Happy New Year!

May 2012 bring you health, prosperity, and love. (And maybe a visit to Panama to see us!)

Happy New Year from all of us at Tranquilo Bay.

Beautiful Tranquilo Bay

Jay's son Scott (age 9) received an assignment in his elementary school to write a paragraph about a place in Bocas del Toro that he loves. Here is his paragraph which appeared in the Bocas Breeze newspaper this month.

There is a hotel on beautiful Bastimentos Island that sits next to the amazing turquoise colored Caribbean sea. The guests that get to go hiking under the big green trees get to learn about some species of bugs and trees. Almost all of the guests get to see different kinds of birds such as: black, white and orange Oropendolas, turquoise and blue Honey Creepers and more. The main building is big and beautiful. It is two stories tall. Upstairs it has a large dining room with pretty clean furniture and a bar. The main house has a porch that the guests can see an amazing orange and yellow sunrise. You cant see the sun during a sunset but you can see the red and green parrots flying across the sky. The hotel serves you breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are six cabanas and they are planning to build six more next to the tropical forest. There is a library for grownups and kids filled with books and games. The hotel has two rusty old bikes, but three good ones. It is to explore and discover all that Bastimentos is all about. That is why I like beautiful Tranquilo Bay.

Vaya con Dios, Amigo

All of us here at Tranquilo Bay will miss our dear friend, Frank Hilson, Sr. He has gone on to a better place. We are forever appreciative of the support he and his wife Joyce have shown us over the years.

While Jim and Jay were here building Tranquilo Bay, Frank, and later, Frank and Joyce, would come visit and check on progress. Frank and Joyce considered purchasing property in Bocas for a time, but then decided to buy a home in Panama City instead. They opened it up to us as our home in Panama City. We all spent a fair amount of time in our home in Panama City. We will always be incredibly appreciative of the hospitality that Frank and Joyce showed us.

Frank and Joyce sold the home in Panama City last year. During their last trip to Panama in March, 2011, they came out and stayed with us for close to a week. It was wonderful to see them again.

Frank’s battle with cancer continued and he passed away quietly at home last night.

As I think through our friendship with Frank and Joyce and what it has meant to all of us, I searched for a quote that fit because I am at a loss for words. I had a hard time finding anything that was right on point, but this is one seems to be one that Frank lived:

“Never get tired of doing little things for others. Sometimes, those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.” anonymous

Frank was always doing little things for us. He and Joyce adopted us like we were their children and our children their grandchildren. They have been truly great friends to all of us at Tranquilo Bay. He and Joyce both occupy a special place in our hearts.

We will miss you Frank. Thank you for being a wonderful friend.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our gouls to yours!

Happy Birthday Ramon!

This is a photo Natalia took of Ramon with Jay's mom, Marge. They enjoy an afternoon chat most days. Happy Birthday to Ramon!

Happy Belated Birthday to Patrick

Patrick turned three on August 21. It is amazing that three years have passed since he was born. He really got into hitting the piñata this year. It is so cool to see him learning and experiencing life on this big blue marble.

Happy Birthday Scott

Happy 9th birthday to Scott. We are celebrating this weekend. The boys are going on a fishing trip with the dads. Big day for a big boy.

Best Views from a Hammock

Just in case you missed our post on Facebook last week, Tranquilo Bay was recently featured in a slideshow on Frommers.com about 8 great hotels with wonderful views from their hammocks. Hammock time is one of the best ways to pass a bit of time in the tropics. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting a tropical area. A nap in a hammock is a super sweet treat. Check out the entire slideshow here. Tranquilo Bay is the fifth hotel in the slideshow - you can't miss us.

Oreba Chocolate Community

We went with a family over to Oreba Chocolate's tour in March. The family was so taken with the experience they wanted to send something back for the community. We asked the Peace Corp representative what would be a good gift for the community. He told us that the kids were really into playing baseball. The family sent a set of gloves for this community and for another community where they kayaked here in Bocas del Toro. This video is from Adam, the peace corp representative, showing a few of the kids playing catch with the gloves. It was perfect timing - we brought the gloves back in our container in early July just in time for the children to begin their baseball season. The village in conjunction with several other indigenous villages has a league for the children.

For more information about Oreba Chocolate and its tours, check them out on Facebook.

Happy Fifth Birthday Boty!

Today is sweet Boty's birthday. We can't believe how time flies. She was born five years ago here in Panama. She is the princess of Tranquilo Bay for sure.

Second time around.

Over the holidays in 2007 we had several families come visit us for the first time. Ironically, of the guests that visited during that time frame, we have had more repeat guests than those that have visited at other times. Last week one of these families came for a second visit. We all had a wonderful time. You can read what they had to say about their stay here.

Here are a few of the photos taken by Robyn. Their son Gabe liked our place so much he has decided to stick around as an intern for a few months. Alexandra, in the top photo, is our new teacher for the children. She and her husband arrived at the same time as this family.

Happy Birthday Jim

Today is Jim's birthday. I won't tell you how old he is as age is a matter of the mind and he will always be younger than the years show him to be. Dalys, our new cook, is making him a coconut flan for his birthday tonight. It is one of his current favorites - so much so that he is forgoing chocolate for his birthday for the first time in years.

Hasta Luego Amiga!

Gina has been with us here as the children's teacher since March 2008. We have watched the children grow and learn with her love and guidance for over three years now. It has been an amazing experience for all of us. We are sad to see her leave, but we know that it is time for her to move on to do other things. We are all going to miss her, but we are also looking forward to getting to know our new teacher who arrives in July. Gina was able to meet her and believes she will move the children forward in wonderful ways - we also believe this to be true.

Gina uses music by Jack Hartman with the kids in the classroom. Once she told them that she was leaving, there was a special song that the kids began to sing in order to prepare them for her departure. The children sang this song during their spring presentation. I was not the only one tearing up is all I am going to say. Gina has very definitely left a Hand Print on our Hearts!



Hand Print On Our Hearts

On this day we remember all the ways you’ve touched out hearts
On this day we all celebrate that we have been a part
Of your hopes and your dreams
That have shown us where to go
Of your work and your love
That have helped the children grow

Through the years, you’ve taken us so far
And now we’ll carry on when you are gone

So we will work, we will dream
You have shown us where to go
We will hope, we will love
We will help the children grow
Oh, we thank you & promise to go on
Because you have left us
With your hand print on our hearts


Photo Note:

The shirts and dresses are a gift from Marge Viola to Gina and the children. Now whenever they wear the shirts or the dress (and when I take the patches off and save them for them later) they will remember Miss Gina and Grandmarge for handing down such beautiful heirlooms to them all. Gina's dress originally belonged to Marge. The animal patches on each of the children's clothes came from the same dress.

Spring School Presentation

Gina worked with Tres and Boty to put together a wonderful presentation of the work the children have completed over the past school year. They did tongue twisters, recited poetry, sang songs, showed us all of the work among other wonderful activities. Here are a few photos of the special ceremony.

Thank you

We want to thank the following individuals and businesses here in Bocas del Toro who helped us to make this Summer 2011 photo shoot happen. The crew was able to capture beautiful photos due to the participation of all of these people. Thank you all very much.

Artisan Stands - for allowing us to shoot in front of them

Barracuda - for dealing with us on all of our trips into town

Bocas Blended - for waking up early and allowing us to shoot on site

Bolivar Solis - for captaining the sailboat in a big rain storm

Boteros - for allowing us to shoot in front of your office

Casa Acuario - for letting us shoot on site

Casa Cayuco - for letting us shoot on site and permitting us to use your SUP for the entire shoot

Casa Max - for helping us with the vehicles

Casa Paradisio at Punta Vieja - for allowing us to shoot on site

Casa Verde at Punta Vieja - for allowing us to shoot & relax in the shade

Cayo de Agua - one of our more rustic locations, great for hiking, etc.

Christine & Michael Garcia - for helping with things at your end of Old Point

Cocomo by the Sea - for allowing us to shoot on site

Gina Senne - for having Jakob in class with the kids during the shoot

Gran Hotel Bahia - for having Holly covered in town

Hotel Palma Royale - for giving us your truck one afternoon in town

Isla Popa - another rustic location

Island Interiors - for renting us your SUP for a week

Ixa’s Bicycles - for a great bike for the whole shoot

Jeff & Faye at Old Point - thanks for the shade

James Beal - for all of your help as the man at Macca Bite and everywhere

Kentways – Vista Azul Lodge - for letting us shoot at the lodge

La Escapada Eco Lodge - for giving us road and water access, etc.

Leo Gomez - for cooking us amazing meals & dealing with special requests

Lucila Andiron - for working super hard and smiling all the time

Lula’s Bed and Breakfast - for letting us shoot on site

Macca Bite Hotel - for letting us shoot on site & housing some of the crew

Natalia Decastro Gonzalez - for helping out & taking the crew on tours

Ramon Fernandez Frances - for helping out & tours for the crew

Remegio Smith - for letting us shoot at your house again this year

Starfish Coffee - for a shoot & dealing with us on our trips to town

Super Gourmet Bocas - for letting us shoot on the steps one Sunday

The Reef - for allowing us to shoot one Sunday

Tres Kimball - for letting us use your skateboard

Tropix Surf - for the surfboards

Yohany Miranda - for working long hours and getting everything done


This post is in our Behind the Scenes series for the Athleta Photo Shoot for their Summer 2011 catalogs shot here in Bocas del Toro in January 2011. It was both an honor and a lot of fun to be a part of this process.

Learning to see

This crew really knows how to see. The things that they capture on camera are great. We enjoy working with them. Next week we will have a list of all of the people and businesses in Bocas that helped us to make this shoot happen. Have a great weekend.


Page credits:

CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker - Scrapgirls
YT_TheCamera_DLange - Ali Edwards Yesterday & Today Class
bio_P365_0810w32b - Oscraps Biografitti
mle-PAAP-Paper11 - Port Au Prince Special

This post is in our Behind the Scenes series for the Athleta Photo Shoot for their Summer 2011 catalogs shot here in Bocas del Toro in January 2011. It was both an honor and a lot of fun to be a part of this process.

Average Day

Part of the crew left the day after shooting was complete. The remainder of the crew had to pack up and prepare to head out of the country. Once they finished up with those chores, they were able to get outside and have some fun. The team was scheduled for an afternoon flight the day after the packing day based upon the flights out of Panama so they also had an opportunity to steal a few fun times the next morning. It was wonderful to see them all have a bit of a break after working so hard during the shoot.


Page credits:

AEdwards_WonderfullyOrdinaryAverageDay - Designer Digitals
ASO_TexturedCardstock_Magenta_Mag3 - Scrapgirls
CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker - Scrapgirls
bio_P365_0810w33b - Oscraps Biografitti
bio_P365_0810w31b - Oscraps Biografitti

This post is in our Behind the Scenes series for the Athleta Photo Shoot for their Summer 2011 catalogs shot here in Bocas del Toro in January 2011. It was both an honor and a lot of fun to be a part of this process.

Enjoy the journey - the last day shooting

On the last day of shooting, there was one shot that required five participants. Here are the crews getting together to take that shot. The next round of photos are from dinner the last night the entire crew was together. One of the photographers put together a slideshow of the whole trip. It was a kick.




Page credits:

ASO_APrincessColl_12x12_GreenCanvas - Scrapgirls
CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker - Scrapgirls
bio_P365_0710w30b - Oscraps Biografitti
bio_P365_0710w29b - Oscraps Biografitti
kd_ModernMarvel_Brush4 - unknown


This post is in our Behind the Scenes series for the Athleta Photo Shoot for their Summer 2011 catalogs shot here in Bocas del Toro in January 2011. It was both an honor and a lot of fun to be a part of this process.

Time Spent Outside

The crew spends so much time outside during one of these shoots. As such, they learn to keep out of the sun and whatever other weather they might encounter as much as is feasible. Sometimes cover is under the shade of a building and other times it is a grove of trees. What I really like about the shots in Bocas town is that there are friendships within that one would never see directly. The skateboard that Katie is using belongs to Tres. He agreed to let the crew use it because of the friendships he has developed with all of them over the past two years. Rachel bringing down a bunch of Jakob's Star War's toys that he had outgrown might have also sweetened the deal. In the other photos the crew is just doing what they need to do to help each other out - improving the light, etc.



Page credits:

AEdwards_TheSimpleBeautyOfTimeSpentOutside - Designer Digitals
CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker - Scrapgirls
bemine_pp2 - unknown
bio_P365_0610w22b - Oscraps Biografitti
bio_P365_0610w24a - Oscraps Biografitti

This post is in our Behind the Scenes series for the Athleta Photo Shoot for their Summer 2011 catalogs shot here in Bocas del Toro in January 2011. It was both an honor and a lot of fun to be a part of this process.

Capturing & Celebrating Everyday Life

One of the things that was different about this shoot was the use of electronics by the Athleta team. Each of the creative team members had an iPad that they were using to keep track of the details of the shots, etc. It has been one of the things that cracks me up when I look at these photos. There is a photo with the team looking over the photography tech's shoulder to see some photos. In that shot you see Linda's iPad all lit up. Below you can see Beth working on hers at the beach. The photographers would load up the shots they captured the night before and the team would download them to their iPads. It was like an electronic version of last year's board. Pretty cool. And as with life, there were moments of utter silliness.



Page credits:

AEdwards_6x4_CapturingAndCelebrating - Designer Digitals
CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker - Scrapgirls
Paper_Waves_GinaCabrera
bio_P365_0610w26a - Oscraps Biografitti
bio_P365_0610w23a - Oscraps Biografitti

This post is in our Behind the Scenes series for the Athleta Photo Shoot for their Summer 2011 catalogs shot here in Bocas del Toro in January 2011. It was both an honor and a lot of fun to be a part of this process.