Eric's Journal Day 5

Required Jungle Footware
Where do I begin - okay the beginning. I showed up at 10 till seven and the Indians where already there as I pulled up I saw Justo walking up the road with a leather jacket and flip flops. I hollered out I know I told them I wanted Linda to be able to walk up the trails with flip flops but this is crazy and he then told me that he wasn’t feeling good and wasn’t going to be able to make it. That hit me like a ton of bricks I started thinking how am I going to be able to communicate with the Indians? He said no problem just tell them what to do and turned and walked away – saying he would be back in time to help pay them at the end of the day. I have learned since I moved to Panama you have to make the most of every situation and I figured this was a flaming situation that I had to look hard for that silver lining. Once we got up there and all the guys started digging and working on the trails and bridges; Chief Celistino was guiding them I figured I had it licked.
8" Punta Linda Frog
Well then Ernesto showed up after I had told Mario we didn’t need him anymore and thought he had called him for me. Since I decided to use bamboo totally for posts and rails, and instead of using wood for the bridges we are going to use crushed palm - I didn’t need the professional wood cutter. I didn’t have a translator any more and had a heck of a time getting the point across that I didn’t need him today but then finally he smiled and shook my hand and headed back down. One problem averted with only a little time wasted.
One of the longest bridges
(it's a long way down)
Every time I would walk off on one of my explorations when I would return and see the progress they had made I would let out a loud perfecto!!! As the day went on I would hear them talking to them selves and every now and then I would hear a “perfecto” from them as well; it was all I could do to contain the huge smile on my face. As the day wore on lunch time arrived, in the morning I had given them a plastic bag with 4 small cans of pork and beans that Lyn had given me and ¾ of a loaf of bread to have bean sandwiches. After lunch while I was sitting by my new ZEN pool along the trail Celistino came up proudly with the plastic bag in tow with all the trash and said it was good; well he may have said it or not but he smiled and nodded and seemed very gracious so I am assuming. I on the other hand was eating some very stale chips that I would sprinkle on the water so the little fish and crayfish (which they call fresh water shrimp) would nibble on them. (Lyn says: I have to interject here since anyone who ever came to our house in Florida knows that Eric is by nature a “fish trainer”) I handed Celistino the remaining bag of chips and watched him finish the rest of the bag while being careful not to walk around the corner so the others would not see him. As he was eating the chips (a few days earlier when I had opened the chips I watched as a dime slide off the top of my dresser and had fallen in the bag instead of digging it out then I just figured I would find it as I ate and left in there and forgot about it.) You would not believe the face on Celistino when he found that dime. He pulled it out and tried to give it to me - I told him he could have it. I started thinking later if he thought all gringo food had money in each bag no wonder they think we are rich. Spending time with Celistino as he supervises his guys there is so mcuh silence only broken by me trying to say something or convey a idea. Often he will be listening and then his eyes light up and he will say what the animal was he heard, today he was listening and a smile came over his face as he said “MONO” (monkey). I listened hard for the sound trying to differentiate it from the hundreds of other sounds filling the jungle. Little things like this keep reminding me why I am here, the beauty and the people.
Baby Howler Monkey
The monkey was a treasure since the only other “sighting” so far was when our friend Curly discovered one when he was standing under a tree and the monkey was relieving himself and I guess that qualifies…. After lunch we went on a search for the perfect trees for the next bridge these had to be 30’ long and straight. As I walked to PL with the line of Indians following me I decided just for kicks to take a different way up and to see what they would do. As I changed courses taking a different way up they, like their women, just followed me the different way not even breaking stride. I was leading and they where following.

Afterwards I spoke and said Bueno? Celistino nodded and we might have a new trail in the works now.
Did you say you wanted a trail here boss?

Well just as Justo said he met us down at the entrance at 3:30 with his receipt book in hand all the information already filled in and it was time for Payday. Paid out the 40 dollars per person which was 7 - $5 bills and 5 - $1 and to Celistino $44 and Justo $75 so one week of labor making 400 meters of trails in the jungle cost $315.00. Not too bad for 7 people working. Can’t wait to see what next Monday will bring when I increase the work force to 13 I know it’s going to keep me hopping and shooting lots of pics.