30 minutes. It will go up the mountain from hot, steamy David to cool, comfortable Volcan. You cannot get lost. Driving tips: if you are coming up in the afternoon, it can get foggy. SLOW DOWN and just creep along and you will be fine. About 2/3 of the way up the hill it gets a little bit steep. SLOW DOWN. Drivers in the other lane are likely Panamanian and drive with a reckless abandon that means that they may try to pass another car or truck where they cannot see ahead. SLOW DOWN. By the way, if you need gas before coming up the hill, the prices at the Shell station that you pass before you turn right are the cheapest around. So now you have reached the top of the hill and you will see Casas Rienes (or something like that) on your left hand side. At that point, start looking for a large circular restaurant on your left hand side. It is across from a red gas station with no name (whatever that brand is, none of their stations have any identifying names. Why? I have no idea.) Just before the Round Restaurant, turn right. You will go one block and come to a white wall (which has a funny story - we will tell you when we see you). You must turn right or left. Turn left for a few yards until you come to the corner of the wall. Make the right hand turn and go around that corner. Now start counting houses on your left hand side. The 6th house is dark brown, sits parallel to the road (the only one that does so) and is the house you are looking for. Here is our contact information" Rima and Bert's cell phone: 6868 6825 (yes, that is the correct number of digits) Our land line: 771-5059 You do not need to dial the country code, 011, or the area code, 507, from within the country. I STRONGLY suggest that you either get an unlocked phone in the states or buy one when you get to Panama City. They are cheap. Yes, I know about the EMFs. They are essential for communications here. HINT: the lowest emissions are from the Motorola Razor V3 phone. They are out of date but if you can get one, you are getting far less radiation than from any other phone sold here. We can also be reached on Skype at rima.e.laibow.m.d. The dots are important and the address will not work without it. My private email is releyes@gmail.com and Ralph's is ralph.fucetola@usa.net. Gail Coba, my assistant, will be the one to help you out the most. She can be reached on Skype at "gailcoba" and by email at"Gail Coba" . PLEASE give us as much advance notice of your trip as possible. It is essential that we understand whether you are self-sustaining volunteers or not. We will help you in every way we can so if you have special needs, please let us know. I want you to know that each and every person who comes here contributes to the entire project and I appreciate your willingness to come and participate in health freedom and in the Valley of the Moon. Yours in health and freedom, Dr. Rima Option 2: You fly in and