Manmade Bottle Island - Amazing

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Flood in Boquete

Flooding in Boquete

It all started with a tropical storm that caused a heavy 4 days of rain the ground became so saturated that the mountainous roads became quickly impassable with mud slides and the rivers roared and in many cases change course and swept away cars, homes, and in some cases lives. Here are a few pictures that I took along with a news link.

Lined up under shelter watching the event

Down stream from the bridge this is early on

The river rose another 2' higher

This little pig didn't make it

This is the road we used to walk down each morning

The real problem is on the Bocas Del Toro side with the stream behind Mario swelling up over its banks and wiped out the cabanas behind his house. He said he has moved to over the restaurant but we are not able to get over there and check until the roads are open there are various reports on the condition and we are holding out for an eye witness. But in true Panamain style when we finally got hold of Mario he said life was good family is safe and staying up over the restaraunt and they have power but the neighbor Estaf's place was completly wipped out.

What's new From Panama

Hey all let me catch you up on what is happening now.

We are trying to push ahead with Punta Linda and are searching for some help (investors)but we trust it will come cause it is time for something this good. In the meantime we will be letting you know what kind of progress we are making - we have made tremendous headway with planning already - and what is going on in our daily lives here in Boquete.

We do have a professionally prepared business plan and great compensation for investors who might like to keep their money in a safe place and in a money making project, so if you think of anyone who might be a fit for us please let us and them know. Fortunately tourism in Panama as well as the general economy continues to thrive and we feel very fortunate for that.

Yesterday I went to Punta Linda to show some people the Rambala property that we have for sale and while there talked to Mario who had just had a birthday bash for 5 year old Susan with over 100 people. Linda and I were not able to make the party but are saving ourselves for Mario's birthday on the 23 of November.

After showing the property and enjoying Juana's ( Mario's girl friends) chicken and rice and bidding all farewell I started on the hour forty minute drive home to Boquete and 10 minutes into the drive I reached down for a sip from a drink I had opened in the morning and as I grabbed a big swallow I felt in my mouth what felt like a leaf or something. Then it moved and I felt a sting. After coating the inside of my van with spewed drink turning every thing into a sticky mess I tried sucking on my lip to get the poison and stinger out. Well that didn't seem to help and as I continued driving down the winding 2 lane mountain road with no turn out or shoulders to pull over on I felt my lip starting to swell and swell.

Then I had a brilliant idea and figured I would take some pictures of my lip and the road while I was driving just in case any thing happened they could maybe reconstruct what happened with the pictures. By the time I had gotten home it was so big I could no longer even sip a drink.

The moral of this story is always check your open cans before you drink and if you don't, at least drink through your teeth. The only thing I am happy with is at least it didn't go down my throat and sting me there and I did make it home safely.

Adventure Ideas for Punta Linda Adventure Park

Hello All!

Here is Eric's latest idea of how to make Punta Linda the best adventure park in the world. He experienced this one - the Winter Park Alpine Slide about 12 years ago in Colorado. Looks like great fun! Anybody have any other ideas for the park? Please send them along in the comments.

Last Day For Now Week 3 day 15

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Week 3 Day 15

Today is the last day of 3 weeks allotted to trail building for now. It was important to get a baseline and to discover how quickly and smoothly the trail work would go. Friday and lunch today is hot dogs with beans and rice a little garlic and onion and you have a sort of chili and of course Justo had to help her and tell her how to cook it - the guy is amazing with what all he knows. Since it is the last day I stressed to Justo to tell them I want to try and finish all we have started and to clean it up so it is presentable to others. I wanted to polish up the gem so to speak. The trail off the main path up to the bamboo is looking better actually it is pretty good and is going to be a little longer distance to get up there walking wise but a lot smoother and easier to walk. The rails are looking good and the trail is not cut as wide giving it a nice natural feel. All day long there are at least 6 workers going to the creek gathering rocks in a bag and carrying them up to the trail dumping them and returning.

It is really looking good and making the trails so much more solid and less slippery. Some of the bougainvillea aren’t doing well and Justo pointed out to me that some leaf cutter ants that thought they were tasty. I can tell already this is going to be tough to write because I just keep thinking not so much about the job they did or the people I just got to know a little but more of the all the individual moments of stellar incidents. I was looking again for details to make it better wondering what would really make the place unforgettable but still haven’t found that special thing so I guess the beauty alone will have to suffice and there is plenty of that. I am still looking for that perfect tree for beginning the zip line runs. I have been lost in the ever changing light under the canopy of trees and how it makes the walk down the same trail seem different each time. Each time I see so many other things in the changing light. I can sense a little bit of urgency as they try to finish or at least make everything look good before the end of the day. After a week of coaching even Celestino’s wife is carrying large rocks from the creek two at a time barefoot. As I walk the trails I find my self thinking about the last 14 days of effort and the mini series of events each day. I am really sad this is coming to an end for now and I am going to miss all these people.

The day ended and Justo and I left a little before the crew to go get payroll ready after telling the guys to be sure to wash all the tools and bring them down. We barely got to the van and had the money counted out before they arrived; guess they were ready too. Oh I almost forgot the guy who was working on sanding and polishing the bamboo rails didn’t show up today and I had some one else doing that job. Well about 2 this afternoon he showed up. He told Justo he had just fallen back to sleep when the others took off and had just now gotten there. He walked 2 hours to get there to work just over a hour and then turn around and have to walk 2 hours back home - that is dedication. Well it was payday too so I guess that counts for something.

Rare Hummer on Punta Linda

Ruffus spreading his wings

I did see another humming bird flit on the way out. I am already counting the days until can restart this project. Benny the biologist is supposed to show up at PL on next Saturday so Linda and I will be anxious to see what he has to say.

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Yellow Fever Shots??

hello all
Please check this link to our other site for all the information you need on the Yellow Fever Shot and if you need one. Coming or going from US or Canada only = no need.
Hooray! But if you are going anywhere else on the way you better check the rules.

Eric's Journal Day 14

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The regular crew showed up Celestinos wife was minus her sister so Justo and I loaded them up with food, chain saw, and a Milwaukie battery saw and sent them up. Justo informed me that the guy with a backhoe and two dump trucks had stopped by last night and was going to come at 7 am to give me an estimate, I looked at my phone to see the time and asked him - is that Panamanian time? He kind of chuckled and I told him we had time to go get the meat for their lunch and be back before he showed up. So off we went today the chicken necks looked the freshest so that was our decision and to be honest I don’t think we have had a complaint since we started buying their food, guess I wouldn’t complain either. No doubt they eat for sustenance not for pleasure like we tend to.
Shortly after we got back to PL the prospective road guys arrived and we talked and headed up to the entrance of PL.

Two electricians and Justo

On the way he was commenting about the conditions and said those wouldn’t be a problem and just hearing that made me smile so we continued upward on the 1 km walk over and back over a stream countless times. All the time he said that isn’t a problem. After every person we have talked to and all that came out of their mouths was how much and how hard it was to build; l it was a welcome relief to hear those words that I once used to chime in my contracting days. Once we got to the entrance of PL he was feeling pretty good that the road was not going to be a problem so Justo and I took him up the hill towards the bamboo. The trail the cows have made over the years is almost straight up the narrow ridge that reaches to the bamboo and I would easily say it is well over 45 degrees -possibly even closer to 60 and remember that 90 is a straight wall. He still seemed confident that this was not a problem so I asked him for two prices. One road just to the entrance and one to the bamboo - he said no problem. I sure hope this is the rainbow I have been wanting so desperately.
Bamboo Groove

After that we went back to the entrance and while Justo walked ahead I took my time, carefully checking and started punching out the work they had done. It honestly looked good but needed a little polishing to really shine so I went to Justo and talked to him about it and said we needed to get Celestino to walk it with us so we could show him the small details we wanted addressed. As I walked back I asked the guys if they had seen Celestino and I kept getting a head shake until finally I got one of the guys who didn’t seem busy and told him to go get Celestino. He kind of just stood there and finally I asked him “Celestino vamanos?” Remember when I tell you that I told the guys to do something its not even a 25% chance that they understand me on the best of days so it’s always pot luck. It did seem to work and in about 15 minutes Celestino appeared and Justo and I walked to the entrance of PL. I began with I wanted him to know about what a good job I thought they where doing. Then I told him I had a few things that needed to be finished up. He nodded and we started. Most of the things were like small making a ditch a little deeper for drainage, picking up the debris from the construction of the bridges and trail, cutting a root back here and there and adding more rock. They are going to hear that one a lot tomorrow “add more rock.” As we continued over all the trails pointing out this and that I remembered Celestino had sent two of his men to work on an alternative trail to the top. I asked Justo about that and saw Celestino smile. I of course wanted to see the new trail to the top and was pleasantly surprised and although it wasn’t any thing special, it was a trail with a switch back that was very easy to walk. I told him I was very pleased when we finished the trail and that we didn’t have time to work on that trail right now but at least we found it. He smiled and I looked at Justo who was huffing and puffing a little bit and realized we had just walked all the way up to the bamboo and climbed down then walked up past the bamboo finding another trail and I knew he had to be exhausted so we headed back down. Life is good.

When we got down to Laguna de Justo and the bench Justo took a break. We talked a bit and then he started moving rocks on his waterfall. I decided it was time to do some work and walked up and grabbed my 18 volt battery saw in one hand and my 18 volt battery saws all in my other and headed up the hill to trim the posts on the rails and cut the ends of the bamboo to be square. It makes them all look a lot better after I do that. I almost forgot when Justo and I returned to the entrance this morning after talking to the backhoe guys we saw a lone guy at the front working on sanding and cleaning the rails. I had given him a sanding block that after the first rail was used up. He had done a good job but was showing me the sanding block. I then grabbed his machete and started showing him how to use the machete to scrape and smooth the bamboo that way. It was like a lighting bolt had just hit the ground next to him he was so startled at how you could scrape and smooth something like that. I mentioned to Justo that he was probably born with a machete in his hand and how he had acted like it was the first time he had ever seen that. Once I had seen him at the entrance to PL I hardly ever saw him again all day so I guess he worked on scraping and polishing the rails all day. Much later in the day I asked Justo if he knew if there were even 12 people today. He thought for a second and didn’t know either so we started counting over and over until finally Justo had to ask Celestino and he told him about the (12)? guys scraping - good thing because I thought I was going crazy.

Salistinos Wife

As long as we are talking about the 12 guys lets talk about the 13th woman. I know she cooks for 12 guys of course she doesn’t have to get any food and Celestino makes sure she has fire wood, we have made a shelter for her to keep dry and to cook under and the tent is right by a stream. This is the stream I have been asking her to clean up for all this time and finally she did. Well for the last couple of days I have been noticing she has been sitting there a lot just talking to her sister or just dangling her feet in the creek. I had told Justo to tell Celestino that if I was going to pay her she was going to need to work the whole time. When I talked to Justo and asked him if he had talked to Celestino he said he had not talked to him yet. Tomorrow that will have to be one of the first things we talk about in the morning.

As the day went on the progress did slow down a lot without being able to communicate I was struggling hard to keep on top of things and I didn’t do too well. I didn’t leave until the day was done and made sure they washed the tools and took what we no longer needed up there down to my van so we didn’t have as much to carry down tomorrow. As I was walking the trails today seeing the ones we had done and seeing the ones that didn’t work out on our exploration for the ultimate path I realized that we didn’t just clear one km of trails we probably cleared 10 km of trails but where only had 1 km or so that really worked well and got finished. Still that’s pretty good and I did a lot of exploration and haven’t gotten to the other side yet which is 4 times the size of this side. What’s cool is I feel sometimes like I am just scratching the surface of a giant gem and sometimes I laugh at my self and think it’s a giant turd - such is a typical day in my jungle life. I don’t really mean that but it is sometimes exasperating not being able to communicate and trying to get the job done.

We all got off the mountain and put some of the tools in the van; I have already loaded what we don’t need in the cabana out in back of Mario’s. I just had one of the best warm showers in the world the day is over and only one more day to go for now. Tomorrow is going to be a great day I just know it is.

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Eric's Journal Day 13

Entrance shot 1

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Hey guys we are down to the last 3 days I am going to show you on the next three posts three sections of the trails sure will add some extra pics too enjoy .


Two days left to work on Punta Linda and today Justo and I got them started and went to pick up the necessary meat for lunch. Today it was 8lbs of ribs and with an orange juice I bought the bill at the china market was $8.45. Justo and I were going to go to the agricultural school and give the professor the 800 - 2lb planting bags I got and the seeds we bought in Boquete - an assortment of vegetables. We have three types of peppers, squash, corn, flowers, onions, and carrots. The students are supposed to fill the bags with soil and get the plants started then when they are ready we are going to get the kids up to PL and have them plant them and of course we are going to feed the students too. I have been realizing the last few days that the kids are going to need a place to plant them. I can’t expect them to clear the brush and grass and till the soil then plant all the vegetables. So now Justo and I are on a look out for a good place to start a garden and the one thing we realized too is we are going to need some type of fencing to keep the animals from eating our crops. That will be something for me to work on while I have a break from working with the Indians. Justo said he needed to mail a letter to David and could I take him to the china market next to the Texaco. This particular China market is more of a restaurant and a bus stop. The way the mail is sent here is you just give it to a bus driver that is going to where you want and then he drops it off at the bus terminal - you then call the people you are sending the letter to and they go to the bus station and pick it up. The whole process costs $2 and the letter is in David in 3 hours. It really isn’t a bad system and the nice thing is you don’t get junk mail when you have no mailbox.

We went up to PL to check on the progress that seems okay so far. I talked to Justo about wanting to check on the progress towards the top along the creek so we took off on a stroll heading to the top. I purposely stopped at each bench to take it all in. We followed the trail to the barbed wire fence Justo had told me about where the guys had stopped progress. When we got to the fence I looked ahead and saw that it had been cleared so we proceeded onwards - the trail wasn’t bad for while then it got close to the creek and started getting steeper. I thought we might have found the easy path. We then heard some noise and chopping ahead. When we hollered they stopped and came to us. It was Celestino and two of his guys so Justo asked him how it was ahead and he said it was getting very steep. We turned around to head back down and they followed. I haven’t given up on finding the easy route. We did explore another route and Celestino had two guys chopping on that one as well.

Justo and I then took the route they had cleared the other to the bamboo. It wasn’t a bad route and tied into other routes that we had been making. The paths are almost like a maze the way they start end and never join. Maybe with a big piece of string I will try and tie this thing up by Friday. We headed on down and in just a few seconds more the silent lunch alarm must gone off cause all of a sudden they all appeared on their way to lunch. I can say one thing to be honest they do seem to enjoy the midday meal.

Shortly after snapping a few candid pictures I even got three guys to do the hear no evil see no evil speak no evil pose (that was fun) the lunch was over and the rain started to come down. They all headed out to work without giving it another thought. I was scrambling to make sure that I had nothing out that could get ruined in the rain and pulling under the tarp what I did have. By this time I was soaked and Justo was as well, I really didn’t want him to get wet since he had told me before that it some times made him sick. After about 15 minutes Justo just took off to check the guys working and I stayed under the tarp for about another 20 until Justo reappeared and the rain started to let up some. We then started walking the trails checking on the water flow, in most places it wasn’t bad but we found a couple that needed some more rock and attention to the ditches. Just about the time we got the farthest from the tarp the rain opened up again. Panama! It really didn’t feel bad since it was the same temperature as the air and it even seemed to refreshing but I was soaked to the bone. I can tell the work is starting to take a toll on me. I am getting a lot sleepier earlier and am feeling exhausted, guess I know how a mountain goat feels now. The day ended much like most although again they didn’t make it down to the van till after 4. That is a lot better than the first day when we where sitting at the truck at 3:15. Tomorrow I am going to try and stress putting rock down and finishing the rails and if possible put some rails on the trail to the bamboo. Justo said he needed to wish me luck in getting it all done.

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If you don't like Michael Moore

Michael Moore is at it again. He is working hard to get out the vote and we think it is important to help in this effort. For our "conservative" friends, you do not have to look at this free film. For the rest of you click on the heading, enjoy and get out the vote. Let's get back to our roots and give our country a chance.

Week 3 - Day 12 of Eric's Journal

For those who have recently started reading our blog, this is currently Eric's journal of building Punta Linda Eco Adventure Park and Canopy Tour in Punta Pena, Bocas Del Toro, Panama

We are really starting to polish this job the rails are going as well as I could have hoped and it’s good to see the crew catching on. When I pulled up this morning Justo and 6 of the Indians were there.

Getting the fire going

I counted forward and backward and still got the same number then Celestino informed Justo that the others had headed up to PL already. After we left and were dropping off the chain saw, the rice and beans; Justo and I went to the store to pick up the meat. Today we bought chicken feet and I watched as Justo told Celestinos wife to cut off the toenails this time. You just have to smile when you see these things happen - life is so good. After we dropped off the food I told Justo to make sure at lunch to count heads, forks, or plates to make sure we had 12 workers up there he nodded and agreed.

Any one seen my feet?

Most of my day was spent with the two Indians who had been doing the rails, I didn’t want to change who I was using since I had invested so much time to see that they finally understood but I never had left them totally to themselves without supervision. We also started chopping some more trails up towards the top and Justo had them chop and widen a trail he had made to get to the bamboo. The trail reaching higher following the stream was really going well and they had the right idea as they started chopping through some dense jungle. They were making sure they didn’t just chop everything with a machete so some of the paths are almost like tunnels walking through. They continued to chop along the creek until they hit a barbed wire fence.

Then, not sure what to do they stopped and I never had a free moment to make it back up to where they had hit the fence to check the situation out. I assured Justo that the fence was probably an old fence some previous owner had put up there to contain the cattle so tomorrow I will check it and make sure. Then I can have them continue onwards and upwards. One thing I noticed that only one of the Indians wears a watch but its amazing that at exactly 12 the guys showed up for lunch. I have no idea how they do that! Maybe they check the shadow on the tree or something. Well at lunch Justo did a head count and there were 12 plates and forks and they all got eaten so I guess I had all my Indians.

Fresh Bamboo handrails scraped and sanded

The trails are becoming so solid and smooth but I told Justo that I really wanted to make it to the top so we could get over the ridge to the other side. Most of the birds to be seen are not in the jungle but in the fringes where the jungle meets the open areas. We are still a long way from making it to the other side but pleased that the paths look as good as they do. I can’t believe I keep saying how good the paths look you all just have to come out and see it for yourselves. I spotted another sloth near the entrance I think it is the same one as we saw two days ago. I even saw a pileated woodpecker today. I heard this unusual sound and asked Justo and he told me what it was and then I actually saw it. It was huge and looked just like woody woodpecker. One thing I don’t remember seeing any humming birds today. I am sure they were probably there but just didn’t notice them since I was working so hard on the rails and steps. Remind me to take time to see the birds. Today everyone was working on the trails, rails, and steps and so involved in it that Justo and I checked the time and it was actually 3:45 so quickly! These where the guys I was just talking about 2 minutes ago always knowing what time it was. I guess they either need to get recalibrated for quitting time or they are enjoying what they are doing.

Jewels of beading water capture the light

One interesting thing happened today was I was working with the Indians later in the day on the rails on the upper side. I was trying to speak to them in Spanish and they wanted to know what the word was in English. I was blown away! Here are guys whose main language is Noble Bugle dialect, some of them speak a little Spanish and they are trying to learn English. I am so disappointed that in the United States our educational system doesn’t stress learning different languages. Over the years I have wished that I had a better handle on languages like people from so many other non English speaking countries where it is typical to always know at least two or more.

Tomorrow Justo and I are going to get the Indians started then go to the agricultural school and drop off 800 plant bags for the students and a large variety of seed we bought. Every thing from carrots to peppers, from zucchini to flowers, we already had Celestino plant all the seeds from one papaya all over PL. I have no idea where he planted them but I will once they start to grow. One of the things I need to put some thought into soon is where to start a garden. It’s really hard to pin down an area when you are still in the developing stage. I am hoping when we find that easy way up to the top of PL on the other side to the large areas of open spaces we will find the perfect spot. I am really going to push the guys some more tomorrow on the exploration of new trails since it seems like the paths and trails we do have are coming along so great.

A crossroad in a bugs life

I had better close this journal down because the sun comes up early in PL and the Indians even earlier. We have a lot to do or let me rephrase that - a lot I want to do whether or not it gets done is another matter. But that’s Panama and to be honest I am truly enjoying their attitude on life.