education and enlightenment

Area: Bocas del Toro, Panama (Mainland Panama)
Activities: Chocolate Farm Tour & Chance Ocelot Sighting
Weather: Sunny and Windy

After a very filling breakfast of Pixbae Pancakes (made from scratch) it was decided that our morning excursion was going to be a visit to a chocolate farm on the mainland called Green Acres. This beautiful farm is owned by Dave and Linda Cerutti who came to Panama from San Diego almost ten years ago. The boat ride out was breezy and allowed us to shake off some of the heat that persistently resides close to the shores of these lowland Caribbean islands.

After our arrival and introduction we were treated to something special, something that could not be planned. Dave had apparently saved an Ocelot as a cub from a life of imprisonment in a nearby town. He had seen it in a cage and offered to buy the cat so she could be set free. Now she lives in the jungle however, she occasionally comes for a visit to the farm. This relationship you have to see to believe. So, there we were getting ready for our tour, when out of the foliage comes this magnificent animal strolling towards us in a very nonchalant manner. We were all awestruck and frozen because it was not expected nor could one ever be ready for such an approach. I just about passed out when it started rubbing and licking my leg. After an explanation from Dave and Linda we let our guard down and enjoyed the company of this truly wild animal.



The next course of events were almost as inspiring, I had no idea the process it takes to get the Cacao bean to the point of consumption that we all know and love, that wonderful thing called chocolate. This was truly a day filled with education and enlightenment, the kind you only get by traveling through this mystic and mysterious part of the world.

Content

We chose not to subscribe to any television service as we have a unique opportunity to control how much and exactly what television content our children watch. We have a large library and DVD library in order to both entertain and expand our brains. However, recently we have been at a loss for new content to add to our library. There are some nights where you don’t want to read, but you would like to do something and a movie or a television show is the best fit. Fortunately for us we have so many different perspectives presented to us by our diverse clientele that we have people offer suggestions that one might not have thought of on one’s own. Last week we had a few very well traveled individuals on site. One couple has been watching a variety of courses on television on very interesting subjects. These peaked our interest as it is a great way for us to expand our horizons and add to our content library. So for now we are going to check into some history on things we would like to know a bit more about. If we like those courses who knows we might go with it. The nice thing about it is we can get the content directly off the internet so we don’t have to wait for it to make its extended journey to Panama.

We aim to please

How far in advance do you prepare for a vacation? We have some guests who reserve their vacation and begin planning the specifics a year in advance of their trip. We have others who want to schedule a trip about two weeks to a month out. However, most of our guests fall somewhere in the middle.

We recently had a family of four here for ten days. All vacation planning was left up to Dad. Dad is a successful, type A personality kind of guy. He begins planning his vacation for the upcoming year shortly after returning home from the current year’s vacation. So for Spring Break, he catches up at the office and then begins the quest to find the next spot he deems perfect for his family. He does a lot of research about that spot and then he lets the information simmer for a while. After it simmers for about a month or so, he fills in any missing information and goes over all of the information, at a summary level, with his wife. If she buys into the plan then he makes his reservation for the following year.

So needless to say, when I got the following email in my in box earlier this week, I was delighted as I know we had some big shoes to fill.

We had a wonderful time at Tranquilo Bay. Our stay exceeded expectations… and you know, they were pretty high. Most importantly, I want to thank Jim, Jay, Stephanie, Sabrina, Enrique, Mario, Leo, Yohani, the Hidden Chef and all the other staff for being such great hosts.

Renee, you, especially, are a saint for putting up with all my questions and quirky desires.

I am still digesting the entire trip and will be sending out a package this week. Hopefully, it will be in Texas for Jay's visit.

There are so many great memories/experiences, lobster, Zapo Beach, the dock, dolphins, tarpon, bonefish, views, water, indians, etc.... Of course my biggest disappointment was the food. Too good, too much - I am huge and almost was charged 70 cents a pound for my return weight.

Collecting my thoughts, I am, believe it or not, at a loss for words - but the main point is we had a great time, there are a lot of great places - the trick is to find both great places with great people - we found that at Tranquilo Bay....and that will be a very hard combo to replicate - and I may just want to stay with a good thing.

To think or not to think

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I remember when I was working in Houston that I made so many different decisions each day that I wanted a vacation from decisions. We have tried to create such a place here where you can make as many or as few decisions as you like.

We ask you in advance what you are interested in experiencing once you arrive. We spend some time getting to know each of our guests upon arrival to determine which of the excursions would be the best fit for each guest and such guest’s entire party. Based upon this input and the current conditions we suggest an excursion for the entire party or for smaller groups.

We also plan our menus in advance based upon guest input. Thus after you have had an exhilarating day upon the water or in the jungle, you do not have to decide what you want to eat. We have a set menu determined for you. We post the menu each morning so that you have an opportunity to advise us if you do not want to eat what we have scheduled for the evening. In such an instance we suggest other alternatives based upon availability.

One of our guests once told me that he was really enjoying his vacation here as he got to take a break from making all the decisions. He let us make them for him. Of course, if you don’t want to take a break, just let us know that as well. We will let you continue thinking if you want to do so.

Breathe Deeply

Breathe deeply. Inhale the ocean breeze. Exhale the “real world”. Inhale the sweet smell of the rain. Exhale crowds. Inhale the scents of the jungle. Exhale the concrete jungle.

I used to have a strong yoga practice when I lived in Houston. I actually began practicing yoga on vacation in Mexico. I was the only woman guest at a fishing lodge. Jim went fishing all day long and I usually hung back at the lodge. The massage therapist at the lodge taught a “pick up” yoga class for all of the female staff members. There is something about beginning your yoga practice gazing upon the Caribbean Sea. It is a memory I cherish.

Yoga just fit for me. I enjoyed it and I benefited from my practice. I unfortunately have not kept up with my practice ever since I was pregnant with my first child. I went to an occasional class following my son’s birth, but I did not have a true practice. Prior to my pregnancy with our daughter I was slowly beginning a practice here in Bocas del Toro Panama. The option to practice while gazing upon the Caribbean Sea is a strong pull for me. However my second pregnancy was a difficult one and I didn’t do any yoga during it.

Now I am reaching the end of my daughter’s first year. I feel a pull toward my yoga practice for a variety of reasons. One of which I believe is that yoga is going to be something that my daughter and I can share. My son also enjoys it even those he only tries a posture or two at a time. I would like to renew my practice so that I might benefit from it and so that I might share it with my children. Besides, breathing deeply here is easy.

Sacrifice for rain

Today it rained. If you want to call it that. I got slightly wet on my ride from Isla Bastimentos to Bocas Town on Isla Colon. I wore my rain jacket and the only part of me which was covered by the rain jacket which ended up wet was the center of my t-shirt where the rain jacket’s zipper rested.

We need some real rain. Rain that comes down hard for an extended period of time. All of Panama is suffering from one of the longest droughts in recent history. We live in the rain forest after all. We expect it to rain.

When we haven’t had rain for some period of time we begin to make sacrifices in hopes of inducing the sky to open up. One of the first sacrifices we must make is that I make a trip into town. You see, I rarely leave the property, but if I do – inevitably it rains. And today it did rain, just not much. It was almost an insult to my sacrifice the small amount of rain that we received. It has continued to look like it is going to rain off and on for most of the day. So maybe if we are really lucky and since I am planning to go to the beach tomorrow – we will get some rain either tonight or tomorrow. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Who is cooking now?

One of the challenges associated with living on an island is that you have limited access to an extended workforce. For most positions it isn’t a problem as you can rotate the schedule of your staff to take care of the time off for each employee. However, there are certain positions for which you do not hire multiples and for those vacation time is a bit more challenging.

We have a cook and a helper in the kitchen. We are fortunate in that they can turn out some incredible food. Our cook is kind enough to teach many of the different things she makes to her helper so that the helper can take on additional responsibility and fill in for the cook at certain meals. The helper lacks the experience of the cook which is why he is currently the helper and not the cook. He is hoping to return to school someday so cooking is not what he wants to be doing for a living. The cook on the other hand loves to cook and you can tell. Her food is amazing.

Well, it is her turn to go on vacation. She doesn’t take vacation on a regular basis like all of our other employees and she is absolutely entitled to it. I on the other hand cannot find anyone to work with the helper in the kitchen for the time she will be away. So it appears that the food the kitchen turns out for a few weeks will be a bit different than the food prepared in our kitchen most of the time. It will still be delicious, but it will be more like going to a party at a friend’s house rather than dinner at a restaurant. Why is that you ask? I will be back in the kitchen for a period of time. I can design menus for our cook to prepare, but I do not have the same skills that she has to turn out the same meals she cooks. I will miss her immensely, but I would prefer to miss her for a brief period of time rather than let her burn out and miss her all of the time.