Back after ten months

The last time I was in Panama, was 6 January, some ten months ago. I came back in November 2009 and a lot had changed in those ten months.

Our Bed and Breakfast is almost finished. And it looks great. Beautiful materials and excellent workmanship, lots of room, just brililant. While I was in Panama, doors were fitted, the ecological waste management system was installed, hot water connected and the tanks for harvested rainwater were cleaned. I have tested the verandas extensively and can assure you that they are cool, spacious and dry.

But the B&B is not finshed yet. A few more details need to be attended to, the junk has to be cleared away and a garden has to be planted. We are constructing a pond at one side of the restaurant, partially to camouflage the fact that that area is quite high above the surrounding area. We are also going to construct a bridge which allows people staying at the rancho to go there without having to pass close to the B&B. The idea is that everyone has enough privacy.

We are asked almost constantly when the B&B is going to be opened. Well, probably in January 2010, but maybe only in March,. We still need to convince the ministry of Finance that we are really located in Tourism zone 10. This is important because we can apply for tax deduction if the ministry acepts that we are in zone 10. Now zone 10 ends at the other side of the road, so we are on the edge, but definitely inside zone 10.

Unfortunately, the ministry of Finance bases itself on old maps or old coordinates and claims we are outside zone 10. We have had some visits from provincial institutions such as the Panamanian Tourism Authority, who agree with us that we are actually inside zone 10. Our lawyers are working on the issue and as soon as the ministry of Finance agrees we are in zone 10, we will let you know.

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.