Eric's Journal Day 14

Trail Photo 11
Trail Photo 12
Trail Photo 13
Trail Photo 14

Trail Photo 15

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.

Trail Photo 16

Trail Photo 17

Trail Photo 18

Trail Photo 19

Trail Photo 20

Eric's Journal Day 13

Entrance shot 1

Trail Photo 2

Trail Photo 3

Trail Photo 4

Trail Photo 5

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.

Trail Photo 6

Trail Photo 7

Trail Photo 8

Trail Photo 9

Trail Photo 10

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.

Eric Journal Day 11

Week 3 - Day 11

Started like most of the other Mondays with the long drive over the mountains. I left Boquete at 4:45 AM and watches as the sky start to lighten up as I approached the mountains but then as I made the pass the dark sky gave way to multicolored spots of sky encased in dark shades of blue clouds. It’s always an inspirational drive.

Mysterious darkened peaks

Inviting you onward

One after another shrouded in mystery

Today it took 65 minutes from home including a stop in Gualaca to fill up my van - only 65 minutes to make it to Punta Pena. Gualaca is a town on the way that has a gas station -actually it is the only real town on the way.

River that runs through Gualaca

Cut through the rock making interesting canyons and swimming holes

The interesting thing about Gualaca is it is as old as the United States and was founded by some missionaries in the 1700’s but only has a population of about 5,000. I don’t know what they have been doing for 200 years and there is nothing there to give that secret away.

Justo and the girls waiting to carry up the food

As I approached Punta Linda all the guys where there and what was cool was that Celestino even brought some plants and flowers from his home as well. He has really caught on to what we are doing and has proven to be a real asset and a leader among the people he is able to bring each day.

Celestino's insight is always welcome

As I unloaded my tools and then went and got the ones from Justo’s home we went to the “China” market to get the days meat. The “pickens” where slim so chicken necks at $.65/lb it was. I was anxious to get back to PL wanting to see how the hand rails were going to turn out. They had started one already but it wasn’t the way I wanted so I had them start over. I tried to stress how important it was to take our time on the first one and get it right because it would make all the other bridges go a lot faster. After they put the split palm in the ground and made sure they drove it at least 2’ deep and put two at each end then we tied the bamboo handrail on and stood back. WOW!

Carrying the split palm down from up top

Now this is going to look like a rail when i am done?

Whats a rail?

It looked good and was as solid as I could have hoped for. I think I got it now but I knew I would have to stay close to get them started and monitor each bridge rail.

Onward and upward the trails continue on

With a smile ear to ear I walked up to check the rest of the progress, well just as I had feared the plants Celestino and I had brought where being planted in a straight line 6” apart and ran 200 meters up the trail. With Justo having to leave for a while to get the electrical taken care of at his house I was on my own to try to explain that in nature nothing grows in a straight line and I wanted the plants not on the edge of the trail but in a random pattern in close proximity of the trail. Guess there is not a good translation for proximity. I just decided at this point to try and get some of them random and finally with putting steaks in the ground in a random pattern was able to get him to plant them that way. What I am hopping for is at least some of them begin to root and I can have them transplanted at a later time. Celestino was working on some more benches. I had him change the first bench because the direction was totally wrong from how I had shown him last week that this one was supposed to go. When I had him change the bench I spotted a cut off from the Almandro tree that was about 8’ long and would work perfectly for the bench. I had him spread the posts apart some to accommodate it we used that piece for a seat instead and it really turned out great. I walked back to the front to see how the rails were going and helped with the layout and cut back a couple split palm bridge slats and then left them on their own to head back up to help Celestino. On the way up near the huge tree the guys were bringing rock from the creek in bags and emptying them on the trail to make it solid it is really shaping up beautifully.

And I walked 5 hrs to come pick up rocks?

I looked on the bench by the stairs and couldn’t believe what I saw. The guys had a tarantula spider with a string tied around it and the other tied to a stick it was just like walking a dog. I laughed out loud and played a little with the spider before finally making it to Celestino. He had 4 guys working on a trail in one direction and 2 going the other way watching for just a moment I realized they really didn’t have a clue in the direction they where going and thought it would be a lot easier if they at least had one rail up showing them how the path was going to go so I told Celestino and his men I would be back in 10 minutes and on the way down grabbed two guys who where toting rock in bags and took them with me to get some 50 bamboo poles and some twine and 8’ stakes.

Just a second I think I see the perfect piece

Bringing the bamboo to the trails I laid it roughly where it was going to go and told him to have one of the guys drive a stake there and tied the other end of the bamboo to a tree. The rail was solid as a rock as soon as we drove in 3 more posts. They finally got the idea and we were on a roll at last I think. One more piece of bamboo 50’ long tied to a post on one end and another tree.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever

Shaking the rails some I smiled this is going to work great. Then back to the front to check on their progress. We have in about 700 meters of trails so far and with work going on at each end every time I check on one end and then the other I have walked 2 km. I am sitting here trying to think how many times I did it today and have run out of fingers and am halfway through my toes. No wonder I am starting to fade some- I am sure its not that I woke up at 4 AM.

I was very pleased with the progress today the rails I think are going to turn out great. The benches look wonderful and the rock on the trails it going faster than I had expected. As I was working with the guys up front laying out the next rails they had dug 3 of the holes and were sticking some of the split palm in when I realized what they were using was to thin I had told them it had to be at least 3” minimum so they stopped and went to work on digging for the next bridge since that took the longest because of the rock strewn creek bed we were running our bridges in. I asked Justo what time it was he answered 3:15 I hollered good job let’s wash the tools and roll it up. Translated it means scrape the mud off the tools and hide them in the bushes till tomorrow. As they washed up and got ready I walked up front and looked at the rail again seeing how finished it looked now I wanted to get a picture with all 15 people lined up along it.

A happy bunch of guys (and girls)

As one of the guys came he was going to keep walking and I told Justo to tell him to stick around for a picture of every one but he told Justo he wasn’t going to get home till 8:30 and he had a 2 hour walk ahead of him. Lets see 3:30 plus 2 hour walk, oh well guess it’s not important if I miss a few guys. Finally I got about 10 to stop on the bridge and I snapped a few pictures I will hope to get some of every one on the bridge soon.

Little beauty abounds

Oh I forgot to mention last week when they where cleaning out the debris from the fallen tree in the front of PL I saw a little fish floating on top of the water I asked one of the guys what happened and he said something about a vine that I didn’t totally understand. Justo told me that what he meant was that the one of the pieces of vine they were cutting from the tree had fallen into the water and the sap from that vine kills or stuns the fish. They use that a lot when they go fishing to catch all the fish in the streams. Sure sounds ingenious but not to good for the next time you want to go fishing. I am constantly amazed at the resources in the jungle when you totally understand it you have everything you could possibly need right at your fingertips at all times. AMAZING!

The last inspection