Ojo de Agua, Panama

After putting the job off for a long time I finally had time to repair an area of the road that had washed out after a strong rain storm two wet seasons ago.

The problem area was on the cut side of a curve coming up the community drive. A few years back while having some excavation done on the building sites of the lots we spread tosca over the road base at this curve to smooth out the steep incline. It really helped the curve but during a heavy down pour some of the material washed away leaving a large rut on the edge of the road. So I placed a marker on it to keep people from driving into it and “put it on the back burner.”

Many developers around here make nice neat concrete drainage ditches, but many times what happens is the water starts to erode around the outer edge of the ditch and eat the road. A professional mountain road engineer I met years ago by the name of Peter Scheiss told me to avoid concrete ditches as much as possible and if I ever needed one make them with a mix of concrete and as many rocks as possible. The rocks help to cut the velocity of the water down to limit erosion and create a zig zagging broken border that minimizes the erosion along the outer edge. Plus, it looks more natural. I was fortunate to have the rocks and concrete material left over from other past projects, I only had to move the material onto site and buy some cement. It took me a few days to get all the materials on site and prepare the work area. Once we had everything ready, Jose Maria and I started early one morning and were finished just after lunch. I positioned the rocks in concrete while he mixed using my concrete mixer and brought over the wheel barrels full of concrete. This was a physically hard project, but fun. We definitely got a good work out. Once the ditch was finished we backfilled the washout and ruts in the road with tosca and clearly marked it.

I can not wait to see how the new ditch handles this years rainy season.

Panamanian Chicken Hawk!

Though it is probably not necessary, in keeping with the theme of having a well ventilated, cross breeze accentuating, non air conditioning tropical home, I decided to cut holes in the floor and install vents under my electric refrigerator and freezer. I assume it will help keep the house and the electrical components of the appliances cooler. Maybe the appliances will last a little longer from the venting as well.

There is still a lot of finish work and decorating that needs to be completed in the tropical home here in Ojo de Agua Panama, but it is finally comfortable to live in.

Here are a few photos of the progress.

After six months of off-and-on building a gate and set of concrete columns for my neighbors here in Ojo de Agua, James and Laurie, I can finally say the job is done. I think the slow pace of the endeavor nearly made James go crazy and I must apologize, it should have not taken so long. The actual man hours was really not very much, the problem is trying to do detail work on a new house, maintain a real estate project, catch some waves and help-out the two ladies in my life down here, my mother and Pucha. I’m also cursed with insisting upon doing most things myself, or with as few people as possible. I like to learn new things and I like physical work. It helps me sleep good at night. Also, for those of us in the know here in the outskirts of Panama, we understand that if you are not right there on the spot at the moment work is being done, must times it will probably not be done the way you want it. It’s not that Panamanians are bad workers, a lot of times it’s simply miscommunication or a different set of standards for the details. I would just as soon do as much as I can on any project and not have to deal with everyone else, even if it takes months longer. Sorry James.

The gate was a fun project. Dexter spearheaded the column form work and he, Jose Maria and I did the concrete pour for each column. I came back later to prime and paint the columns. The metal angle iron frame for the gates I had Toni, the local welder from Canas, fabricate. Toni also helped me locate the teak slats in Tonosi. I worked on the sanding, sealing and fastening of the Teak slats to the gate. Once I had the gates ready, Toni returned to weld on the hinges and mount the gates.

I know James and Laurie are going to love the new improvement to their beautiful property. Thanks for your patience.

One of the beauty of tropical beaches is you never know what may wash up on them. Unfortunately during the start of the rainy season, many years, it’s a lot of garbage. But at times, beautiful pieces of hardwood timber wash up. Not to long ago I was lucky enough to pick up one of these great pieces of timber off the beach, throw it in the back of my car, drive it to Ojo de Agua, clean it up, and make a living room table out of it.

Any beach comber would consider it a great find. A large piece of Cedro Espino, or Spiny Cedar, these are the native trees with the large spines on the trunk and branches. I have lots of young ones planted around the property.

Dexter helped me load the log into the back of the pathfinder to get her to the property and then came up with the idea for the frame using wood scraps from around the job site.

The large furniture piece took a number of days to plane, sand and seal. After all the work, the table turned out beautiful and is a nice addition to the home.

My friend Bradley WIlson from Texas, which I have spoke of before on this blog, helped me by drawing some conceptual sketches of a small canal style tropical home that I may build on Parcel 2 here at the project in Ojo de Agua, Panama. His detailed drawings really help me visualize the potential for the lot.

If all goes well I will start building in a couple months during the early part of the rainy season, translate that as starting late, probably in the worst part of the rainy season. We will see how it goes. My plan is to sell either the home I am finishing now or the new one. It’s going to be a tough decision, one that I dread to have to make, but I can not keep both of them.

For now I will look at the copies of the drawings I have taped to the wall in my home and visualize the future building project. Fun stuff.

Thanks Bradley.

I do not generally post articles that others have written. Occasionally I or my good friend that created my website will post something about Panama that has come out in an international publication, but it’s rare. I really should do more of it because now more than ever there’s a lot of good press about Panama. I am making an exception this time because something I read on ExpatExchange caught my eye. I am a member of ExpatExchange, a forum for Expat’s or those interested in becoming one that is segregated into different countries so people can create topics, ask questions and exchange information. I receive emails as people discuss topics, I almost never reply because I do not know how to using my Blackberry and am to busy doing other things once I am online with my Mac. But, I enjoy reading the banter between those that are here in Panama and those that are potential expats back in there home country investigating “their move” to Panama.
On ExpatExchange one guy, 802Mark, always has good information and he never sugar coats it, which I really like. Recently he was responding to a post and really articulated what it is like living here in Panama. I have had many very similar experiences as he mentions in his comment. I took the liberty to correct some of the grammar only so it would read more clearly, since it is a forum, I don’t think he was to worried about it. It’s really worth the read. I hope you do not mind 802Mark.

Enjoy!

“…It boils down to this. Do you love it when your sitting out and it’s spring weather and you have nothing that you have to do? Outside of what you want to do.

Do you love eating new foods and learning and seeing things that you have never seen? That’s what it boils down to, not the cost. You guys want something new in your life, so go for it and grab it or you could just stay home to what your use to your whole life. Panama changes people, many times for the better. It makes you say oh well, ok sure, tomorrow is fine, and not care if they don’t show up. It forces you to get off your ass and do things you never dreamed of. It pushes you to just take that extra step because you hear running water and you can’t wait to see it.

Want me to tell you how the people are here? Today my good friends Tom and whats her name, oh well doesn’t matter, hehehe, they took a hike up the mountain and got lost and ended up in someones yard. The people came out and not only showed them where they needed to go, but gave them fruit and water and told them they could sleep in their home if needed… WHAT?? YOU MUST BE KIDDING… well no I’m not. Someone posted they could live in the U.S. in some places cheaper then here… well maybe so, but show me that in the U.S.

Panama is a wonderful woman, she can be loving, she can be a mother and yes sometimes she can be a bitch, but in the long run she will force you to see a side of yourself that you never dreamed was there. You ever took a dug out up a river not sure where it was going and when you hit shore were surrounded by little kids all smiles and wanting to just touch your lilly white skin because it is something new to them? Sit with them and eat fresh seafood they just caught and drink from a coconut and watch as the sun dances on the water? Or maybe see so many stars at night that it reminds you of just how small we all really are? Does being with these people make you feel better when you do return to your a/c homes and makes you thank GOD for the things he his given you? If not don’t come here… because Panama will force you to look inside yourself and feel things you never knew were in you…”

Any person that has spent any time around the project here in Ojo de Agua notices the amount of Vetiver Grass planted around the property. I have to admit that I have probably gone over board with the stuff, I just can not help myself. I love planting this grass!
I started with only eighty small sprigs of Vetiver back in 2007 and since then I have propagated and grown my Vetiver to well over a thousand full grown plants. Last year we had a few incredible rain storms that eroded a part of the drive coming into the house around a culvert. It was not to bad, but if left unattended it could become a serious problem. Instead of spending money and a lot of labor in building some sort of rock and concrete structure, I went the inexpensive and green route by just digging up a couple full grown Vetiver plants and broke them into smaller pieces and planted them on a temporary terrace system back filling the eroded area. I will keep them watered enough during this dry season to have a good root structure to hold firm during next years rainy season. I have done this in a few different areas of the property and it always works. I took a few photos of the repair, unfortunately I forgot to snap some before shots, but if you look close you can see the different color of the soil as we back filled and get an idea of where the eroded part of the drive was.
Vetiver is a great grass for erosion control. I highly recommend anyone who plans on living in the tropics to investigate its many uses. The Vetiver Network International at vetiver.org is a wealth of information about this amazing plant. Check them out.

I just recently had a local artist named Rey paint a new wooden sign advertising the property. Rey did a good job depicting the view of Isla Canas and the Pacific ocean in painted form from a photo I have on the opening page of the website. Rey does a lot of custom art here in the area, from bamboo light fixtures to carved wooden trophies. Guaranteed if you pass through the Pedasi – Playa Venao area you will see some of his art.
Hopefully his latest work will catch the eye of an investor.