Ojo de Agua, Panama

I have decided to call the new project we are working on near Pedasi the Super Campsite. Once the entire structure is completed I am sure it will be the envy of any person that has ever spent time in a tent way out in the woods. The locals are calling it a rancho because of the palm thatched roof, but once it is finished it will only resemble a local rancho from a far distance. With closer inspection one will recognize the fine details and modern luxuries the Super Camp will possess.

Windmill water system, solar powered electrical system, finely crafted hardwood furnishings, imported lighting and bath fixtures, imported African safari tent, modern kitchen and bath, structural construction from three different incredibly beautiful Panamanian hardwoods, imported pressure treated Canadian lumber and recycled lumber originally imported from the states during canal zone construction all combine to set this rancho apart from anything in the Los Santos Province and possibly the Republic of Panama.

I will admit, at first I was a little apprehensive with some of the techniques required for the building process. The architects vision and design left us with only one option for construction, we had to break some of the basic rules of carpentry. But, as the job moves along and the camp slowly grows out of the ex-cattle ranch grazing pasture I can now say, “this is looking really cool” and I am proud to be a part of the construction of this truly unique structure.

Although it can be a bit difficult working with local hardwoods that have sufficiently dried, the beauty of the finished product is worth the trouble. Look at some of the close up photos of the beautiful deep dark Balsamo posts. Also, check out the photos of the drill bits we have gone through. The bits start to smoke and sometimes break or bend after only a few holes have been drilled. The only thing that will enter the wood with ease are square drive screws made and imported from the states. Gotta love American quality. The wood is so hard it took a month to find a sawmill that would dare mill it. Every other local sawmill owner confidently said sure they could do it, a couple of boards were milled and the call came in to come and get our wood, it’s to hard! Finally, a guy with a massive carbide tipped table saw blade came to the rescue and milled it for us, of course it was not cheap. I think word got around the country-side that some gringos had really hard wood that had to be milled at any and all cost. The ranch administrator that helps us track down materials and laborers most have put 100′s of kilometers on the company truck trying to find the right sawmill.

This job was originally thought to be finished with-in a few months. I know the clients must be let down. But, as all things go in Panama and anyone from the modern world will learn with time and experience here in the interior of the country, whether dealing with local utility companies, so-called professionals, private businesses, government authorities, whatever, estimate your best most well calculated time frame judgement call, then double it, go ahead and double it one more time and then maybe you might be close to a realistic time frame. Building here in Los Santos is nothing like building in the states. Here there is no Home Depot, no Lowes, no local hardware store that consistently has the latest materials and products consistently maintained in-stock or on order and arriving soon. No, no, no, no not here. Even the most reputable stores almost never have what you need. The sub-contractors almost never show up when they say, almost never have their own transportation, almost never have all the tools their job requires, hence you have to supply it, and almost always buy inferior cheaper materials, even after specifying price does not matter, “just buy the good stuff for crying out loud.”

Anyways, I am rambling. My point or points are, that there are a million things in this country that can eat up time and money, that even after experience, it is hard to fathom the amount of time that can be lost for unforeseen circumstances here in Panama. Plus, there are few carpenters here, if it is not cement, it’s hard to find someone that can do it. And if it is an architecturally complex design, forget it. There are few to none that can figure it out and make it look nice. Do not get me wrong, there are quality builders, carpenters and sub’s here, but the good ones are so busy that they do not want to talk to you and are usually tied up with their own projects, with owners that realize their value and pay them enough not to let them go.

Although I have somewhat, only temporarily, abandoned my construction project in Ojo de Agua, it is worth it to be helping Dex on this project, his ingenuity, high energy and creativity are amazing and it is good to be learning from him, especially on such a interesting build. Ojo de Agua Panama is not going anywhere, plenty of work awaits me there and as the trees and plants continue to grow and transform the once bare over grazed deforested cattle land back into a beautiful fruit and hardwood producing forest, it just becomes more and more beautiful and valuable and more of a joy to work on.

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.

The project is moving along good. Our only real issue so far has been the hardness of the wood we are using. We have material that needs to be milled into smaller pieces and no one will touch it, it’s just to hard. For today we are stopped on the carpentry until the wood situation is figured out.
We are finding a lot of indian artifacts around the building site, I guess the ancients liked the view as much as the new owners do.

It is such a nice feeling to be working on one project and having others working on another. I keep the materials arriving as needed by the contractors working hard in Ojo de Agua while me and Dexter move forward on our other project near Pedasi. I admit I worried about leaving the project for any extended period of time, but so far all is well. Rubiel, Luis and their prospective employees are doing a great job on the house and garage. Both are capable, responsible contractors. Rubiel is nearly finished with the stucco on the house and Luis is moving along at a good pace on the construction of the garage. They both are only a little behind schedule, for here in Panama that actually means way ahead of schedule and much better than can normally be expected.
I choose to build the garage out of all concrete and metal. Although I feel confident, that with careful maintenance the house will hold up under the constant threat of termites and other wood loving tropical bugs, I do not want to worry about the garage as well, so no wood construction on this building.
As the stucco is applied on the insulated foam panels sheathing the house the average interior temperature has dropped substantially, better then expected. My theory of having a comfortable non-AC house may be proven. A few fans and it may get cold. We shall see.

Here are some photos of the new project I am helping Dexter out on. It will be an interesting structure by the time we are done following the architects plans. It is not something that I would build for myself personally, but to each his own. Out of respect for the owners I am not going to give out much information about the project, but I am going to post some photos occasionally so friends can see our handy work.
Enjoy,

My lovely lady has opened her on store here in Pedasi, it’s called Pucha’s. Pucha’s rents bikes, surfboards and snorkels, sells clothing by Hurley and carries organic cosmetic and bath products from Burt’s Bees and Alba Hawaii. The only store with in 25 miles with organic products. Wow, Pedasi is really changing. Maybe one day Pedasi will have more than one kind of fresh vegetable at a time in a market. That would be amazing. I digress. Anyways, she also has a ton of different Pucha memorabilia, it sells like hot cakes. In case you do not know, Panamanians love Pucha. Almost as much as I do. I am really proud of her. The store is located on the main road next to the gas station as you come in to town on the left. When you come to Pedasi remember to stop by and pick up some Puchadise.

Nothing makes a mess of a construction area like concrete work. My once beautifully crafted wooden home has now been covered in a grey cement powdery film. Oh well, it’s worth the mess, the stucco must go on. Rubiel, a contractor from Tonosi, has been brought on board to do the stucco work. I do not have the time, experience or patience to do this type of work. I would rather leave this to an expert and Panamanians are experts in all things cement. He is doing a fine job, in a week or two the stucco project should be completed.
Also, we have started the garage/workshop/storage area next to the house and finished the electrical wiring. I was lucky enough to have an electrical engineer friend from England help me to wire the entire house to first world standards. It was a fairly easy job since the house is built up off the ground.
The garage is being built strictly out of concrete, load bearing structural grade foam panels and metal. I hired another contractor from Las Tablas named Luis to handle this project. Luis and his team have finished the foundation and should be pouring the slab this week. Hopefully the garage will be completed within a month or so.
I have had to contract some jobs out in a need to speed things up. I need the garage done before the rainy season starts (it’s coming soon) to store tools and materials in and to have a nice area to make doors and shutters amongst other things. Also, though it is taking up some of my time, I am helping on another carpentry project in the Pedasi area (see blog post).
Luis and Rubiel are doing great work so far. I am glad they are on board to help. Luckily, labor is still inexpensive here.

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

Throughout the building process there are moments when construction seems to go at a snails pace, the last few weeks are a great example. We have been “pecking away” at the foam panel installation. It is a slow process filling in the spaces between the post and beam framing. Some of the spaces, especially around the eaves still had to be framed. When building one seems to always leave the more tedious parts of a process for the end. So the last few parts seem to take forever. But now all the panels are fastened to the posts, beams and bottom plates of the floor. Once the stucco is in place the house is going to be well insulated and strong.

We also installed seismic straps or “hold downs” in case of any future earthquakes. Any one who has spent time in Panama and has some construction knowledge can see that most residential buildings are not designed to withstand an earthquake. I’m not saying all houses are built poorly here, but unfortunately the majority are not constructed well. Concrete is king here. Almost all construction is concrete block and stucco. Builders here generally use the least amount of rebar they can possibly get away with. This is mainly due to economics. The majority of Panama’s population can not afford to spend anymore money than what is absolutely necessary to put a roof over their family’s head. So they must cut corners and rebar reinforcement in the popular concrete construction is minimum. If there ever is a strong quake here most likely many good people are going to have their homes crumble around them. This is one reason why I choose to go with a post and beam home. Wood flexes and bends when the earth shakes, concrete does not. Anyways, one important part of our construction is attaching the posts that are in the ground to the posts that are standing on the floor and supporting the beams that support the roof. We designed the seismic straps and had them fabricated by the local pig farmer / welder named Toni. He did a great job at a fair price in a quick manner. One strap is screwed into the ground post below and another to the wall post above, then the two are connected together by a long threaded rod. They are fastened on each corner of the house. In case of a quake the house should hold together as one unit. In the near future we will be installing Simpson hurricane/seismic straps, brought in from the states, to the roof rafters and top plates or beams. This should really hold everything together in emergency.

The past couple days we worked on the main entrance to the house. We built a small “star deck” with steps leading up to the large front porch. As those of us who live here know, the night sky is absolutely amazing. Here in the Azuero their is so little light pollution. The star gazing is incredible. This little deck will be a perfect place to recline a chair and stare in to the vast dark night watching the stars and listening to the coyotes howling in the distance. Of course we built the stairs to U.S. code, seven inches high and eleven inches wide. Easy to maneuver stairs are a rarity here, not these, their perfect.

Since the last update we also worked on the bathroom design, mainly the shower. As the photos show we placed a lot of windows in the bath for natural light and ventilation. For now the only glass in the house will be in the corner of the shower and a window between the beam and the roof above the entrance into the shower. The rest of the windows will have screens and shutters.

Enjoy the photos.