Ojo de Agua, Panama

Here in Ojo de Agua my nearest neighbor is the Salvador Acosta Sanchez family. Sr. Salvador is a seventy something year old Panamanian gentleman. Him, his wife Elvira and their youngest son Jose Maria live half way up the drive to my property. It was one of Salvador’s other sons Enrique that sold me the property. Jose Maria is my full time employee and one of the most responsible hardest working people I have ever known. I rarely have to tell him what to do around the farm, he just does it. He takes care of the property as if it was still part of his family’s.
Salvador and his family treat me as though I am one of their own. It is a rare day, while working in Ojo de Agua that they do not invite me for lunch or afternoon coffee. They love to see if I will eat their local foods, some a little exotic for the typical american. I think I have surprised them with my stomach. Those of you that know me know that I like to eat. Iguanas, armadillo, turtle, different cow organs, cow hoof soup, various forest dwelling animals I do not know the english name for – yes I have tried everything they have put in front of me and like a good southern boy, accepted seconds of nearly all of it.
The other day Salva and family were cooking up pork from a pig they had raised and slaughtered, yes they personally slaughter all their animals, not far from the kitchen either. They use nearly every part of the animal, very little goes to waste. They even boil down the fat and then fry the meat in it. Oh it’s greasy, but it’s good. Here are some photos from their cook out and some other pictures of my wonderful second family here in Ojo de Agua.
The Acosta’s are an amazing family, they watch over my land, take note of every car that comes up the drive and steer me away from any potential local problems that may arise through my foreigner ignorance. Thank youfor all the love you have shown me, I greatly appreciate it.

Here are some photos of me from a few weeks back taken by a friend named Fidel. Fidel takes amazing professional water shots here in Panama. Check out his site.
Fidel Surf Photography
The one photo with the wave peeling in the distance with the palm tree is one I took from an afternoon session at a reef break in the Pedasi area. The quality is nothing compared to Fidel’s but I had to throw it in.

Progress! I no longer need to use the generator to fill the tanks when the spring can not keep up. Yippee! Although the spring can keep the nearly 4000 gallons of reserve tanks filled all year. Here towards the end of the dry season, with all the plant and tree irrigation and concrete work going on, the spring just can’t do it alone. This is the first time this dry season that I have had to fire up the well to fill the tanks. How nice it is to switch a switch and nothing more. First time the power has had to be used. Electricity is good.

I do not know if it is the attraction of the maturing trees from our intensive reforestation program implemented a few years ago or just that I am spending more time on the property, but the animal sightings are becoming a daily event. The other night while taking a full moon walk I came face to face with a ant eater. I had my flashlight focused on the ground in front of me, when all of the sudden I ran head on into a four legged creature coming up the road. We both stopped, he stood up on his back legs, we looked at each other for a few minutes and then he turned away and slowly walked over to the ditch and disappeared into the night.
A few mornings back their were Toucans and Howler monkeys near the home construction. Luckily I had my video camera and was able to record for a few minutes before they took off back into the forest. See the link below.
Bird-watching has now become a new selling point. Almost every morning I see fowl that I have not noticed before on the property. I imagine it will only become more wildlife active as the trees fill in. Can’t wait!

Toucans and Monkeys Video

Nothing is as tropical as a coconut palm tree.

Though it is not natural for coconuts to grow in the hills of Ojo de Agua, we have been vigorously planting them on the property over the last few years. It will take a few more years for them to start producing fruit but, I look forward to the day when I have plenty of chilled refreshing coconut water in the fridge. Can you say Piña Colada? Yummy.

One of the investors here asked me to plant two large palm trees at the entrance to their property. Lucky for them I have plenty of palms that I originally planted to close together, perfect for transplanting. I pruned and dug out two three year old palms growing near the well house. It is not easy digging out a tree that has spent years “putting down roots.” It took some time, but they eventually succumbed to my pick, shovel and elbow grease. Once removed, I walked down to one of only two mature palms I have on the property and grabbed two young sprouting coconuts to plant in the place where their elders once grew. Thank heavens they were much easier to remove from their habitat. We transplanted the large palms in their new location with some of the dirt from their old home. The dirt was rich in pieces of roots, leaves and other quality organic material. They’re going to need all the nutrients they can get since their new spot is basically compacted road surface. We staked them to make sure they stay in one place and put a hose on trickle to rotate between the two, this will keep them watered throughout the dry season. I usually do not plant much this time of year due to the lack of rainfall, but since I have spring and well water at my disposal they have a good chance of surviving. Below are some photos of the transplanting process.

La Casa Verde

A good friend of mine from back home in Pensacola took a side trip to visit me here and catch some waves with him and his family. I don’t think the kids were ready to leave back to their vacation house in the wave rich area of Santa Catalina, Panama. Above is a link to his website. Take a look if anyone is thinking about taking a trip to Catalina, they rent the house and have it for sale. The house is perfectly located for access to town and of course the point. Below are some photos of me on my twin fin fish and of his daughter riding her first wave at Venao.

We had a nice swell in the middle of last week. Glassy, powerful overhead rights peeling off the sandbar at Venao. What a refreshing way to cool off after a hard days work in the sun. Of course I got out of the water right before dark. Here are a few photos I snapped while changing out of my wet baggies. Another beautiful sunset.

Here are some updated photos of parcel one, the premier ocean view titled parcel we have available here in Ojo de Agua, Panama. This parcel has one large home site and several other building sites. The property has basic utilities on site and is covered in native fruit and hardwood tree species, some mature, but most trees planted during our intensive reforestation project started four years ago. Take a look at the real estate section of the site for details.

Here are some nice photos showing the vegetation difference at the entrance of the property after a few years. The before photo is right after we installed the fence about three and a half years ago. The after photo is from about a month ago. The pampas style grass in the photos is Vetiver or locally called Valariana. Vetiver grass is amazing at retaining moisture, controlling erosion, shading out weeds, has medicinal qualities and is used throughout the cosmetic industry. Also, the root can be dug up, cleaned, boiled into a tea and drank for a pain reliever. I have never tried the tea, but someday I probably will. I bought about 60 small sprigs of Vetiver a few years ago and have propagated it all over the property. I lost count, but I must by now have nearly a thousand of these plants along the road side and on many slopes. It stays green all year, never needs watering and the seeds are sterilized so it does not spread. It’s a wonderful plant. I look forward to planting more each rainy season.

For more information about Vetiver and it’s uses take a look at Vetiver Network International, vetiver.org.

Here we are, the third month working on the home here in Ojo de Agua, Panama. Since my last blog update things have been moving along steadily. We had to take about two weeks off due to the weather and other responsibilities, but for the last week we have been going strong. All the posts and beams are up, all the rafters are up, nearly all the blocking is finished and we are starting on the 1 x 6 tongue and grooved sub-roof. If all goes well we may have the roof completely finished before the end of the year. The weather has finally improved here in Los Santos so rain should not be a factor, we hope to maintain a brisk pace. Here are some photos of our progress.
Enjoy,