Marina Madness

It seems that most of the foreigners who come to settle in Bocas del Toro are extremely independent , as well as adventurous and self-reliant. That’s a good thing, because you would never survive here for more than a vacation without those attributes. Now, if you also arrived here by guiding your boat over the ocean by yourself, you probably feel pretty capable and like you want to call your own shots. Many boaters who live in this off- the- beaten path paradise, on islands off of islands, also have a little bit of a crazy streak. This can mean lovable eccentricity, creativity and generosity, and it can also venture into the realm of varying levels of social dysfunction.

Well, there are a few residents here at our marina that have been skating along the line between independence and the above mentioned dysfunction (no, not THAT kind).  The marina, now 20 months old, recently enacted some rules to make it a more consistently pleasing place to live for all of the marina residents. These are kindergarten -type rules such as: keep your pet on a leash and under control at all times, clean up after your pet, no storing of personal belongings in common areas, no solicitation on the docks, etc. Seems pretty simple, but there are a few of the more than 50 residents that disagree with the rules and have been expressing their way- past- adolescence angst loudly  over the past several weeks.  They insist that these rules infringe on their ability to have an open, warm and welcoming community.   

The rule that they really hate is that you have to keep your pet on leash at happy hour. Seriously!!  They feel they should be able to have their pets wandering freely at happy hour, nuzzling and licking whoever they want to. Sorry, to me this is just gross. I don’t want to wonder what that warm wet thing between my knees is while I am sipping drinks with pieces of fruit and little paper umbrellas in them.  What if they slobber on my hand as I am about to grab a chip with salsa? Will the owner have some hand sanitizer at the ready so I can continue to shove food in my mouth with abandon?

To protest the rules, one of these dissenters is having his dog leave piles in the middle of the dock and lift his leg on the utility poles.  Another resident moved his meat smoker so that it blocks easy passage down the dock. Then there is the couple that is broadcasting on VHF that this marina is a terrible place and who would want to live here, blah blah blah—but, of course, they don’t leave because really it’s the best marina in the province. These are, I hate to say, old hippies and they look like old hippies.

Now, I love old hippies- in fact, I am married to one. However, lots of old hippies have aged into mellowness and wisdom rather than approaching the world with a chip on the shoulder and a semi-paranoid belief that all authority is suspect, except your own. They seem to want to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and new dock, but they want it their way, with no regard for the facts that they do not own the marina, they did not create it, they don’t have to maintain it, others live there, too, and they do have a choice to stay or to leave.  They seem to be choosing to stay and to make others want to leave. 

Well, leave they will--verbal warning, written warning, then out of here—that’s the sequence of events in the real world.  So hopefully they will move on to other places to try to make their lives work better than they did here. Who knows? Maybe they will find a little marina without rules and live happily ever after. I hope so. Meanwhile, I am sick and tired of the whining and (yes) name calling. Come on!! Most of us left junior high at least half a century ago!

Possums and People Pleasing

Well, for a Sunday off, I have been working a lot. First of all, there are three different houses that have guests arriving today. Part of what I do is I visit each house prior to check- in to make sure that everything says, “welcome- you are going to have a great time.” First, I want to eliminate unpleasant surprises for guests, such as caymans (small crocodiles) swimming in their pool (only happened once). And even though the house may have been cleaned less than 24 hours ago, you never know if some birds left tokens of their presence on the porch floor, or if a bunch of palm fronds dropped onto the patio, etc. Second, I put out the cushions for the outdoor furniture, make sure everything is in place inside and out, and just make sure the house is inviting and looks and smells clean. It is one way I monitor the performance of my staff. And it makes me feel good to know that things are as nice as we can make them. If the guests are staying for a week or more (or if they are a VIP) I also leave a welcome basket with Abuelo rum, pineapple juice, guava jam, yucca chips, a few other local treats, and some fresh cut flowers. I buy the items once a month and keep them in my kitchen cupboard, put the baskets together with a handwritten note, and cut the flowers along my way. I usually use fresh ginger for bouquets because the flowers are plentiful, very colorful and last for several weeks.

Usually, this pre-rental check is a fun thing for me and takes just 15 minutes to complete. Today- NOT. One of the houses had a funny smell to it. I looked around and sure enough, there were a few small stains on the ceiling of the laundry room, and a very sharp odor, indicating possums in the ceiling. The possums are funny little animals, unlike the big possums in a temperate climate. These little guys are about 5 inches long with longer tails, they hop around like mini kangaroos and can squeeze into surprisingly tiny spaces. And they are not shy around humans. Last year we were here sitting on the veranda looking out at the ocean. Steve had found a big bunch of bananas that day and had left them on the porch floor. While we were sitting there 3 possums hopped across the veranda, right under our feet, to get at the bananas. YIKES!  I do not like rodent- like creatures. I am sure I shrieked loudly. And I do not want any guests have to deal with them. This is a sporadic problem in about 4 villas here-all of them located at the edge of the jungle. We find and plug the entrance hole and then repair the ceiling, but this process takes 3 days or so, therefore not time to complete before the guests arrive. So we upgraded and moved them to a bigger better house at no additional cost to them. We are in the people pleasing business, after all. They come here to vacation and we must do what we can to hold up our end of the deal.

I had a simply wonderful day yesterday.  I went back over to Bahia Roja to check on their plans to rebuild the 3 houses that burned down. Right now those 3 families are doubled up with other families. If they cut wood from the mangrove it will take them several years to rebuild. If we can help them get the building materials they hope to rebuild within 6-9 months. Ideally each house will be ~ 15 x 20 feet, with treated wood flooring and walls (termite proof) and metal roofs—estimated materials cost $5000 each. The Red Frog Foundation hopes to raise $10 k to help them with the cost of materials and transportation. If you can help, please send your tax-deductible contribution to Red Frog Foundation, c/o Joy Clem, Treasurer, 960 Springoak Way, Stockton, California 95209. Put Bahia Roja in the memo line. (Sorry we aren’t set up for online donations).

At the end of my work day, all of the staff got together for a farewell lunch for Magjuly, who is going on maternity leave until the end of May. I cooked Panamanian food for us- sautéed beef, frijoles, rice, beet and potato salad, beer, pineapple juice, and coconut bars for dessert. We met in the crowded little office and had a wonderful time. Most of them have a rather ribald sense of humor and know how to make fun out of nothing (telling stories and jokes that one wouldn’t dare tell at work in the U.S.). I feel very connected to each of them and really enjoy our teamwork—I am very lucky.

Janelis, Licinia, Enilda, Aurelia, Onecimo, Javier, Kadir, me, Magjuly, and Anselmo

I finished the day with a long swim and some body surfing. It was so lovely and warm and relaxing! Steve is at a Subway meeting in Florida until Tuesday so I am "batching" it this weekend.

Well, all for this week. Have a good one, each of you! I know it may be hard to read about fun in the sun when it’s so cold up north, but I have to tell you I DO miss the cold and snow. Think “crisp, invigorating, definite seasons.”  You don’t have nonstop rain or chronic mildew or crocodiles in your hot tub! You are in the most difficult  part of the winter so do remember to do something really fun this week to keep you going!!

From Gypsies to Jungle Walking

On Saturday afternoon I got a call that a motor boat bringing tourists over to the beach had hit a little kayuko (dugout canoe) just outside the marina. Those affected had been fished out of the water and were down on the marina dock—could I please go down?  There were 2 young women, one pacing on the dock and the other seated in a chair holding her right shoulder and whimpering. She was being capably evaluated by another Mary, who lives on a boat called Twilight, in the marina. Mary was an emergency medical technician running with ambulance crews in New York City for over twenty years. She had a sling on the young woman and was discussing options for evaluation (boat to next island, then probably a ferry to the mainland hospital). I stayed in the background, since one rule of first aid is”too many cooks spoil the broth.” And in a situation like this experience and credentials decide who the cook is. Then a tall thin man arrived in a dinghy (from his boat further out) -- “I am a retired orthopedic surgeon and I would be happy to check her out.” He was very calm, took over the evaluation and 5 minutes later pronounced in no uncertain terms, “ I am sure that you have no broken bones. If something was broken there would be far more swelling. Take some Tylenol and rest for several days and then you’ll be fine.”  I was a little surprised at the black/white nature of that statement, as was one other gentleman nearby, who was muttering under his breath about x-ray vision. Of course, one characteristic of most surgeons is the ability to make quick decisions and the willingness to do so, which not all of us have and can be a very good thing sometimes. And unless they are god, sometimes they will be wrong. In the circumstance on the dock there was no reason to make a scene-- easier to just quietly tell the patient that if their arm continues to bother them / is getting worse rather than better it would be wise to go to a hospital. Long story short- we learned that the next day she did go the hospital and there was a broken bone that required surgery and a pin. Hmmm. We all make mistakes. Lucky this one didn't cause major harm- just postponed needed care. 

An aside on the identity of these young women in their early twenties-- they are sisters, came from Argentina by themselves, and live in Old Bank, the small town on the other end of this island. They make a living by selling jewelry on the beach. Steve and I fondly call them gypsies, as “their people” are not from here, they have long dreadlocks and evidently live on a shoestring (a very short one). The day after the accident, the less injured sister was out in another kayuko and there were several snorkelers in the water around her. They were trying to recover their jewelry—all was lost when the boat crashed in the side of their kayuko and they were pitched into the water. By the way, a picture of the kayuko will be hung at the dock and some new buoys with verbiage to the effect of "watch the ____ where you are going and slow down" will be installed. The boat driver was unlicensed and will lose his boat.

An update--Several weeks ago I told you about the fire at the neighboring indigenous village. Last week I told you about the fundraiser at the marina, where over $2K was raised to help the 45 residents affected by the fire. This week the issue is how to really help them. The marina people talked about just dividing the money up and giving the cash to each individual or to the parents of affected children. The thought was that they would spend the money to replace the items lost in the fire--- bedding, clothing, and cooking equipment, etc. and giving it to them was much simpler than trying to micromanage the money. There were many who were adamant that they should have the freedom to do as they wished with the money. Then the conversation in the marina turned to "what ifs"… what if the women and children don’t get any of the money, what if the money is used for alcohol, or even just for a bunch of fun? (heck- you know how some of us can tend to view that).  Since they don’t have bank accounts, what if they decided to save some cash for a bigger purchase- how would they do that? Clearly we needed more information. So yesterday several of us went to the village and met with the elder there, Pedro Santo. We heard more details of what was lost—a generator, a boat motor, 3 cooking stoves and propane tanks, in addition to the other items we knew about. He told us about their plan to rebuild the houses and total lack of resources to do that. We asked he and his daughter to compile a list of building materials they need, we will get the list today and then we can see how we can help, between the marina and resort.  I have a feeling the people in the marina will decide to buy building materials and stoves rather than hand over wads of cash. Will keep you posted.

Enough stories of drama and woe.  My current exciting project is reading a book called “Tropical Nature.”  Or maybe I should say this IS drama, but of a different kind. It is about the tropical rainforest-about surprisingly weak soil, symbiosis between fungi and trees, foraging in the canopy, light gaps created when giant trees fall, and about epiphytes, those tangled ferns, mosses, orchids, bromeliads, vines and cacti that live suspended in other plants, and what some would say makes a jungle a jungle. I am taking notes, learning lots of big words and bigger ideas and will be doing some major jungle walking to see the living demonstration of what I am learning. I hope to condense my experience into something written for people to use on a self-guided hike through the rainforest.  And I want to get the first version done in the next 8 days, so better get cracking!

See that lump to the left? a sloth hanging out





Robert and Norma (brother and sister in law) with us at the beach bar this week

riding our new trail