Ojo de Agua, Panama

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.

Most people have heard the expression, “hotter then a tin roof.” Well now I understand the meaning. Never wear surf trunks while working on a metal roof. It’s hot! Especially in the Panamanian equatorial tropical sun. More than once I kneeled down to tighten a screw and my knee or leg got burnt. Next time I will wear long pants. Wait, do I even own a pair anymore?

From Hopsa, a construction material store located in Chitre, we ordered twenty-two gauge corrugated metal. Under the metal is one by six tongue and grooved treated fir covered by felt paper and striped with two by two boards screwed into the roof rafters. The steel is screwed into the strips.

Old style corrugated metal is not the most beautiful material, but here on the Azuero Peninsula their are not a lot of options. A popular roofing material is corrugated cement fiber sheets that is very inexpensive, but fragile and should not be walked on. Another commonly used material is the traditional teja. Tejas are beautiful rustic hand made tiles, but again they are fragile and can not be walked on. Their is also corrugated metal with a painted coating, but it does not come in as thick of a gauge as the twenty-two that we used. As Dexter likes to say “steel is real.” I went with the strongest metal available in the country. In the future I can comfortably walk on the roof and sweep it off or make repairs without fear of breaking something.

There is a certain feeling of pride building a home for yourself. The feeling is really strong once the roof is on. I am relieved knowing that the interior work from here on out is all in the shade.

I thought we would have the roof on before the end of last year, we almost made it, only a few days behind schedule, not bad for around here.

Below are some photos of the roofing process.

Enjoy,