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.

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...