Vamos a introducir ... y despedir

We are Noor and Rike two tourism students from the NHTV in Breda. Since January 2009 we are both working for Tanager Tourism. Noor came to Panama to write her thesis about community-based tourism involvement. She has been working with the population of Palmilla, the tiny village in which Tanager Tourism is located. Rike is doing her internship with Tanager Tourism, and mainly works with the community of Flores with the objective to make the Cerro Hoya National Park easier accessible for tourists.

When we arrived in January 2009 we settled ourselves in the community of Malena. Mainly because of the experiences of Rob, the intern who stayed there in 2008. He was more than enthusiastic about Malena. As soon as we entered the community for the first time, our imagination about this village was confirmed. Malena is a friendly and centered village. Nevertheless, our first days were harder than expected….

fotos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanagertourism

….There we were: Two blond girls, two backpacks, no house, and plenty of Latinos whose language we were hardly able to speak. However, when we arranged our own house, with a latrina and open air shower we could settle. The cockroaches and bats were included in the rent and soon we realized: You are never alone in Panama! If one of our lovely pets was not giving us great company, one of the locals, mainly the men, would come to visit. We truly got in touch with the way of living of this religious fishermen’s village Malena. Especially after we finally managed to accept our goodbye to the luxury goods of the civilized world, such as, 24 hr speedy internet and cell phone reception. The closest internet spot is happily only four kilometer away, but public transport is scarce in the area. We quickly fell in love with the most common way of public transport: Hitchhiking. It does not matter if we find ourselves in the back of an empty cow truck, or in the cabin of a foreign investor, we always enjoyed ourselves. Usually the first car would pick us – muchachas rubias! – but note that sometimes only 1 car passes in an hour.

We also got more and more familiar with our new lives and found a rhythm for our daily working life, because was that not the actual reason why we are here? Our daily life here included: Taking care of the tourists and the “finca” of Tanager Tourism, visiting the communities, working in our house on the given assignments, food shopping in Mariato and to maintain our social relation with the Malena community, we started to participate very soon in the event of the day “Beach-volley”.

In the last seven months, we exchanged, step by step, the luxury goods of our daily life in the Netherlands towards a life like any member of a rural community. And yes, most of the time we were really happy with this life. Still, we are two girls that like to party and explore. Therefore, once in a while –work permitting!- we left to explore other parts of beautiful Panama. Highlights were Coiba, Santa Catalina and our road trip to the eastern side of the Azuero Peninsula.

Everything comes to an end and so has this adventure. We face it with mixed feelings. On the one hand friends, family and the hot shower wait for us in the Netherlands. On this side, we leave amazing people behind and the chance to see them again is lower than seeing those faces we said goodbye to in December 2008. Nevertheless, we will leave this place in August with a bag full of unforgettable experiences and knowledge. We know that we would never have gathered these experiences without Tanager Tourism. Loes, thank you very very much, for all the effort you put into us and, as well, for your patience. We wish Tanager Tourism just the very best!!!!! Esperamos que vamos a volver otra vez para ver los desarollos en este paradiso....

Saludos Nora y Rike

The construction of our Bed and Breakfast is in full swing

You have not heard from us for a while, mostly because we have been very busy. And we will tell you what has been keeping us busy in this and other blogs.

First of all, the construction of our Bed and Breakfast is in full swing. Since the back hoe did its work, the builder, mr Zeballos has been very busy. He contracted a large team and almost every Saturday half the team is putting in some extra hours. As a result, work has been coming along fast. Most of the roof is already put in place and in the rooms that have a roof, the walls are being plastered. The tiles for the bathrooms arrived Tuesday but aye, they did not look on the wall like they were supposed to look! And floor tiles is another story. Choosing the latter has been a somewhat agonizing process. There is not too much choice in Panama, and if there is, than they do not have the quantity we need in stock. Photos can be seen, as usual, on www.flickr.com/photos/tanagertourism.

Building will slow down significantly by the end of this week because Santiago de Veraguas celebrates its ‘Patronales’ a four day party that is wilder and more popular than carnaval. All employees worked the whole of last weekend to earn some extra money and they are now partying from Thursday onwards. They Monday is still free because the wise Zeballos mentioned that they would not be fit to work that day...

More than half way through the building we are still on good terms with mr Zeballos. He is an excellent builder who always comes to discuss things that seem unclear or when he has a better idea. He has already saved us from a few small awkward problems because the drawings were not quite perfect. If you happen to want to build in Panama, we higly recommend mr Zeballos (but only after he has finished our Bed and Breakfast).

Our ecological septic tank system has not yet been installed, but since the designer was so happy that we got permission from the Panamanian authorities to use his design, he came personally to supervise the location and will also come back to assist with the installation. So we will be happy that the ecosceptic tanks shall be installed as they should be and the designer is happy because he can now market them to other hotels, etc. And apparently we should get something for that too!

If all goes well, the Bed and Breakfast should be ready by mid November, in time for the next tourist season starting in December. Just as well, because we are now mentioned in a travel guide (Foot print to Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) so we do expect the number of visitors to start rising in the next few months.

Hostblog: Panama 22 Februari - 20 March 2009

The 22nd of February we arrived for the second time in Mariato. The first time was in May 2007 and that time we had quite a bit of rain. This time the weather is tropical hot and dry with temperatures between 33 and 36 degrees C. We are curious and thus takes Loes us to and over the Finca to show what has changes. That takes a few hours. 8 hectares is no backdoor garden en with the hills and valleys... A lot of places we do not recognize for the amount of trees that have shot up in height.

The bathroom and kitchen is such a fantastic improvement to the tented rancho arrangement that we decide to sleep there for at least two nights, we come prepared with shopping to cook and a breakfast. We are lucky because the moon is new, and there are millions of stars in the darkblue sky. It is perfect. We enjoy ourselves, also at daytime, visiting some of the beaches...

A few days later on a Monday again, we rise early to go with the car to Santiago where Loes has to do shopping and she guides us to the bus to Costa Rica. We stay at the “Jamanasin Lodge” near Rincón on the Osa Peninsula, visit dolfins in the Gulfo Dulce and Alex tells us all about cacao on the chocolate tour. On our way back towards Panama we visit the botanical garden in San Vita, a place of inspiration to Kees and Loes.
Back in Mariato we feel like we are back at home! Even though there is not always water from the tap. Loes arrives shortly after us and tells us about the things that happened as you can read in the previous blog. Ficus trees cut down, large machines to clean the area and the marking of the contours for the building. And there are the two big holes for the future water tanks. We have gone directly to have a quick look... and to shower near the ranchos, because since they’ve made a spare tank water system, there is always water at the finca.

The next morning we are dropped off at the beach in Malena. While we in our little group, wait, some local men show us small octopuses that have to grow at least 4x as heavy... No matter how small, they stick to hands strongly! We go off in the boat to Cebaco where we have a wonderful swim.
In the afternoon back at the finca, we take again too many photos of all the things that have changed in the short time we were not there. A lot of hard work is being done for the watertanks. First they put the iron and after that they pour the concrete in one of them for the floor. That has to be finished that day. The next day they make the walls for that tank while some other people put the iron and the floor in the other. Dick is making steps for the newest rancho.

The next day Loes leaves for Panama to try and obtain the ‘resolution’ for the Environmental Impact study. She phoned many times and knows the automatic response cassete songs by head, but did not get anywhere and the personal approach may make a difference. Apparently, all is approved and ready but the signature of the director is missing, and he has just come back from his holidays. In the mean time, we take care of a couple staying over the night in the new rancho. And yes, on Thursday morning Loes arrives back very happy with the signed piece of paper. What is missing still is some stamps on the plans...

Not that it matters much because the construction continues. The watertanks’ walls are nearly up and as of tomorrow the digging of trenches for the foundations shall start. Since there is enough to do in the coming months, we take Loes with us for a long weekend to Boquete, a village close to the Baru volcano. Unfortunately, we cannot walk the trails in the national park, because since there were heavey rains, floods, earth shocks and landslides in November last years most trails have not yet re-opened. As an alternative we walk to Paradise Gardens, a rescue centre for animals, set up by a britisch couple that decided to retire in Panama with their macaws. Since they needed permissions for their macaws, they were known and the environmental ministry requested them to take care of other abandoned animals. Very cute is the baby banded anteater of 6 weeks. Hies mother was electricuted in a pole and they found the baby still alive attached to the body of the mother.
The next morning, while Loes internets with Kees and puts up more photos (www.flickr.com/photos/tanagertourism) we visit another garden “mi jardin es su jardin” with funny sculptures and lots of flowers. And while the jazz musicians start sound checking we decide that we will sleep back in Santiago so that we can be early in Mariato on Monday.

At the farm we find that the walls of the tanks are finished and a lot of people dig, hack and shovel in the trenches. This is very hard work in the clayish soil and with the heat in the sun. Zeballos provides the men with sodas and later we supply them with fresh watermelon.
Dick continues with Justino the work for the small wooden walls to protect the tents on the ranchos better against the elements. I (Wanny) take a walk all along the bounderies of the finca to enjoy the views and to take more photos. And I mix some earth and clay and woodchips to fill many bags and empty milk cartons for transplanting and seeding the trees for the next planting season. Dick also finishes a little bench for near the rancho so that it is more comfortable to watch the stars at night. And when it was finished, we sat on it together to enjoy a little more of our one but last day in Palmilla.

Builing Big – part 1

Yes, March the 1st has passed and together with our contractor Mr. Zeballos we had put that as a deadline to start. So we did. By that time I could dream the message on the tape recorderthat you get to hear while waiting to be atended to by the environmental ministry. One should after listening to it for a grand total of at least two hours. In the end I was eventually told that our environmental impact study report was technically approved and also that the resolution had been written but not yet signed. The resolution has to be signed by the director of the department and guess what. He was on holiday, but they thought he would be back next week. They said that last week too...

So, on Monday the 2nd Zeballos came to Mariato to finalize dealings with the general and construction service sectors in the region. The general service sector are people willing to rent their house to workers or those willing to cook lunch or wash up. The construction service sector is mainly Ludvig in Torio Resort because he has machinery. Basically a back hoe, a monster that combines a digging machine and a bulldozer. (Do not ask me its name in english). He also has concrete pipes for making culverts to increase our entrance and allow big trucks to deliver materials.... and he produces cement blocks in two sizes: 6 inch (15 cm) for the foundation and 4 inch (10 cm) for the walls. And they can offer more. The best thing is that Ludvig has also a restaurant now so that business can be combined with a lunch.

Whatever Ludvig does not have, can be ordered in Santiago (at 70 km from the building site) mostly at a shop called the Spiegel. Their truck came to deliver today two types of iron rods and cement. A week later they came again to deliver more cement and ¾ inch stones for the concrete.

But before that, we first needed someone with a chainsaw because we had some Ficus benjamini trees in the way. Maybe you remember these plants as the ones that people kept in their houses last century in the eighties and nineties... They are exotic to Panama and of the type strangler figs with extremely aggressive roots (if not in a pot). So these had to be cut down and uprooted so we could separate and reuse maybe part of the trunks and branches and separate organic waste from concrete waste.

To make sure we would be legal we stopped on that Monday at the local office of ANAM to request a tree cutting permission. There would be an inspection. Zeballos went there again on Tuesday morning, since, the chainsaw men was about to start and we had not yet had inspection... He promised again to come but told us to go ahead and start. When he arrived later that Tuesday the ficusses were down as well as the three coconutpalms and some shrubbery. We saved and transplanted one mango tree. Officially, besides the 3 dollar administrationfee (paz y salvo) we needed to pay 5 dollar per tree. Hmm? I said, I thought it was just for indigenous trees... True said the man, yes indeed, for the coconuts... without further ado I took him on a tour around our land and he became more and more enthusiastic. He is a forester and did not know we actually were already certified by ANAM... after I gave him some nice info on his memory stick on trees the payment was only 3 dollars, not even inspection money was required...

And then the back hoe arrived, the big monster machine.

(see the photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanagertourism )

The thing bit and pulled at the coconut roots and when he upheaved the ball of roots he pushed it into the valley so it can become compost. Thereafter it went on to the roots of the ficus. That was something else. He had to stand on his behind to get more elverage. But the monster truly enjoyed himself when he could attack the remainder of the house that once stood on our land. The monster danced and broke down whatever was there and zooming with his bulldozermouth full he brought the debris to one side. And all that remained in the evening was a big flat and dusty terrain...

Working holidays

During the season holidays, we had visitors: Kees had arrived mid December and Theo and Truus, Loes’ parents arrived just after Xmas. By now they all are back in Angola and the Netherlands. This blog was supposed to have been posted much earlier but then there is always work.

The visitors could not really sit still. Kees jumped excitingly onto his dam to see how he could repair it. After a heavy rainy day, with 140 mm, the little stream had found a way underneath the gabions and the water in the dam was therefore running away. He carried stones and stones again and now, some weeks after this operation and well into the dry season there is still water in the dam.

Kees is still a sweet bird fanatic and he had come up with the idea for Theo to make nest boxes for birds. He had found a lot of models on the internet but somehow these were forgotten in Angola so we redesigned. It was warm but we could easily provide a workbench in the shadow of a cashew or ficus tree and after having sharpened the saws, Theo could start. Plenty of wood and bark and other materials. One time he was stopped by a butterfly that needed to drink from his hand...

So then we had 9 nest boxes in different sizes...

And they had to get up in the tree... preferably higher than 6 meters.

Our ladder is not as high as that, but we have Justino. He is an excellent tree climber.

He took a rope, threw it over the first branch at around 4 metres, and up he climbed with his bare feet against the trunk. From up there, he went to the next branch by just climbing. At the right spot, supervised by Kees down below on the ground, Justino threw the rope again over a branch and lowered its end. Kees attached the rope to the nestbox’ wires at the back and gave the go sign. Up went the nestbox and Justino fastened it to the treetrunk with the wires. I only took photos.

These and more can be seen on:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanagertourism

Truus also did not want to sit still. She finished the bagging of grass seeds (jaragua gras) which we had harvested because we have way too much of it. The transport bags were too tightly packed and needed repacking so that the drying process could continue. She only complained about the hard chairs...

Nevertheless, after this seedy job, she mixed dirt (black soil, clay, sand) and filled loads of plant bags in which we planted many tree seeds that we had previously harvested in Cerro Hoya. Again sitting in a hard chair...

So Loes bought foam in Mariato, 4 big squares and since Theo knows all about upholstery, he was able to get 8 chair cushions out of that. Four for in the wooden chairs at the relax-kitchen-rancho and another four for the hard chairs in the workshop.

Meanwhile other people were also working and well on the 3rd rancho. A big one. Theo visited the site by horseback! The timber for the wooden floor came in January but needed a bit of drying and than it needed to be planed and sanded....

Some may remember that Kees and Loes spent previously quite some time plaining planks... by hand. We did remember and did not look forward to do that again so we bought a machine to help us (Justino) to plane the wood... In the first week of February the floor is going to be put in place and we can re-advertise that people can come and stay at our place.

And for those that are always wondering how the progress is with the big building and the permits... ANAM told us finally on the 17th of December that we needed to do an archaeological study and provide more details as to the location of the drain of the septic tank system... The archaeologist came on the 3rd of January and declared soon after that our soil is culturally sterile because she is to acid. Good, no objections to digging and building. But of course it is not his decision. ANAM had to send his report to INAC (the institute for Cultural Affairs or something like that) and I delivered the other maps and text to ANAM on the 21st, in duplicate with two CDs as well. You can never have enough copies. They told me I could phone to ask for the answer after two weeks... that is next week! So we keep fingers crossed.

Preparation of Building Big

As you know, we have plans to build a small lodge/B&B and that is finally going to happen. In June we approved the plans of the architect, then we asked quotes from several building companies and visited some of the buildings they constructed. We chose a mr Zeballos to build our lodge. And he is now also helping us to get the necessary permits.

First we had to go to the fire brigade to get their approval. Then the electricity company, who only approve if the fire brigade approve. However, they also wanted to see the drawings of the electricity post (where we get the power from the mains), so we added that one. (they have already approved that during another process, but never mind). The department of health will only give approval after the environmental impact study has been approved by the Environment Authority, ANAM.

This environmental impact study proved to be quite a job. At the beginning of September we signed the contract and I gave them a tour of the property. After that a team of four specialists and an unknown number of assistants has visited again, and also interviewed the neighbours and to evaluate what is happening on our property. We have now seen part of the report and we are not impressed. Our own list of trees, birds and other animals present on the property is much more detailed, so we send that to the consultants. We do want a good report.

Before we can actually submit the report, we have to submit four documents: Three from the notary proving that we are the business and that the two farms are ours, and one from ANAM that we intend to submit an Environmental Impact study to them. For those who think this appears to be superfluous: We couldn’t agree more with you. This most important document can be submitted to ANAM in Santiago, but a document of such importance has to be evaluated by ANAM headquarters in Panama and it takes at least two weeks. So the quickest way is to go to ANAM headquarters and submit the document there, then it only takes ten minutes.

Loes had to go to Panama anyway to renew her temporary residency. And although she had to wait three hours, that is nothing compared to Kees’s visa problems (see http://keesangola.blogspot.com/ ).
After waiting for a few more technical drawings of our ecological anaerobic septic tank, we finally were able to submit on the 30th of October the Environmental Impact study – two copies they wanted, so we had to make a 3rd for IPAT... ANAM takes more or less until the 20th of November to evaluate the study and after that we only need the approval of the Ministry of Health. Which they say will be easy.

In the mean time, we are advancing with the purchase of materials, measuring the site and may start soon to build a shed to store these building materials and equipment. The contractor has also visited Malena to arrange housing for his workers and organize equipment and other things with people in the area. We are now behind schedule but we are not too worried. First, even if we had had the papers earlier, there is no way you can dig and pour foundations at the peak of the rainy season and second, the contractor has promised to hire extra personnel to make up for the delay. We expect to start the building by early December.

We are Back

You have not heard from us for quite some time. Mostly because Loes was in Mozambique to earn some much needed cash as consultant. We are about to start building our lodge/B&B and since both prices and the US Dollar have been on the rise lately, we needed some extra cash. More about that in another blog. It is now October and that is the month we evaluate progress on our property since we bought the land in October 2006. Every year we take photo’s and describe the current situation to get some idea of how things are changing.

The trees are growing quite well. We have planted 2000 trees of 110 different species. About 1400 have been planted with support from people who wanted to sequester CO2. Apart from the trees, we have also planted bushes, flowers etc.. As a result, the area around the rancho’s looks less wild. During Loes’ absence our employee Justino has taken excellent care of the trees and very few have died. But it is still raining, the dry season, which starts mid December, is usually the critical time.

Since May this year (start of the rainy season) we have already had 2800 mm rain, about four times as much as the annual average in Holland. But even so we have had some dry days, 42 to be exact. And half the time we get less than 90 mm per week. So the other halfof the time it is not raining but pouring down by the bucket. The rain usually starts at 3 pm, so as long as we finish the work before that time, we have a reasonable chance to stay dry.

The main damage to our trees comes from insects, mostly caterpillars. And we have a love-hate relationship with them because some of them turn into very beautiful butterflies. We have counted at least 15 large colourful butterflies on our property, along dozens of small non-descript species. We have a small cage where we occasionally keep caterpillars to see what species of butterfly we get.

Since May we had a large white and yellow long-haired caterpillar in the cage. After a while the white turned yellow, but when the caterpillar moulted, it was white again. Later the base of the hairs turned darker as well. The caterpillar fed on mango leaves, so it was rather easy to keep. According to some people had would grow even larger. But we will never know (well at east not this year), because someone left the cage open and the caterpillar disappeared. Unless someone can identify the beast from a photograph.

The caterpillars of Juliana heliconae are a real pest. They are present in large numbers, on our passion fruit plants. So large that they eat all the leaves. The result is that, although we have planted five passion fruit plants two years ago and the plants can bear fruit in the first year, we have yet to harvest the first fruit. The butterfly is quite beautiful with orange wings and black spots, but that is rather cold comfort.

So this year we did some scientific mechanical control (someone with an M.Sc.pulled of the leaves with large numbers of caterpillars and crushed them underfoot). But unfortunately that did not help much either, there are just too many of the beasts. But at least this year all plants managed to flower and some plants did not lose all their leaves this year, so we still have good hopes for next year. Also because we planted five granadillas. We also have wild passion fruits on our property and those are also quite tasty.

The guavas are also attacked by caterpillars, but we have so many guava trees that the effect on the harvest is negligible. You just have to be careful not to touch the caterpillar when harvesting the guavas, because the hairs sting. Loes has harvested a large bag of guavas and is going to make jam and juice.

The most annoying caterpillar is a stem borer that attacks the mahoganies and the bitter cedars. The caterpillar eats the core of young shoots and the growing tip of the tree. One of our largest mahoganies has lost the top fifty cm to this nasty beast. The tree does not die, but will produce a couple of new branches. But that means that the tree has lost its value as a timber tree, because it will no longer produce long straight planks or beams. Which is why mahogany cannot be grown in plantations.

We had expected that our fig trees would also be defoliated by a caterpillar, just like last year. But somehow, that did not happen although trees in the surrounding area did suffer quite badly. We assume that at our property the caterpillars were all eaten by birds and other animals before they could become a pest. Especially cuckoos like to eat hairy caterpillars and we have at least two species of cuckoos flying around. So long live our biodiversity.

Thick Black Plastic

By our guests: Marijke Groenendijk and Bas Warmenhoven

So there you are in Panama, visiting your family (-in-law), and what are you doing then? Not only the garden variety holiday activities like reading books and swimming, you are also expected to put in some working hours at the finca, which is the property of Tanager Tourism. One of our activities to help Loes was a visit to Quebro to transport some black plastic from a bankrupt shrimp farm. This plastic had already earned a good reputation in Quebro and around and had been sighted on many a roof as a reparation patch and also on the backs of several horses.

There are photos to of this event (but with dutch texts)!

www.flickr.com/photos/tanagertourism

Loes had planned to drive the pick-up truck to Quebro to pick up the plastic together with us and Justino, one of the finca’s employees. As the plastic had become a valued commodity, two other inhabitants of Palmilla were also interested to add some of the black plastic to their inventories. So the six of us drove the 25 kilometres (15 miles) to Quebro together in the pick-up.

The road to Quebro is an easy drive, just like many of Panama’s roads. This stretch of road does however include a number of huecos (pot holes) of an impressive size. One of the pot holes reached halfway across the road, causing the lane on our side of the road to disappear completely in a big hole. The last part of the drive up to the former shrimp farm, which we believe has not passed the stage of the construction of a dozen large hatching ponds, was on a road with big holes that contained water up to 30 centimeters (1 foot) deep. For Bas, who had been driving the pick-up multiple times before, this presented a new challenge. Fortunately, we did not get stuck and the mud splashes landed outside our vehicle.

When we arrived at the shrimp farm, the next challenge was reversing the car across the narrow dike between the ponds. The tall vegetation made it difficult to see the tracks of cars that previously drove up there. When the car was parked properly, the work could start.

The first thing we all saw clearly was that we were not the first to use the thick plastic. Some of the ponds were still filled with 2,5 metres (8 feet) of water, whereas in others the water level had dropped to fairly low or had completely disappeared as a result of the removal of the plastic on the bottom of the ponds. Big sections had been cut out of the plastic.

The challenge of the job turned out to be the weight of big cut-out sections of the plastic, combined with the slippery mud on the bottom of the ponds. Although the pond from which we took our pieces of plastic had almost dried up, the mud was very slippery and sometimes all six of us needed to be involved to drag a piece of plastic up to the dike. Here, the steep, muddy slope caused many slipping and several people ended up taking a mud bath. Fortunately it was a warm day and we could take a bath in one of the intact ponds to clean ourselves.

Finally we folded six pieces of plastic in a manner that allowed them to fit in the back of the pick-up, with on top of them the men who had worked so hard to gather the plastic. After dropping off each of them with their plastic at their houses, it was time for a well-deserved (cold) shower!

The plastic for Tanager Tourism has now been placed on the roof of the finca workshop and a tiny part on the ‘roof’ of the nursery.

We are looking back to a great holiday!

The intricacies of Panamanian trafic regulations

As you can imagine I try to use my trip to Santiago as efficient as possible and combine a million things to do. Last Wednesday I spent 5 hours in Santiago in de registered driving school. After payment of 60 dollars, 5 hours theory and some tests (theory and practical) they issue a certificate that they believe you are ready to do the exam for a Panamanian driver’s license. So after I was brainwashed by 5 hours rapid Spanish (they tried to fit a lot into those hours, no break but you could leave briefly if you needed so), slideshows with the rules, law and regulations and some shocking videos about the results of some accidents involving alcohol, we got a theory test with 30 questions (you may fail 6).

I was exempt from the practical part because I do have a proof of my driving capacity (an expired Mozambican driver’s license). Another young man was also exempt because he came to expand his current license. Justino also participated in the session but he was unprepared (we thought it was just theory because that is what they told me) and has to practice more (with whoever wishes to give his car and time for that – since 2007 illegal, but still common practice) and re-do the practical before receiving the certificate.

Results of the theory tests are to be collected on the 1st... and all mistakes will be explained because it is about understanding and obtaining the license. If you fail you also have to study at home and re-do the test. I do not know it yet but shall know it soon and include the results here in brackets (I passed the first test, but on the 1st everybody had to do yet another theory test, the official one with 6 questions, I passed that too).

Just to add some facts. The famous Pan American Highway is by Panamanian law not a “Autopista” but an “International Road” (carretera), only close to Panama city does it turn into a true highway. Panama has only 4 real highways (autopistas) and also only 4 pedestrian traffick lights, none of these occur in Veraguas province.
An avenida has right of way and calles are secundary urban roads. However, in Santiago we have a road called the “calle decima” (close to the bus terminal for those who have been here) but it is an Avenida... There is a crossing where it is always chaos (who knows who has right of way...) and they have now installed the very first traffic lights of the whole province above it. Nevertheless, it is still chaos because they do not work properly yet.

Mariato, where we rent a house, has since one month more than one road with tar and so we have “equal crossings” and suddenly this week we have more road signs in Mariato than we have cars!

A long blog about ongoing issues, social welfare and more

Begin July, Kees came back to Panama for 10 days but now he is based in Lubango, Angola. We phone weekly and e-mail regularly (when he starts his Angola blog we shall insert a link here). In the meantime, here in Panama I struggle ahead.

The drawings for the building of the 4-room hotel/and our house have finally been signed by the architect and the engineers (one engineer had disappeared for a while so it took until the 13th of July and some frustration). Then it turned out that the page with the septic tank was not there… and so on the 21st I collected in Panama these pages as well. Now all drawings are in Santiago, because more people need to sign them for approval.

The department related to electricity is the first. They demanded also a map of the ground and documents to know where exactly along the road we will have the connection. Despite them only authorizing two models of a little house for the reader and connection did it turn out that this little house was missing on the drawings… Thereafter the fire brigade, they will sign when electricity has done so and when they check some more details related to water and safety...

I am curious to know whether anybody will make some remark because the land title on the tiny section where we will build is only for 2/3 titled in our name. Our lawyers have safeguarded us for the other 1/3 but since it is unusual… Our lawyers also revised the construction contract that was drafted by the builder to be. In our advantage as you can imagine, but we must still discuss it.

Then we need an approval from the ministry of health and the authority of the environment. The latter insist on an Environmental Impact Assessment for commercial projects.
Unfortunately for us, most of these projects are way bigger than ours and therefore the engineers that do the EIA tend to ask way too much, so negotiations are tough. But apparently it is also expensive because getting the EIA takes some 6 weeks of paper pushing…
On 1 August at 7h15 am in Santiago (meaning I take the bus at 6 am and get up even earlier…) I meet one candidate, and I hope to convince him that we are really a small project and that we are really nice for the environment and so…

So far so good, but we did not get many signatures yet because there were the “Fiestas Patronales” in Santiago and that means five days of party and drinking and no work (all offices closed). However, this week on Tuesday the 29th everybody had to get back in his/her office in Santiago. But to sit in your office close to your Boss and all colleagues with a hangover... better to get out into the field and do inspections. Another company had 5 different inspections that day! While I started that day waiting an hour or two in the municipality of Mariato for the license to construct a small kitchen annex to one of our ranchos (more in another blog), the gentlemen of the Social Welfare department paid an inspection visit to the farm. No direct problem expected as Justino is well registered (see some previous blog).

The gentlemen interviewed Chico, a builder, who just started preparing for the job of the kitchen and for pillars of a 3rd rancho. They are shrewd and do not present themselves until after the interview. They also asked loads of questions on the rubble of the house and asked when building was going to start – without asking who was going to build and assuming that Chico would be around for some time. They left an acta where it said I had to register him as our worker and pay his insurance, back up to march 2007 when he had mentioned he did a job on the ranchos… Chico mentioned also that months passed by that he did not work for us, and they wrote that too in the acta… I also got a note saying I had to appear on the 4th at 8 in Santiago with all proof of payment. However, that date I shall be in Panama city because the night before kees’ sister Marijke and her boyfriend Bas arrive. Chico felt bad about it and offered to come with me to Santiago directly the next day. Before we left I spent some time making a Spanish letter contesting the acta. Something to stamp to make sure I would not get a fine for not appearing on the 4th.

Despite the letter and the fact we both declared personally not to have the type of labour relation whereby we would have to pay for him it was just not good enough. They would like a declaration (change the heading) that would be signed by Chico and myself stating he works “obras definidas” and more they wish to hear ... and then that must be stamped and signed by the ministry of work. So yet again, in the evening I was making a Spanish declaration and I can go again to Santiago, with the declaration signed by Chico and myself to collect the various stamps (on the first)...

Last week I also visited the Social Welfare department on the regular twice a month visit (first week of the month one drops 3 copies of a sheet and a digital copy, and in the last week you go there to pay). That time I requested also the forms for Justino’s wife to obtain a card that allows her to benefit from the same health insurance as him. Justino then discovered I had copied his identity number wrong (the last 8 was in fact a 3). I knew already that his card had a wrong “patron” number because the people of Social Welfare had changed it after a month (they had first given me a Santiago code and since we are outside Santiago…). I asked then whether I had to retype the workers card and they said it was not necessary. However, now the identity number... that may be a problem…

Anyway, again I had cards to be typed in duplicate. In some previous blog you can read how we organized that last time. I did it now more electronically with a scan of the card, into word, some test printing on normal paper and then some tape to stick the cards exactly over the correctly printed filled in version where the scan in the computer was deleted again.
At the end of the evening I had one good card, two wrong ones and two empty ones left... There are nicer ways to spend an evening.