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...