Portable Compost Latrine Construction

Finished interior, with mens' urinal at right

There is not much on this planet that I enjoy more than a good construction project. Building in the 3^rd World, with minimal tools and access to hardware only makes the game more interesting. My latest joy is a 3 hour build that turned out quite nicely. I had the help of one of Leo’s friends who had nothing better to do than hold wood for the Gringo. Half way into the construction, we had attracted quite a crowd of curious onlookers, being right on the PanAm Hwy. They were enthralled by my DeWalt battery drill. They took turns trying it out and saving me tons of screwing. I think I could have even pulled a Huck Finn and charged them. Like I say, not much better than coming home soaked in sweat, covered in sawdust with a big smile on my face. Here’s what we built:

 

Floor framing with some corner posts

Portable Dry Composting Latrine

It is a mouthful to say, but that is my “new” concept for an inexpensive and practical 3^rd World toilet solution. The small size makes it portable and inexpensive – about $164 of local materials and 3 hours labor for a carpenter and assistant. The simple design means that less skilled folks can build it.

The basic design is not new – I first saw it in Will Pono Jensen’s annex village of Roldan in Peru. It was sold as a kit by Eternit – the big plastic water tank manufacturer. The Town of Quilmana purchased a lot of the units and they worked quite well. One of the really nice features was a fiberglass seat instead of the typical nasty latrine hole. The idea of the kit was that it required only 4 people to lift it to a new location, when the latrine hole was filled.

Finished product, painted with tin roof - 3 hours total

The only things I have really added are the superb plastic (urine-diverting) toilet seat that Global Brigades found and uses, plus using painted plywood instead of Super-Board (Hardy Board) to save on weight and cost. My design also uses just 2 sheets of light ply (very efficiently) and a small part of heavy ply for the floor. Separating the urine from the poo drastically decreases the gases and odors. This meant adding a men’s urinal (why can’t men sit down and pee?) made from a 1 gallon water bottle. The lighter weight and reduced costs are design benefits.

Here’s the challenge : Come up with a better name for the new toilet than “portable dry composting latrine” or even better something in Spanish “ bano portable de composte seco”. “Goyo Potty” is not acceptable.

First Female bus driver, Rutgers and New King

Please allow me to introduce Lydia (no, not the tattooed lady) . This is Lydia THE FIRST WOMAN BUS DRIVER   E V E R   on the Panama-Agua Fria and Darien routes. The first woman driver I have ever seen in Peru or Panama for that matter. I give this lady a ton of credit for breaking the bus driver gender barrier. She drives well and fast, takes no shit from the male drivers (and they can dish it pretty good) and drives with a big smile. I think she is pretty proud to be the first. And well she should be. APPLAUSE PLEASE !!

It rained all last night, but the skies opened up blue for the Global volunteers from Rutgers today. Nice to have no rain, but the sun baked us in humidity that HAD to be over 100%. And the mud – not like any mud you have ever seen. This stuff sticks to the bottom of the shoes and just keeps accumulating thicker and thicker, like some kind of glue. Still, they troopered on.

Our project was the rehabilitation of some 5 year old composting toilets In Embera Puru – that picture post-card little village that I love so much. The biggest problem was the same I have encountered before – it is REALLY hard to open the access doors to clean out the compost. It took our expert masons about 45 minutes of pounding to get them open. And they had big chisels and mallets. The average Panamanian doesn’t even own a hammer (rocks work just fine, thank you). So, opening the doors is out of their league entirely. The compost that we then cleaned out was high quality stuff – nice and fluffy and loaded with nutrients and aerating material.

Hard to open the access doors
but good stuff inside !!

We also checked all urinals to make sure that they were not blocked and unblocked the few that were. And for good measure, added a bag of sawdust for drying to poo part, a slick poster showing how to use and a fine new plastic toilet seat, just like they have in  the US.

It was a good day’s work and they should be sleeping like a log. I know I will.

Over the lunch break, I took the liberty of educating the young Rutgers volunteers about some collegiate football history (first game played in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton). Then I told them the story of one of the best college pranks ever, perpetrated upon Princeton by clever Rutgers students  on the occasion of the centennial and last Princeton – Rutgers game. As I recall, it happened like this:

A few days before the Centennial Game, Princeton awoke to find a huge hole in the spot where one of the many Revolutionary War cannons was supposed to be, with all the dirt from said hole piled next to it. There are several of these cannons, buried bore end down in concrete, around the central part of the campus.

As you might imagine , the campus was a buzz with talk of the great theft (undoubtedly by Rutgers thugs). The engineers calculated how the cannon might have been lifted from the hole and carried to a nearby truck. The pre-law students fawned over the penalties for theft of antiquities. But, most of us were just generally in awe of the magnitude of the prank. Gives the brutes credit for that, at least. We fully expected the cannon would be returned with great fanfare at halftime of the game.

But, the game came and went and no cannon. Princeton took its annual beat-down with dignity and some thanks that this would be the LAST game with Rutgers. But, where was that cannon? The NJ State Police got involved, the respective administrations corresponded with no result.

It took a dog (god spelled backward) to solve the mystery. A small dog (was it the famous Thurmond?) was digging on the pile of dirt, when it’s owner noticed a black, shiny object in the dirt. IT WAS THE CANNON !! The clever Rutgers lads (or was it an inside Nassau job?) had counted on the fact that no one really knew the exact position of the big gun and had simply dug an appropriately sized hole NEXT to the cannon.

I rate it as a brilliant prank.

I seem to have good luck when it comes to work days with volunteers. Today was not one of them. We were all set up and ready for the Rutgers group in Curti, when word came that they were stuck on the other side of a parro (traffic stoppage on the PanAm – a strike – in Santa Fe). No volunteers today. Such is life in the 3^rd World.

No volunteers today, so I played with Leonardo’s puppy for a while. Pups move so fast, it’s hard to get a good photo.

ALL HAIL THE NEW KING “Gorgeous George”. He is the new alpha rooster in the area, replacing Black Bart. It was a bloody coup (or coop), as Bart was had for last Sunday’s dinner by my neighbors.

Here is yet another way to wear a Panama hat . I call it the Ed Norton look. (Youngsters can Google “Honeymooners”)

Ricardo Martinelli and Trump

Martinelli

I continue to be plagued by taunts from Panamanians about Trump. They are convinced that Americans have gone mad to elect Trump as President. Many times, they laugh and say “Now you’ve got your own Martinelli !!” I’ve heard it so many times that I felt compelled to learn more about the man who was President of Panama from 2009 to 2014. The similarities between Trump and Martinelli are striking and I see why they laugh.

Martinelli was a noted Panamanian Billionaire businessman, most famous for starting Panama’s first and still largest supermarket chain “Super 99”. In fact, one might say he introduced the word “supermercado” to the Panamanian lexicon. While he never had a reality TV show, his media ads made extensive use of his face and voice, so the large ego is in common. Unlike Trump, he started from nothing – other than an extensive US education (Staunton Military Academy, University of Arkansas and Cornell MBA).

Like Trump, his candidacy was a very long shot and few gave him any chance of winning early on. But, voters picked up on his “I will change everything for the better (though I can’t exactly tell you how)” rhetoric and liked his status as an “outsider” and businessman, even though Martinelli had some government experience as head of Social Security for 2 years and Chairman of the Panama Canal for 4 years.

Also like Trump, about midway through the campaign, his popularity snowballed (especially among the poor) and he won an easy victory over the competition. Very much a surprise to all the local pundits. So, they were both good at saying what they knew people wanted to hear to get elected.

Like Trump, he claimed he would give up control of his businesses, but never really did.  Martinelli said he would not make "a single penny" from his position as President. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

And there is a direct link between the two men – Martinelli was a major investor in Trump’s huge Panama City resort Casino, Hotel and Tower. Trump described Martinelli as “a very good friend” even after his political career started to unravel.

Unraveling is what happened to the Martinelli administration, just as it is happening to Trump, though for different reasons. In Martinelli’s case, it was his “pro-business” policies, which included major corrupt projects for his family and friends. There was the $2 Billion super-highway between Panama City and Colon, which started to fall apart even before it was finished. Estimates were that the project should have cost about $500M, but the contract was given for 4 times that amount to a close friend and supermarket investor, with no experience as a building contractor.

Another Martinelli project that looked good on paper was his solar electrification program for the rural poor who were too far from the power grid to connect. I’ve seen some of these installations and they are actually quite good. Again, the problem was that they should have cost just a fraction of what was paid. The contractor? A company majority owned by his sister and brother-in-law. Nothing like keeping government business in the family, eh?

Tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy, coupled with increased spending for police and border patrols and “public works” projects (does any of this sound familiar?) led to huge deficits – the biggest in Panama history. Reversing environmental pollution laws led to a massive increase in river and air pollution and allowed his real estate friends to build million dollar condos on cheap mangrove land (aka environmentally sensitive wetlands). Much of the air pollution came from increased use of open wood fires caused by people who had to switch to wood from propane, as Martinelli suspended the subsidy to the poor for propane (since reinstated).

Another Martinelli boondoggle was the creation of new coinage, including the $1 coin, which is still called a “Martinelli”. He noticed that the banking laws of Panama, which were created for the US banks in the 70’s, made the US Dollar the only legal tender in Panama, but said nothing about coinage. So, he very cleverly had about $800 Million $1 coins minted, along with millions of new quarters and dimes. The coins cost just pennies on the dollar to produce, creating an instant $1 Billion overnight. Somehow, none of that value found its way to the Panama Treasury. It is still “unaccounted for”. $5, $10 and $20 coins were planned , but merchants refused to accept the $1 coin.

And there was more. A plan that provided all  schoolchildren with backpacks that cost about three times what they should have was given to an off-shore shell  company controlled by his wife. A public social security hospital left unbuilt when contractors ( Martinelli friends and cousins) absconded with their hefty advance and have never been seen since. A highway extension with a $60-million cost overrun was never finished. The contractor has never been located.

With all this flim-flaming going on and all the policies benefitting ONLY the wealthy business and banking interests, Martinelli’s approval ratings dropped from 90% at the election to under 20% after the first 3 years. There were calls for him to leave office. But, miraculously, he dodged all the bullets while in office and finished his 5 year term. Most all of the above shenanigans were uncovered after Martinelli left office.

I find the parallels between the two men striking. And I know why the Panamanians laugh  - they once elected their own version of Trump and lived to regret it. The world once laughed at them – but, who is laughing now?

I can’t say what will happen to Trump. It is unclear whether he will be the Teflon President like Martinelli  and avoid prosecution or impeachment while in office. But, eventually, corrupt political frauds do get their Comeuppance – at least Martinelli and his cronies did. Martinelli fled the country a few days before the Supreme Court ruled that he could be convicted of crimes committed while President. He has since been charged on several counts of fraud and corruption and illegal surveillance and arrest warrants are outstanding. Many of his cronies and family did not have the foresight to flee and are now in jail.

Martinelli is said to be living in Miami in the house where Scarface was filmed. He apparently has some friends in very high places (Trump?) who are blocking the State Dept from extraditing him back to Panama to stand trial for his crimes. Trump should be so lucky.

The Great Panama Canal Giveaway

I have often wondered why in the world the US gave up the Panama Canal so easily. What follows is the best explanation I can muster.

The Great Panama Canal - Expanded with 2 sets of locks
Now the Canal has one more set for MONSTER ships

The Great Panama Canal Giveaway

The history between the US and Panama is a sordid one. The country that is Panama was created by and for the United States. When Colombia, which was the sovereignty in the area of the Canal in 1902, would not grant the US rights to build a canal (after the US had already paid good money to France for its interests in the Canal), the US simply initiated a “revolution” among the residents of what is now Panama to succeed from Colombia. With over 5,000 US Army troops, artillery and a full Navy battleship group backing the revolt, the Colombians ceded control after the first confrontation. And the US was quickly given not only the right to build and maintain the Canal, but sovereignty over the entire 580 square mile Canal Zone. The treaty was basically forced upon the Panamanians, as their “chief negotiator” was a US resident of Panamanian birth, who was not even appointed by the new Panama government.

On this dubious foundation, the US maintained absolute control of the Canal and Canal Zone for 80 years. Its huge military bases were clearly established for much more than simple protection of the Canal and included the nefarious Covert Jungle Warfare  training center. From the start, the people of Panama were not pleased with Uncle Sammy’s role in their affairs. Large US corporations like United Fruit and Coca-Cola enjoyed the protection of US military and CIA whenever they ran into labor problems. The US sent a warship to aid the Kuna tribe in obtaining their independence and sovereignty ( I still haven’t figured out why). Any government leaders in Panama who were anti-US seemed to have very short political careers. The US used its “big stick” very effectively. The US built the Canal, paid for it and protected it. Who could question its absolute rights to the Canal Zone?

Then why in the world, would the US “suddenly” decide to completely give up all of its interests and control of the Canal, the Canal Zone and all of the military and civilian bases, airports, hospitals, shopping centers, offices and housing – without ANY compensation. Indeed, the US agreed to PAY Panama almost $4 Billion dollars to “help with the transition costs” over the 20 years of the transition period. It was estimated at the time that the total package was worth around $50 Billion ($367B in todays $). That is one Helluva gift. The only “compensation” the US got was a priority in scheduling US flagged vessels through the Canal. Whoop-dee-doo.

There are five major reasons that are cited in various texts as the causes for this extraordinary transfer of wealth: 1. Col Torrijos and his coup government owed over $3B to mostly US banks. 2. US banks wanted another monetary “safe haven”  money laundering center, like the Caymans. 3. The US wanted to end its appearance of “Colonialism”.  4. Jimmy Carter wanted a political win. 5. Panama threatened violence if the Canal was not given.

1.     1   From the time Col Torrijos staged a military coup against the democratically elected government of Panama, he and his cronies began a borrowing spree of epic proportions. They amassed debts of over $3 Billion to mostly US banks and were on the verge of defaulting. This meant that the US banks put some serious pressure on the US government to get some money into the Panama treasury fast. To this day, most of that $3B has never been accounted for.

2.       2   US banks reached a side agreement with Torrijos to completely revise all banking regulations in Panama, allowing easy laundering of money, anonymous accounts and other advantages similar to those in the Bahama and Cayman islands. But, even better, Panama would give up use of the Balboa and use the US Dollar as its official currency.  And suddenly, every major US bank (BofA, WellsFargo, CitiCorp, Goldman, etc) had a subsidiary bank in Panama – for nefarious purposes, no doubt.

3.       3   This is the one that I had always heard quoted as the primary reason for the Canal gift. The US wanted to avoid the appearance of Colonialism, so that we would “look good” to the international community. Really? Yet we still propped up friendly governments and regimes all over the world and blatantly kept places like Puerto Rico afloat. There was a PR campaign that focused on the fact that Panamanians had to go through US Customs just to cross the Canal Zone to the other side of their own country.

4.       4     Jimmy Carter’s approval ratings were in the tank. He saw this opportunity for an “international political victory” and took it. Despite fierce opposition from conservatives (especially Strom Thurmond), he got Congressional approval. His administration sold a few lies to do it, but they got it done. I’ve never seen how giving away a huge asset is a great victory, but this supposedly was.

5.        5    After the student violence and riots in 1963, there was a subtle threat that guerilla tactics and violence would be used to disrupt operation of the Canal. This is to me the weakest of all arguments. Damage to the Canal would decrease revenues to Panama itself. Moreover, the US military presence in Panama was so strong , that seems unlikely.

So, bottom line : US banks put pressure on the US government to avoid losses and find a money laundering center, Carter administration wanted to make the deal (with a corrupt military coup leader and drug trafficker, who needed to be bailed out of huge debt), so the US could look “non Colonial” and avoid any further violence. All that for just $400 Billion of taxpayer money.

Such a deal.

Goyo's History of Balboa

Some artist's guess at what Balboa looked like

Balboa

His name is everywhere in Panama. He’s as famous as Torijjos or Noriega and in a better way. His face is on every coin. The paper currency is technically called the “Balboa”, but is really the US Dollar. The strange part is that there was never an official portrait of Balboa or even a good description of his face – so the face on the coins and statues could be anyone, really. But, I digress.

For a really famous guy, he never really did that much. First European to see the Pacific from the eastern edge – Whoop-dee-doo. I get a chuckle when some book says he “discovered” the Pacific. Like that makes any sense. But it was enough to get him in all the history books – at least the ones I read in US schools. “Vasco de Balboa was a Spaniard, who crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 to discover the Pacific Ocean.”  Remember that name and date, they’ll be on the test.

But, let’s have a look at the real story behind that neat, clean headline. Balboa left Spain in 1500 as a common seaman with an expedition led by Bastidas that landed in the Darien area of Panama and worked their way down the coast of Colombia to Venezuela, trading and looting and plundering as the Spanish did so well back in that era. He left the ship in Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic) and tried his hand at farming there, but was a failure. In 1511, he tried to get hired on to an expedition to Panama led by Hernando Enciso. When he was rejected, he stowed away. The three ships of the Enciso expedition got separated and badly beaten by natives with poison arrows. Balboa remembers a place on the coast where the natives did not use poison and guides the ships there.

This is where Balboa emerges as a natural leader. With his charisma and knowledge of the area, the men back him in a mutiny and Enciso and his staff are set adrift, but eventually make it back to Spain. Meanwhile, Balboa knows he is in deep doo doo if he doesn’t make a big splash. So, he decides to take a crew of 190 men straight south into what is now Darien, Panama. Having lived in the area, I have nothing but awe and respect for what he did. Crossing the jungles, mountains and swamps of eastern Panama, wearing full body armor, muskets, swords and shields with dozens of huge mastiff dogs in the heat and humidity is nothing short of miraculous. Balboa’s secret was to befriend the tribes that he met and get them to help him with promises of big rewards. Those that did not become friends were simply exterminated by overwhelming force.

The expedition reached the Pacific at about the present day city of La Palma in August of 1513. They built some boats and sailed out for a week. Finding no land, they were (correctly) convinced that this was a new ocean. Balboa and his men accomplished all this in about 6 months. Incredibly, they lost not a single man. They returned to Hispaniola as heroes and great explorers. Word of his exploits gets back to Spain just about the time that Enciso does. The King decides to side with Balboa and forgives his treason and gives him a position with the new Governor of Panama – Pedro Davila. Davila dislikes Balboa and just 3 years after his great achievement, Balboa is arrested and given an option to build 3 boats and go explore the Pacific. His boats fall apart and he returns unsuccessful. Balboa is then executed for the old treason charge in 1519, just 6 years after “discovering” the Pacific.

And that, boys and girls is the history that never made it into our nicely white-washed textbooks. And despite his rather ignominious demise, Balboa goes on to become a Panamanian folk hero, with his name on towns, roads, rivers and money. You think it is a crazy world today? It’s ALWAYS been a crazy world. An dat’s a fact, Jack.

Follow-up to the Balboa story

Balboa’s route was used for many years to transport gold from Peru across to the Caribbean side and on to Spain. But, when a much shorter route across Panama – basically where the Canal would eventually be built  - was discovered, his route was reabsorbed into the jungle. Until a group of whacky nuclear scientists dragged Balboa’s name out of history’s closet one more time.

It happened like this: It was a mostly forgotten project called Operation Plowshare. The idea was to use the awesomely devastating power of the nuclear bomb for “peaceful’ uses. At the time, the largest US Navy ships became too large to pass through the Canal and the Canal was running at over capacity. Some whacked out nuclear scientists came up with a plan to open up a new sea-level canal, using 380 “small, tactical” nuclear explosions along Balboa’s route. The bombs would be detonated in sequence and water would flow from sea to shining sea in a matter of about an hour. The “excavated” material would be thrown clear into the jungle and the rush of water would scour out any high spots. The blasts would create a crater 300 ft deep and 1200 ft wide clear across Panama.

Yeah. I know. WTF were they thinking? There were a few little bugs to work out. Like the 10,000 Kuna and Embera living along the route. Oh, and that little detail about all the residual radiation. And the shock wave equal to a n 8.0 earthquake.he US got so far as to send a survey team to evaluate the route and calculate bomb placement and sizes. Using old Spanish texts, the survey team followed Balboa’s passage, finding many artifacts along the route. Eventually, protests from the Kuna and common sense caused the plan to implode and Tricky Dick Nixon officially killed the program. Thus removing any hope for a Balboa redux.

A Tale of Two Water Projects

Let’s just say….it was hot. No, it was beyond hot today. There has to be another word for hot, steamy wet (which, as they say is nice if you’re with a lady, but not if you’re in the jungle). Whatever that is, that’s what it was today going out with the Curti water crew to fix one of their river crossings that I pointed out last time we inspected the water line – that was when it was relatively dry and the rivers were low.. The 3” PVC pipe was sagging pretty badly and had only one wooden branch support in the middle of the river, which a big rush of water could take out at any time. We brought along some nice 3/16” wire to support the line. The key tool was a “come-along”, which made the installation relatively easy. I say relatively, since it started to rain as we were finishing. Leo took a tumble down the bank and into the river and (fortunately) came up laughing. Alberto lost a boot in the mud and I hit a deep spot in one of the river crossings and filled my boot with water and was barely able to get to the shore to take it off. And then I dropped my camera in the mud. (It is now sitting in a rice bath, so no photos). Just when we were all about done in, along came a huge 6 wheel drive logging truck and gave us a ride the rest of the way home. Though I must say, when it did start to rain/pour on our way home – it felt REALLY good. The other downer was that all the watermelons had been harvested. And the monkeys were somewhere dry (smarter than us). I’m tempted to say “I’m getting too old for this shit”. But, apparently, I’m not. After a nice hot/cold shower, some aspirin and a nap, the world looks right as rain again.

 Lesson learned : if it’s been raining for days, is steamy hot and looks like rain …. Take a rain check on that jungle hike.

Please Fence Me In

The water system project Du Jour was in Piriati, putting a fence around their water tanks so the cows don’t stomp on the tubes going in and out and kids won’t go swimming in the tanks. If Thursday’s bridge project was the Hike from Hell, today was a walk in the park that even Susie Creamcheese could make. A big 4x flatbed truck, loaded with all our cyclone fence materials, cement and sand for setting the posts, and our work crew of 7, pitched and bucked and romped to within about 100 yards of the tanks. So, the trip up was easy, except for the one guy who lost his breakfast. Coming back wasn’t bad since it was downhill,  it wasn’t raining and the track was fairly dry and there were only 2 river crossings that were deep.

It turns out that none of us had ever installed a chain link fence before, but we don’t let minor details like that stop us out here on the perimeter. I laid out markers for the post holes. Almost as fast as I could mark them, two young bucks with a post-hole digger and a special digging tool had the hole dug to perfection. Side note: My old geometry teacher Dave DeRusso would have been proud to see me bisect a straight line in the field, with just some string and sticks, to get a 90 degree corner.

The lads got the holes dug lickety-split and mixed the concrete 3^rd World style – on the ground, by hand. We had some issues about holding the posts straight up vertical. Apparently, Panamanians have a very poor sense of level/vertical. I kept going around with a level to show them, but then they would “correct” to what they thought was vertical. Needless to say, the fence looks like it was built by a group of drunken sailors, but it came together nicely and will serve its purpose. Although someone forgot to include a padlock on the materials list (that would be me), we improvised, as usual, and went home happy.

For me, these work projects are more than good and needed physical improvements. They are also a time for bonding and spreading some goodwill and friendship. My biggest hurdle in that department is trying to convince them that not everyone in the US is like Donald Trump, nor does everyone agree with his behavior and actions. They are convinced we have elected a mad-man and want to know why. I ask myself that, as well. Frequently.

Though it wasn’t the grind that Thursday’s hike was, the aspirin, hot / cold shower, adult beverage and nap still felt mighty good. I always have mixed feelings about these physical exertions – on the one hand, I’m glad I can still put out that kind of effort and keep up with the 25 year olds, but I wish I didn’t hurt so much afterwards. No more jungle hikes on the schedule for at least a week.

Perfect Score and an "F"

My dear friends Benildo and Ligorio

Water system students get A+

I am so dang proud of these two guys – Benildo and Ligorio. They pulled off the perfect water system disinfection with ZERO help from me. I just watched and smiled and applauded. They made their own chlorine from salt and water, alerted the villagers not to drink the water for a while, figured the right dose, mixed and waited the requisite 30 minutes, then went house to house flushing the high chlorine water through and out of the system. Best technique and dedication I’ve ever seen.

These guys look like Mutt & Jeff, but they do a GREAT job for their community. More than that, they have a good time doing it, as you can see from the photo. As their teacher, it feels wonderful and rewarding to see them do everything on their own – and do it well. Color me happy !!

Nobody and nothing gets through the barricades
A VERY rude form of protest 

Tripus Interuptus

Headed for Embera Puru this morning and ran smack-dab into a paro (protest strike). As is SOP in Latin countries, the preferred and accepted form of political protest is to block a main highway. In this case – the PanAmerican Highway. The ONLY route through Panama. All passengers and freight stop. In my case, I just turned around and went about other tasks in Torti. Most others, who were returning home or headed outbound, could not turn around. They will wait until 5 or 6pm, when the protesters go home for the night. Miles and miles of cars and trucks backed up. The buses turn around, but leave 90% of the passengers by the road to wait, although I did notice a trail of passengers who were walking through a muddy field to get around the protesters. No shelter, bathrooms or restaurants in sight. This will not be pretty. Though, I’ll bet that some enterprising locals will set up impromptu kitchens and bring some cold drinks. Bathrooms aren’t really an issue here – lots of bushes. But, if it rains hard……..

Moreover, I simply cannot grasp this form of protest. To me, protesters should go to whatever agency or company they are protesting. They should NOT inconvenience hundreds and hundreds of innocent travelers and truckers. The odd part is that the government will usually grant some concession to the protesters, so they know it will work, at least in part.  Most ridiculous form of protest I can imagine.

The next day, I heard that the Darien teachers who were protesting did indeed get a 15% pay raise. Nice reward for messing up the day for hundreds of innocent bystanders.

One of many WET fields

In a Pickle

Remember how I posted about the rice planting gamble? Well, to everyone’s surprise, the rains came early and hard. It rained 6 of the 7 days while I was away and the rice fields are mud pits. If the growers don’t get a few days without rain to get out there and plant, they could lose the crop or at least greatly delay it. They might send immigrant workers out to sow by seed, but that is not preferred.

Only one grower took the gamble and planted early. I’ll bet he is smiling a lot.

The whole Doggie family comes to visit

Two of the pups finally made the trip with Momma to the Gringo’s house. Now that they know where the primo chow is, maybe they’ll visit more often. They are colored and marked EXACTLY like Mom and Dad. Not surprising since the parents are identical brother and sister. There are still 2 more surviving pups, but they stay safe and hidden and are smaller. Being bold has its advantages.

Yet another shopping center

They are clearing good agricultural land to build ANOTHER shopping mall in Torti. I guess this is what it felt like in the US back in the day. There are already vacant retail spaces. The population must be growing like crazy here to support all the new retail venues. Or maybe someone just needs to wash some money…

Bocas Vacation

Big container ship at the Gamboa locks - Panama Canal

The fun started even before I got to the City. It was early Sunday morning and four large and very inebriated gentlemen got on the bus, carrying beer cans and swilling as they boarded. I was surprised the driver let them on, but then again, I’d never seen them refuse passage to anyone. After several minutes of loud drunken shouting, the lads discovered that their cans were dry and told the bus driver to pull over at the bar that was in sight. When the driver ignored the request, the largest of the drunkards jumped up and flashed a badge in the drivers face and repeated the demand, with a bit more force. That was when I noticed the gun in his pants behind his back.

Culebra Cut - the hardest excavation on the Canal route

The driver backed the bus down the PanAm Hwy, which was thankfully not crowded on Sunday morning and the entire bus waited while Senor Protect and Serve woke up the bar owner and got his beers. I’ve seen lots of Police abuse in Mexico and Peru, but nothing quite this forceful. It made me steaming angry. But, the last thing a Gringo should do is mess with the National Police. We all assumed he was Federale because of the gun and we were all pretty intimidated and in shock.

Biggest wind farm in Central America

Just a few LONG minutes later, we saw two Transit Police cycles up ahead and the driver quickly jumped out of the bus and had words with the cops. Just as quickly (and muttering multiple curses) the big Fed got out. The Transit cops were terrific and backed the drunk down – I think he was about to pass out anyway. One of his buddies was already asleep in the bus. They got all the drunks off the bus, to the cheers and applause of all us passengers and we were speedily on our way. I hope the bastards heard us all clapping and cheering as they got off the bus. And I hope they got in some kind of a jam for the bad behavior. Moral of the story is : police abuse goes to a whole ‘nuther level in the lower latitudes.

After that, the rest of the trip seemed pretty dull. I made my bus change in the National Terminal to a big 2 level interstate cruiser to David, the second largest city in Panama. This bus is like the first class and Plus class buses in Peru or Mexico. Big wide leather seats that recline way back, in flight movies and a toilet. More importantly, these routes attract the best of the best drivers – men (sorry ladies, NO women drivers) with large balls of pure steel. Their driving is a sight to behold, as they weave the big monsters through traffic. At meal stops, they eat in a special dining room and are otherwise treated as celebrity. Very much like the drivers in Mexico.

David is famous for Panama hats - all styles

We took the Centennial Bridge across the Canal, which gives a great view of the Gamboa locks and the Culebra Cut – the tightest and hardest excavation on the Canal route. It also goes right past one of the big residential areas were the American Canal workers used to live, complete with major league size baseball fields. After that, it’s through the ugly new bedroom commuting communities, with their sterile “little boxes” and monster shopping malls – a sad American copy. Next come the very beautiful, architecturally stunning and spiritually and ecologically bankrupt Million Dollar beach condos of San Carlos and San Lorenzo (actually, prices start at a mere $300K). Sheraton, Marriott, Astor, Hilton are all there – sticking out from the surrounding jungle and beaches like big sore thumbs. Then through the big agricultural areas that are giving way to development and past the desolate hills after Penonome, where I don’t even see cattle or anything. That area is the site of the monster Laudato Si wind farm – as far as I can tell the only one in Panama and the largest in Central America. After 12 hours on the bus, I decided to stop in David for the night.

The "Aquarius" restaurant , near the "Far Out Inn"

David (dah-VEED) is the second largest city in Panama and is the gateway to Boquete and the other American retirement centers, as well as to the Bocas del Toro (Mouths of the Bull) area. How a bull can have multiple mouths is a mystery to me. David itself is home many US retirees. I met one at the Pio-Pio – Panama’s biggest fast food chain – having breakfast. He seemed annoyed that I was asking him questions, so I didn’t learn much. He used to live in Boquete until the rents went way up. He now pays “a couple hundred” for an efficiency in David. He doesn’t like the heat of David, but just can’t afford Boquete any more, now that “the rich folks’ have moved in. Basically, I think he would be homeless in the US – he had that homeless, unkempt look anyway. He and his friends hang in the park all day and play cards or checkers. Mad at the world and no way to live on his “shit” Social Security in the US. At least in Panama he can live on his own, saving up just enough to make the 1 hour bus ride into Costa Rica and back every 6 months to renew his visa. The only catch is no Medicare. If you get seriously sick, you’re outta there.

Outstanding roasted beef and chicken

The bus ride from David up and over the mountains to Chiriqui and Bocas was a twisting, turning, up and down, back and forth, gear grinding, brake burning, gut tightening, ear popping, scenically sensational trip. Whoever engineered the route gave no thought to flattening hills or straightening curves. Or guard rails, for that matter. The road seemed to follow the terrain, staying mostly on the ridge lines. Maybe it just followed some ancient trail. In any case, there were no cut-backs used at all. Just some very steep inclines and hard corners. At one point, someone yelled “BOLSA” and a white plastic “sickness” bag flew their way and was immediately put to good use.

Part of the Changuinola Dam

The physical strain aside, it was a gorgeous trip. The palms of the plain quickly gave way to cedar and lots of pine, the air temp dropped rapidly, as well, which allowed the windows to open and replace the smell of upchuck with fresh pine forest. We stopped near the peak to hit the bathrooms, eat and catch our breath. 

Skay and Hawk Junior - children of a hippie commune

The name of the restaurant was “Aquarius” , which made sense when I met Sky and Hawk Junior. They are the son and daughter of some of a group of hippies from UC Santa Cruz who moved to the area in the late 60’s and started a community. Only a couple of the original group are still around, but many of the kids and grandkids have stayed and others have come to live there. Sky and Hawk run what used to be the “compound” (now “El Refugio”). Others have started nearby hostels and services. There is the “Lost & Found Hostel”, the “Far Out Inn”, a garden and fish farm cooperative and a gal who makes chocolates from scratch – starting from the tree. It all seems pretty groovy, man.

Waterfalls come out of the rock all over the place

Coming down the other side of the mountains was a sudden shift to tropical rain forest, with huge prehistoric looking ferns and monster air plants covering some of the trees. There is another big dam project – again courtesy of USAID – the Changuinola Dam. This one supplies power to the entire Chiriqui / Bocas area. A big plus in building the dam was that it gave easy access to a big oil field at the base of what used to be a big waterfall (1/2 Niagara size) before the dam was built. So, huge power lines and a 4 foot diameter pipeline wind through the jungle, sometimes along the road, headed for the tanker port at Chiriqui Grande. As far as I know, this is Panama’s only oil field. 

Ngobe-Bugle homes are quite different from the Kuna and Embera

The route also passes through the Ngobe-Bugle tribe’s comarca (reservation). They share some common ground with my Kuna and Embera friends – homes are built on stilts, but more closed-in and bright colored dresses for the women. Though these look like they were made by an angry Amish or Mormon designer. On a really bad day. They are generally larger in both directions and have more square and hard facial features.

Changuinola is Chiquita Banana Town

Entering Changuinola was like coming into the Emerald City – everything is bright green. The weather in this area of Panama is a micro-climate unlike the rest of the country. There is no dry season – it rains all year round. Which makes the area uniquely suited for ……. BANANAS !! Yes, this is the epicenter and home of United Fruit (aka Chiquita Banana). That sultry lady with the fruity hat is everywhere. Most of the town works for her and there are banana fields as far as you can see in every direction. You can ride down a road for miles and see nothing but banana plants with their hands covered in blue plastic wrap to keep out insects and critters. Red string holds many of the stalks upright. An ingenious system of cables helps move the cut bananas. There is a golf course just for the Chiquita managers with very nice homes all along the edges. The workers have their own housing – not quite as nice. All the fruit goes into shipping containers and rolls down the road to Almirante and off to mostly the southern and east coast ports of the US. There used to be a dedicated train line that carried the fruit down the coast, but it was discontinued when shipping containers came into use in the 60’s. 

Ngobe-Bugle dresses are REALLY plain

The big bright yellow Cavendish bananas are sold in the markets here. While I enjoy my little finger bananas at the cottage, I have to admit that there is nothing like the taste of a Cavendish. Maybe just because that is what I grew up eating. But, they are just more “banana” tasting to me.  The other thing that stands out about Changuinola are the very clean streets – not a scrap of trash to be found anywhere – I think due to the small plastic trash cans every 100 feet or so. Well Done !!

Almirante houses over the water - toilets are direct deposit

Almirante is not only the banana gateway, it is the tourist gateway to Bocas del Toro Island (Bocas). There is an hourly ferry which takes 2 hours in crossing. OR, my preference which is the high speed motor launch. 250 horses push the skiffs across the bay in about 15 minutes. 

High speed launch to Bocas Island

$500 a night at this charming boutique hotel

Bocas is fast becoming a high end international vacation destination. Most of the high rollers miss the boat ride and fly into the airport from Panama City or wherever. For me, just getting near boats is arousing – that smell of stale fuel and salt water is just so sweet. Especially when I’ve been away from it for too long.

Bocas waterfront hotels - Bahamas Redux

Arriving to Bocas felt like being transported back to the Bahamas. The colors, the architecture, the smells, the sounds were all the same. The blacks all speak a British-like jargon, much like Bahamas or Jamaica and also Spanish. The water is that gorgeous greenish blue and the fish around the dock pilings are just as pretty. All very reasonable, since their ancestors were former slaves in the Caribbean.

Unfortunately, staying on the main waterfront is pricey - $300-$500 a night. So, I opted for a $50 room down the road with Mamallena, the same company that runs the eco-lodge where I stayed in Valle de Anton last year. Very nice simple rooms, outstanding food and eclectic guests to chat with. The beach is OK, but sheltered with no waves and no reef and not so white. The first night, I sat with two young Russian lads, who delighted in taunting me about Trump. “He will be sucking Putin’s cock soon.” The only thing that saved the evening was a piece of robalo (snook) in a curry sauce that made my toes curl. Because of all the mangrove in the area, snook is THE most common fish in the market. Floridians, eat your hearts out……….

Red Frog beach - you can see the waves breaking over part of the reef

My PADI dive card was in my pocket, but no scuba diving, as the deeper dive reefs were too cloudy from recent rains. So, we went to Red Frog beach to snorkel instead. Turned out just fine as the shallow reef was one of the best I’ve ever seen from 5 to 10 feet. It got better (less choppy) as the tide came in. The beach can only be accessed by boat, which made it nice and private. Big Bob, the Aussie ex-pat divemaster, speared two good sized grouper, so we had fire roasted fish, avocados and (of course) bananas for lunch. An absolutely delightful day, though I caught just a tad too much sun. I sat with an older couple from Peru at dinner. They were not in the areas of the heavy rains and mudslide, but said it was a huge crisis.  They seemed to know all the places I had visited and we had a great time along Memory Lane. This time the chef did a coconut shrimp and a banana pudding that were simply extraordinary. I always wonder what the folks who are paying $500 a night and $50 a piece for dinner get that is any better than this? Maybe they think bragging rights about staying at a known-to-be expensive resort is worth it. Though, I will admit that staying in a building entirely built on pilings is unique. Still not worth $500 to me.

I took the 12 hour direct bus back to the City, which was a mistake. Just a little too long for my liking. And no one seems interested in talking on the long hauls – they just want to sleep. For an extra $50, next time I’ll take the 30 minute airplane ride from Changuinola into the Albrook airport. The crazy part is that the same trip from the touristy Bocas airport is $100 more and the exact same distance. Go figure.

Now, I’ll let you in on the little secret – Changuinola will likely be my home for my next Peace Corps Response service. The folks at Ministry of Health (MINSA) and an NGO called Waterlines need someone to rehabilitate 10 – 12 small water systems in the Ngobe-Bugle comarca between Changuinola and Almirante. And there is this older guy I know who is pretty good at doing just that and wouldn’t mind spending some time 4 Km from the beach, with all the Chiquita bananas and snook he can eat. Not for sure yet, but confidence is high.