Chance Meeting

Last week we ran into our friend Lori's Mom and her friend in a store in Boquete. Really small world. We had never met her in the US and knew she was building a house here and there she was in the store looking so much like Lori that it just had to be. Here she is with her friend Charles in the Boquete Bistro.

A a picture of the 4 of us at the indoor pool at Valle Escondido - the Bonita Bay of Boquete. They gave us the grand tour of the neighborhood.

More from Boquete

In the Boquete at the vegetable market. Chiriqui Province is the "bread basket" of Panama so fresh vegetables and fruits are inexpensive and easy to get in town at the vegetable market.
Just an ordinary morning chirper here.

We found a great greenhouse with wonderful fresh herbs to plant here at the house and are able to buy 3 different kinds of hydroponically grown lettuce there. We are having our first real salads since we came here. A salad to most of Panama is iceberg lettuce with a piece of tomato.

If you are lucky there will be something resembling Italian dressing, usually they top it with mayonaise! Ketchup (salsa americana) is served with everything and real fresh salsa is nonexistant unless you make it at home. Spam is available in every (even the smallest) market!

We keep looking for something better that "we Americans" left behind.

Just a few of our neighborhood flowers in Boquete

These are everywhere when we walk the neighborhood. Met a new neighbor this past week that had us in for coffee (seems he owns a large coffee plantation). He sent us home with the most delicious coffee ever and an armload of fresh cut Calla Lillies. Seems he also has 2 fish farms and sells salmon and trout to Publix! Interesting new friend.

Day Two on Punta Linda already

After sleeping like a rock got a call Justo had to go to Chiriquí Grande and wouldn’t be there till 9:30 no problem I could handle it. It was like a flash back 7 am 5 Indians showed up and I dole out the shovels and picks and told them to go on up and I would return as soon as I got my gas can and filled it up for my chain saw. I knew they didn’t under stand a single word I had said. Well the gas can with my chain saw gas never made it but I did have another cup of coffee with Juana, Mario’s girl friend, and her little girl Susan who was in an obvious time out chair. As soon as she saw me she let loose with a purrrrrrrrrr-FEC-TO (perfecto) as loud as she could making me smile as I pointed to Susan and asked Juana - time out chair? She smiled and nodded. Back to the job after not finding the gas can I remembered a while back Linda and I had climbed to the top and I had cleared some trees where a possible building site could be and I had stashed a cooking oil container that contained some chainsaw oil and gas. Climbing up to the top retrieving my gas and chain oil I headed down. After talking to the head Indian about the bridges I figured on starting to chop some material for this. Dang being a lumber jack is a tough job. After getting the bar and chain stuck and unstuck numerous times as the tree wanted to pinch and gobble up my 16” chain saw; in a last ditch effort of defiance I had finally cut it into the size pieces we had determined would work. I had let the head Indian use the chainsaw one time after seeing how that went I realized I was the new Lumber Jack, guess my pointing days where over. After we got two trees cut and were working on the third the tree fell off the side of the cliff and was stuck standing straight up caught in a web of vines with no way to make it fall. Back to the hardware store to get some rope which they where out of and then to Chiriquí Grande to buy 9 lbs of rope for $19 dollars. You would have laughed as I tried to explain that I wanted only 20 meters then gave up and told him to give me the rest of the roll which figured was close to that. Back at PL I was watching them try to throw the ¾” rope through the tree and failing then one of the Indians just climbed a tree next to it and threw it through. With 5 Indians, Justo, and I we got it to drop with 10 minutes of tugging. Cutting it up in 18’ pieces they carted it to creek to now begin the bridge.
I am always so happy for little signs of improvement after I had cut up the trees they set them in place and started flattening the tops of the logs for the boards to be later nailed on. When I stepped back to look at what they had done I was happy to see how good it was going to look and I think they also see now what I am trying to do. Where is a wood cutter when you need him? Still no Justo’s brother today either. When I asked Justo he told me he had tried to call him again but he lives where there isn’t a phone signal. He was sure he would contact him soon since he had borrowed $20 from him. I am crossing my fingers with Justo too.
I got back to Mario’s at about 3:30 so tired I could hardly stand up and drenched in sweat and jumped into a warm shower, dang life is good. I lay in bed to fall asleep almost immediately wake up around 5 pm. Guess I will have to go to get a wheel barrow tomorrow. Thank goodness Lyn and I had cooked up extra food before I had left Boquete and put it in Tupperware plates. I am still to hot even after the shower to heat the food up so ate it cold but it was the best food I had ever eaten, grilled chicken, and red peppers and onion. Tried to call Lyn tonight but the phone won't hold a charge and I got through and cut off, and every thing was going so good.
Tomorrow we are going to keep pressing on the trails and may even try and get a rail up. The wooden planks we will have to cut later unless I get a wood cutter tomorrow since these trees are so hard they laugh at my 16” chain saw.

Day One on Punta Linda - Eric's Consturction Journal

Monday the start of any ordinary work week!
Life is good! Mine is starting in the jungle of Panama with 6 Indians and a 67 year old Morse Code Specialist for a translator. The first day of any job is always one of the most trying but to be honest with you it wasn’t really that bad (that being the key word). I had asked and arranged to have 6 Indians with their boss. So a total of 7 but wasn’t too bad. Half of the crew started right in with shovels and a pick working on a bank to make steps, the boss was with them to make sure they didn’t mess it up. The other 3 went with Justo and me as we explored around The World Famous Punta Linda looking for trails and places of interest. The 3 Indians where amazing they chopped through the jungle like a weed eater on steroids - it was amazing. 3 wide the Indians cutting a 5 meter wide path wherever you pointed them. I had tried to get Justo to convey exactly what I wanted before we got started but guess it lost something in the translation. We where chopping on a trail on the ridge just next to the creek and I wandered down closer to the creek to where this huge tree (whose name I will find out) was. The base of this tree has this ribbon of roots surrounding it, I had always really wanted to be able to highlight the beauty of it and the serenity. I hollered up to Justo where I was and that I had wanted a path to the tree. He hollered up to the Indians on the ridge to make a trail to where I was. They proceeded to stop point towards me and cut a 100 meter trail 5 meters wide to where I was which was over ground that could only be described as a very high ridge and a cliff. 10 minutes into their chopping I realized what was happening and tried to holler to Justo to have them cut a trail back and forth and to find the easiest way to me. Guess that lost something in translation. In 20 minutes they had a 5 meter trail right to where I was standing that only a mountain goat would ever be able to climb back up. I wonder if next time I start at the top and have them cut to me it would work. I am sure I will get several more opportunities to find out. The next exploration we did was around this huge almendro tree that was down that we are cutting our posts for the rails from. Right across from the tree is a valley with the most unique tree. The tree is over 100 meters high but 40 meters up a branch goes downwards then has grown into the ground about 6 meters from the base, Other than a banyan tree I have never seen any thing like this. When we got up there Justo remarked this would be a great place for a cabana which I readily agreed.
Next we continued back to the ridge and continued to chop upwards. I had been here earlier on one of my explorations but when it had gotten too thick I had to stop, but the Indians sure didn’t. They where so busy chopping only stopping to pull their files out to sharpen their machetes that they didn’t see a sloth only 3 meters from us up right at eye level, well I didn’t notice it either but Justo pointed him out to me. I had my camera but as I had found out earlier there was just too much humidity, and with me sweating so much there was nothing dry around to clean the lens from the instant fog that formed on it, I am sure he will be in close to the same spot later. Did you know that sloths only come down the tree once every two weeks to defecate? As slow as they are it almost takes them that long to get down. At last just as I had hoped the trail opened up to just under the ridge of the left hand slide of PL. Making our way to the top I know Justo thinks I was a broken record repeating over and over "suave" meaning smooth, the closest thing I have learned so far to mean not too steep. A quick chop across the ridge, 5 meters wide, and it was lunch time. I hollered to Justo to tell them to chop on the way down must again think it lost something in translation. They where like a horses headed for the barn, their back sides soon disappeared from site as Justo and I made our way down.
I met Justo’s brother, his wife and his step father and mother. To his house we hiked off the main road down a river in a plantain field, it was interesting as I drank a cup of coffee with them while their pet parrot tried to bite my ear. He was telling a few stories which I got a quick translation by Justo as I drank some of the darkest richest coffee I had ever had. We talked for a while as I sipped the coffee and he agreed to $.10 per foot cutting the wood from the tree that was already down on PL, of course I bought the oil and the gas and gave him some money for a new chain which he said he would take off the price I paid him. I shook his hand and said that sounded fair which Justo translated. Well after giving Justo $100 for gas and a new bar and chain he showed up. The first day they showed up a quick storm popped up blowing debris all over and breaking branches they left shortly after that. It isn’t fun to get hit by falling debris from 200 meters up so they next day got a good start and cut 530’ of lumber which isn’t the dimensions I had said but none the less we could make it work. It’s something that is almost growing on me as I softly chuckle under my breath and mutter panama.
Once Justo and I made it down to the bottom where the rest of the guys were I smiled as I watched the guys who had just cut a 5 meter trail faster then I had ever seen take off their boots and where soaking their feet in the creek. Remembered again why I was here. I realized that tomorrow I was going to need to bring my chain saw since Justo’s brother had not shown up to cut some fallen debris which could be used for bridges to. I left while they ate lunch and went and picked up the extra pick axe I had in my van and grabbed some lunch which I had forgot to bring up with me. Before I left I mentioned to Justo to have them cut a path to the bamboo which is a huge grove of bamboo you can see from a long way off where there had once been a corral. When I returned they where gone but I looked upwards and saw a 5 meter path straight up the cliff leading to the bamboo. I have got to find a better word in Spanish to communicate “gentle, easy” trail. Climbing up the newly cleared cliff feeling like was in a gym climbing one of those artificial walls with the only difference being that the gym didn’t have the humidity, or the bugs. Once getting to the bamboo I found them clearing the area around there and be honest it looked great so let them chop away. It wasn’t any thing towards putting in the trails but I was happy to see the progress. Justo told me it was getting time for them to leave and they could head down and we could check out a repair his brother had made on the fence. I told Justo to tell them on the way down to chop the path wider but again something in that translation thing. After making our way down I started talking to Justo about what time it was and he told me 2:45. I started thinking we start at 7 am, 30 minute lunch, the numbers don’t work. As I gave Justo a ride home I asked him about that he said they only took a 30 minute lunch so they could get off early. Not bad work 7, get paid for 8 but he also told me tomorrow they would work longer. All and all not a bad first day.
After work I went to Mario’s where he had given me the downstairs cabana to stay in which I was thrilled about since this one also has hot water and grabbed a shower the best shower in the world and headed out to grab some chain saw oil and some gas "opps" my gas can was missing. When Mario got home later about 9 pm I asked him about it and he said his working Enil had it and called him to have his son bring it in the morning. After going to the feriterria - the only hardware store in two towns and picking up the supplies; I then went to the internet café in Chiriquí Grande and spent some time on the net researching mazes - it’s a idea I had to maybe make Punta Linda different if I could. I always told you I was an idea man didn’t mean they where all good.

Punta Linda progress

Don't know what these guys are called but aren't they pretty?

This is one of our new benches which everyone down to the last Indian tried out the intitial prototype to insure quality control. Just the right height, big enough for 2 or more using wood from a tree that was already down naturally.


OK Now!

These guys are small in general (about 5' tall) but check out the size of this bamboo. Gives you a little perspective on the enormous job at hand. The Bamboo doesn't get hurt by being thinned out a bit and is being used for the handrails for the bridges and the steep paths.

No problem as anyone who knows bamboo knows you can almost hear it grow.

It is located however a long way from where the guys are working.

This is one of the paths that follows the ridge around the stream. This spot was inaccessible before and now affords such beautiful views. This is the path in the begining stages.

It is much improved now.

This is the cook and her sister who is in training for cooking.
Amazing how they dress for the jungle.
The younger one (14) tells Eric she wants a Gringo man since they treat their women better - translated by Justo.
These girls are often married around her age and sometimes
the men will have more than one "wife".

Here is one of the bridges with handrails ready to install at the entrance to Punta Linda.


Another trail that would be impossible to traverse without a bridge. These guys hand carry every log and rock for this project only using shovels, picks and a wheelbarrow when feasible.



A Colibri or hummingbird - hard to photograph since they always seem to be in motion.
Eric's favorite! So colorful and so fast and tiny as they zoom past your ears.

Another not very photogenic critter playing hard to get.

This is one of our 3 toed sloths (see the toes) hanging from a tree and scratching her stomach!

There was a baby too but too high up to photograph!

There is beauty everywhere! Cool "cricket".

The cook at work, rice and "chicken" will be ready soon.

The only way to move the wood to where you need it is by hand.

This one is really heavy and long!

We love this young guy who works like a mule and always has a ready smile

and wears his Costa Rica "Pura Vida" hat every day!

This guy nobody loves and the natives won't even eat him since he is so poisonous they are afraid that the poison is in the meat! Don't believe it works like that but who are we to say.

We think it probably tastes "just like chicken" and makes a good hatband!

This one was 5 ' long is a Fer De Lance - not to worry we have a handy dandy snake bite kit! Thanks to Charlie's advice! Gulp!

Killing these snakes costs extra so for this one the guys typically get a bottle of rum

at the end of the week as a bonus for their bravery.

This is the hydro electric damn in Caldera between Boquete and Punta Pena right after a big rain.

The street in front of the house looks like this at least once a day when the area covers up with fog and then rains a little. Every day the weather here is very dramatic. This is just the begining of the fog coming in in the afternoon. Our neighbors are friendly, no roosters, no pigs, definately surburbia. I can take a cab into town for $1 and a bus into the city of David (1/2 hour) for $1. The town of Boquete is old, quaint and very cool -built around a square park with a gazebo type stage for live entertainment.

Our temporary digs in Boquete

Here is our little cabin in Boquete. Eric comes in on Friday for the weekends and soon he will be here full time until we figure out our next step to our Punta Linda project.

Written From Boquete in the Province of Chiriqui

Hola All!

These are all photos of Punta Linda in Progress.

Thanks to Eric for dragging the camera up and down the mountain all day!

Eric will fill in the story detail later when he gets back to civilization

This is Justo our foreman and interpreter

At the entrance - water everywhere

Where is Tarzan for these vines?

Traveling alongside the stream

We rented a house at last and moved to the mountains for the summer and the internet. Finally unpacking our belongings.We are just settling in to Boquete, more or less - I am sitting at the computer with a jacket and hot coffee. Typically it is sunny in the am and the weather changes many times in the day. Very dramatic looking weather and spring like climate year round. Temperature ranges from 65 - 75 daily and the mist rolls in over the mountains frequently and turns to rain.

Eric spent the week in Punta Pena working with 6 Indians and a foreman / interpreter working on the birding & walking trails for Punta Linda and I worked unpacking all our possessions from after Eric hauled them in from the trailer over the weekend. We are working to get Punta Linda to a point where we can ask for investors, share the vision and get the capital to complete the Park. "The World Famous Punta Linda Adventure Park and Canopy Tour" will definitely take more money than we can pull together on our own to make it as spectacular as we want it to be. The canopy Tour will turn Punta Pena into a destination and we are confident with some additional backing it can be done.

One of the workers with the favorite of digging tools

Eric left this morning to go back to work on the trails some more and will return to me in Boquete on Friday. We hate the separation but right now it is necessary so I can be here with internet in a place where I can market the sale of our properties. We are also looking into what other small business we could start here with limited capital outlay and so we am researching a couple of ideas. Boquete is a little seasonal but also has many expats who live here year round. People visit mainly for outdoor adventures such as whitewater rafting, hiking, zip lines, hot springs and birding.
Our little house has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and one bath has hot water so life is good!

No AC needed here at this elevation. We are surrounded by lovely mountains and only 30 minutes to David for all shopping, medical, airport (soon to be ionternational airport) etc. Black volcanic dirt here, lush and everything grows. Coffee, orchids, fruit including oranges, grapefruit and fantastic mostly organic vegetables are readily available and still fairly inexpensive. Prices are rising here like around the world but here it is more affordable to eat than many places. Just don't want to drive around too much as that would blow any budget. You can get a good "tipico" lunch with soup, meat rice and beans for around $3.

Our foreman gets paid so very little and has an 8 page resume ranging from Morse code to supervision of many employees to assisting Americans during the time of Noriega. His recommendations from US military honchos could not be more impressive and he is just what we needed to get this project going. The Indians who are Nogle Bugle and walk 2 hours to get to the job. It is a different world for sure. This past week Eric discovered that even though the workers were told to bring there own lunch; they did not have it to bring. Most have families have many children to feed and so this week there will be a cook hired for $5 per day, pots are bought and she will feed them all with some chicken feet and rice, corn and beans. Additionally 6 more guys will start this week - they are happy to have the work and the pay is what they are used to getting. Lunch is a bonus. As it turns out they are good, hard workers, they come with a "chief" since some of them only speak their dialect and he speaks the dialect and Spanish and is trying to learn a few English words from Eric. Having had much experience carving out communities (they are primarily nomadic due to their hunting lifestyle) these men are experts at thatched roofs, chopping trails with machetes, recognizing and killing poisonous snakes and bridge building with natural materials. When they finish the trails anyone will be able to hike up to the top for the Caribbean views, access all the creeks and mini waterfalls and enjoy the birds from trails that will not require perfect health and incredible stamina to use.

The Invitation

We have the spare room available for visitors and there is so much to see here. White water rafting, kayaking, hot springs and much more. Not to mention Punta Linda and the islands of Bocas!

Here is Eric's Crew week one!