Happy Halloween!

People often ask us how we handle certain things given that we are living out here on an island. Well, we pick and choose how we do things. We do not have anything forced upon us since we do not have the media and marketing bombarding us with messages about what we are supposed to be doing. Thus, what to do for Halloween?

The boys have been dressing up for a few years now. The first year I could barely get Tres to put his costume on and go knock on the kitchen door. The next year we had the boys dress up and go around to the different buildings and trick or treat with the staff. Last year all three kids dressed up and went on a scavenger hunt in front of the main building. The weather looked a bit ominous so we decided to stick close to the house.

This year Halloween has been a bigger deal. I think it is because both boys expect more from it. I also believe it is because we have gone into more effort to make costumes and get prepared. I made both Boty and Tres a costume. I wasn’t sure I was going to have time as we approached Halloween so I made sure the costumes were completed at the beginning of the month. Tres declared early on that he wanted to be Superman. Boty of course then needed to be Supergirl. Scott wanted to be a pirate. I knew better than to make two superhero capes without making a third. Thus - we have had children trying on capes and learning to fly all month long. Scott’s grandmother decided she would make Scott’s pirate costume. She also very graciously made a second vest for Tres so that he could use it for dress up after Halloween. We have also been listening to spooky music all month long in preparation for the big day.

I found a fabric panel that had a Halloween trio of jack o laterns on it in one of the stores in Bocas earlier this month. Tres and I were so surprised to find it that we knew we had to buy it and do something with it. At $1.25 it was a bargain. I put on a backing and quilted it into a little wall hanging for the kids to enjoy all month. After all - we can’t go to the pumpkin patch and buy one to carve. So we make do.

I checked in with the boy’s teacher to determine if they could wear their costumes to school for Halloween. She thought it was a great idea. So we will have a pirate and a superhero in school today. We will be trick or treating around the lodge in the different buildings. We are having a spooky dinner and special guests. Papa and Grandma are arriving on the afternoon flight. They will get here just in time to join in on the festivities.

Hiking in Bocas del Toro

Another video - this one features some of our hiking adventures throughout Bocas del Toro, Panama and the next province over from us, Chiriqui. Our hikes vary in terrain and difficulty level based upon what you want to experience. We can take you on an easy walk around a beach or we can do a strenuous hike through some creeks and waterfalls as well as the levels in between. Take a look.

Fish On!

Jim and Jay are out fishing today with some guests. Here are a few photos from one of their fishing trips last Spring. I was thinking about these guests over the weekend as they are all University of Texas Alumni and with the Longhorns playing football as well as they are these days I was thinking about the other people I know who would be so proud of them!

It was a glorious day to be on the water. Today’s weather mimics the weather from these photographs. We had a bit of rain overnight which is necessary to keep the vegetation in all of its splendor. The fishing group left early under clear skies. The day has been clear and warm all day. We have not seen a cloud in the sky throughout the entire day. Jay likes to call these days - Chamber of Commerce days. As if we called up the chamber of commerce and ordered one just for this set of guests. And we will do the same for you.

Native Children

One of the neat things that we really like about many of our excursions is the way that our guests have an opportunity to interact with some of the local children. It is a great experience for the children and a wonderful experience for our guests. We find that the native children LOVE to have their picture taken. We take photos of them each time we encounter them on an excursion. They like to see the photo on the camera’s display as soon as it is taken. They also love to get copies of their photos that we print out and return to them on one of our trips to their village. Here are photos of children from two different villages on Punta Valiente. We generally visit at least these two villages on our excursions to Punta Valiente which include both hiking and a trip to beach.





Have a great weekend!

Baby Sloth

Enrique found this baby sloth on the jungle floor one day when he was doing some work around the property. He knows how much we like to photograph the wildlife which surrounds us so he brought it over to the main building on a stick so that we could see it and photograph it. This is closest that any of us had ever been to a baby sloth. We were very careful not to touch it - not because the sloth is dangerous, but because we didn’t want to get our smell on it. We do not know if another’s smell on the sloth would cause its mother to shun it or not, but we didn’t want to take any chances. After we took a few photos of this little guy, Enrique took him back to where he found him so that he could be reunited with his mother.

As you can tell in this first picture, Boty isn’t quite sure what to make of him. You can’t see it in this picture, however, Tres and Scott were both fascinated by the baby sloth. I think they thought they were almost on one of Diego’s adventures where they were helping the baby sloth return to his mother. Very few children have the opportunity to actually “participate” in one of those special adventures.

Field Trip

Tres, Scott, Gina, Jay, Jim and Jim’s older brother went on a field trip a couple of weeks ago. First they went to our friend’s chocolate farm. Tres and Scott have been there many times before and they love it every time. Then in the afternoon they went to Bahia Honda and into the Bat Cave. They had so much fun. Tres and Scott have been talking about it so much since then. Here are a few photos of the “field trip”. I never went on any such kind of trip. Pretty cool school.

Fishing in Bocas del Toro

Here is one of our new videos highlighting the fishing excursions we take. We are preparing for a few weeks of fishing later this month so I thought it an appropriate time to take a look at some of the big fish we catch around here.

PJ Viola Filling Out

Patrick has been back here at Tranquilo Bay since September 16, 2008. His doctor decided that he was doing so well at that time that he could make the trip home and go back to Panama City to get his shots when necessary. So he came to Tranquilo Bay for the first time that day with is mom and paternal grandmother in tow. He has done super since he came home. He went to the doctor yesterday for his shots and weighed in at 8.5 pounds. So even though he joined us about six weeks early there are no signs of any issues at this time. Here are a couple of photos of him that really show how much he has grown. What a miracle life is!

Sitting Pretty in Central America

My brother emailed me last week to let me know that we had been included in an article in Continental’s in flight magazine. I went online to look it up today. I must say that it is truly a compliment to be included in with such a great group of hotels. Take a look at the article. We are the last hotel listed for Panama and the only one of our size!

Sitting Pretty in Central America