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

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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

Eric's Journal Day 10

Rain drops on the leaves


Day 10
The start of day 10 wasn’t the best. We woke up in the morning to a heavy downpour and then I saw Mario and Lyn off as they went their way and had a few minutes to spare before it was 7 so I took my machete and started to drive around town looking for pretty trees and bushes that where over grown that wouldn’t mind a trim so I could take the cuttings to PL and plant them.




Hidden beauty everywhere

I hit pay dirt I found several trees and bushes some with pretty red flowers on them and wacked away almost filling the back of my van. When I pulled up to the gate the whole gang was there plus a new face and I opened the back of my van pulling out limb after limb out and telling Justo to tell them I wanted them planted all over PL.



Towering red flowers


Justo then introduced me to the person with him. He was an electrician Justo had talked to about giving us a quote. He had given us a verbal quote based on what Justo had told him and wanted to come out and visually verify. I shook his had in the rain he had his yellow slicker buttoned up tight and the hood pulled down low his glasses rain soaked poking out. Justo then told me he had come from Panama City last night; leaving at 8pm, ridden the bus to Punta Pena - an 8 hour bus ride and had arrived there at 4 am and had been waiting for us since then. The Quote was almost half of the one we had just gotten. I told him to hop in the van while we went to pick up the food and when we returned we would walk the project with him.
Justo and I went to our daily shopping trip and got some meat in a tub that looked like a large sausage but he told me it was just a chopped up meat in a tube and nodded as he bought 6 of them for what he described as a chili.





Would you buy meat from this guy? I did


I don’t think I am going to be trying her food today. Back to the entrance, Celestino's wife was waiting for us and the rain continued to come down hard. Justo had his rain coat I had bought for him and I donned mine and headed up -anxious to see how much the streams had risen with all this rain.



Water water everywhere


It was beautiful! Every one of the little water falls on the way up were magnified by two and the sound was grabbing more than its usual share of jungle noise. The entrance was looking good and the stream was a little higher but not bad at all. I was pleased seeing that the river had not turned into a raging torrent wiping out all of our work. As we approached the entrance to Punta Linda I saw Celestino looking at the base of this large tree that we had a bridge right next to so I asked Justo what was going on and he said they had a big snake.

4' 'X' snake

I ran up to see it as Celestino was telling Justo that the snake had almost tried to bite him in the rubber boots. One of Celestino’s guys was already headed up the side of the hill to cut a forked stick to pin him down so they could trap it. I looked into the base of the tree and could just barely make it out deep inside the roots. When they came back they modified the stick to a fashion they where happy with and then one of them then jammed it into the tree pinning the snake’s body about 12” back from its head leaving the head free to strike at what it could. I watched as this 5’ snake would strike out and of course had to poke my stick at it too. One of the other guys was trying to hit it with his machete but with it being so far in the roots he could hit it but not with enough force to do any real damage. After thinking for a moment he then took his machete and with a couple quick whacks had sharpened the end of a stick. Pushing it close to the snake the snake struck out at it and as he did the Indian pushed the sharp stick into and through the head end of snake. The snake writhed and squirmed and after some patience they were able to get it out of the roots. I am glad they got this one -It turned out to be over 5’ as we put a tape on it but unfortunately with the rain still coming down I was not able to get a picture of it. Well that got every ones blood pumping - okay time to get to work and make good use of all that adrenaline.
Justo, the electrician and I then started to walk up the hill toward where the bamboo was so we could show him where to end the power poles. As we walked up the electrician was almost sprinting up the hill with me 10 meters behind and Justo even further. I hollered up to him that he was in good shape; he then said he was only 24. I laughed and said I was over twice his age and Justo was almost 3 times his age so no wonder! Guess with his yellow rain coat on and the hood pulled down I never did get an idea how old he was. He really seemed genuinely interested in the project even more so than just getting the job that was very refreshing. He was constantly pulling his camera phone out in the rain and taking pictures even on the way back down, as we took a different way he was stopping and taking video of Punta Linda.. He then said he had the first video commercial of PL I told him to show it to all of his friends he said he would. Justo then told me he had to go back home cause the fire department was going to check an electrical connection he had made to make sure it was okay. I asked him to just walk Carlos down and when he was finished to return. He said okay and I watched as the two walked off in the rain at 8:30 am.
As I walked back checking progress, some of the areas that had been muddy before were not bad after they had put rock on them. I was pleased as I saw them shoveling more rock onto the path in the bad areas to solidify them as well.

Packing rocks notice the homemade tamper

The new path we had just made the day before by the large tree on the river was 24’ of water fall cascading down and washing out the steps we had just done the day before. Nothing we could do now but later we will have to come up with some sort of idea to stop this in the future. I smiled as I saw all up the sides of the trail of the steps were the branches that I had brought yesterday and they had planted them in a row up the trail 6” apart and by breaking them into smaller pieces we now had over 400 flowering plants along the path. I am going to give Buckingham Palace a run for their money. Colors abound

After Celistino had seen how nice the benches turned out he was anxious to install some more so I showed him a few places to start putting them. He took 2 guys into the jungle with him in search of the perfect seats. Down toward the front where the two new bridges are that we installed there was one guy working on adding rock to make the path nicer. He was doing a great job picking rock from the creek laying them in the path then hitting them with a sledgehammer pounding them down and breaking them into small pieces.

lacy grace

purple tower

I started thinking that with a couple more guys I could have a road back here in two day I could drive my van down. Well that is wishful thinking but it is the thought that counts anyway. As I watched his progress I saw three guys coming down from the mountain with 8’ pieces of split palm on their shoulders tied up with vines and place them by the bridges. The guy was starting to nail some of the palm down on the new bridges but was obviously going to be short. I was wondering how come the palm they where bringing down was not the right size. Well, with Justo gone I tried to talk to them and ask what they where doing but all I could get was a smile and a “Perfecto” (I have got to teach them more words or I have to learn more). When I tried to talk to Celestino It wasn’t any better. I was starting to panic a little without Justo. How could I tell what they were doing? I checked my phone and I didn’t have a signal so I started walking toward the front holding my phone in the air turning in different directions like radar searching for enemy planes looking for just one bar of signal. At last I found the spot and called Justo to check on where he was. (Guess he was right about the need for walkie talkies.) He said he was on his way back and almost there - I said good. When I saw him I told him what was going on and that I needed to find out what was happeing. We then went and talked to Celestino and he told us they where going to use the 8’ split palm for the posts I told him it wasn’t what I had thought but I wanted him to make one demo so I could look at it and inspect it. He said okay and told the three men to work on that next. Right after that as I was in front where they were going to do the first rail I heard in the distance “HOLA” - alright Linda is here at last.
She was a site that made my eyes jump she had her shorts on and boots with her earrings and bracelets flashing. Dang she looked good. I was anxious to have any one give me their opinion of the progress even more so of Linda. She was smiling big as I brought her through the entrance of PL and showed her the snake we had killed earlier on a stump she actually took her hand and touched it later commenting on how it felt and she had never touched one of those giant vipers before. (I think she is turning native). As we walked into PL the rain had stopped and it was lunch time so we walked by the cooking tent with all the guys sitting eating their food. I introduced them all to Linda and Justo translated for me. We continued up the paths showing her the bridges, the bench we had just made the day before, and the new steps by the huge tree where there is a small cascade of 7” water falls. Then she smiled seeing all the flowers that I had planted along the path and said how good it looked. After showing her how the trails were looking and taking her to the point where the split tree was, we then showed the guys where to put the next bench and we walked down toward the entrance. Celistino said his guys had the rail done on the first bridge and I was anxious to go see it.
When I got to the bridge with the first rail I was a bit shocked. They had taken the split palm that were approximently 4” wide and had even split some of them down further and drove them in the ground and tied the bamboo onto them with vines telling me that they would be using nails. But since they couldn’t find the other hammer at the moment and the other guy was still nailing the split palm on the bridges they had to do it this way. Panama! Well the 8’ split palm for the posts were only barely in the ground 12” and the dirt was still loose around them and 4’ of the post stuck above the bamboo rail that they had tied on. I went up to it and grabbed on to it and it shook like crazy flexing way too much. They could see as I inspected it I wasn’t happy and were busy talking to Justo about why it was that way and explaining that is how they do it. Well with Linda and 7 people around including Justo I started talking about different possibilities to fix it. Maybe we can hire Ernesto to come up and cut the Almandro into the 2x4s I had tried to get Justo’s brother to do to begin with. Guess the Panama translation fairy didn’t get it right. They all nodded saying how strong Almandro was and since they couldn’t nail it cause the wood was so hard they could tie the bamboo onto the post I agreed think that might look okay.

Hidden in the groove or bamboo

With the threat of rain again and having felt a few drops I told them at 3 that they did a great job today and to wash up the tools and bring them all down for payday. Linda and I walked to the truck as the drops softly started to come down. When we reached the bottom I took Linda back to Mario’s so she could shower and then I returned to wait for the guys so I could pay them for the week. They all came down each toting some kind of tool or implement we had been using and loaded them in the van. Then they came to the side window and Justo dished out the money and had them sign the receipt book which he had already filled out.

our bamboo rails

I can say one thing - Justo is efficient. For only having worked 10 days I think we did a lot and with 5 more days to work I think we can get more gravel on the trails and the rails up without any problem. I sure hope I don’t eat those words.

the bridge Celestino walks every day

Moving river at dusk

Majestic views

Visitor checking it out

wet beauty

From the top of Punta Linda