Today is not the first day of the new adventure of building a new home in Panama, but I have made significant progress. The plans are complete and they have the dozen or so agency approvals stamped on them. I have estimates from a couple of builders and I will be getting some more.
Appointments were made today to get the surveyor out to "Paradise Ranch" to stake out the outline of the foundation and columns on my lot so that we can begin building soon. I have arranged for the water connection, and we will set up the temporary connection for the electricity soon. I plan to be on-site each day to monitor the progress of the building.
The wet season has started but we don't have rain every day yet. Part of the building schedule has to allow for a 1 to 3 hour stoppage of work each day, during the earlier stages, while the rain falls.
My dog Blue and I have been to Paradise Ranch several times in the last 2 weeks. He is as anxious as I am to get the house built so that we can move to the country. The property is 3.5 miles from the main highway at the outskirts of Volcan. With the road improvements it will soon less than a 10 minute drive to Volcan.
The road work for the new paved road is coming along nicely. Workers are putting concrete gutters along the road in places where they are needed and work is progressing on several new bridges. There is a fair amount of remaining work before they can begin paving, but they are making rapid progress.
Things move more slowly here than in some other parts of the world. However, the positive side is that very few people are "stressed out". Patience is definitely required, especially regarding schedules and appointments.
25 April 2008
16 April 2008
Blue & I Travel to the Coast
It's not very far from where we live in Volcan to the coast. About 30 miles due south will reach the Pacific and a little farther (and over the mountains) and we could be at the Atlantic (Caribbean) coast.
Today we traveled down the Pan American Highway, east of David about 25 miles, then south to the coast. The small town of Boca Chica itself does not have much to offer, but nearby are a couple of resorts with restaurants and great coastal views, including the small islands nearby.
On the way, we stopped to visit with our new friends "Sam" and Fred and their great pets. Two Doberman dogs and a squirrel monkey... along with another dog and various birds. They are on a private hilltop outside of Boca Chica and have an excellent view of the mountains, David at night, and the Pacific inlets and coves. The climate at nearly sea level is much too warm for me, but we had a nice visit!
I did get to let the monkey climb on my arm and Blue got to chase the monkey. Blue discovered that he is not as fast as a monkey, and that dogs cannot climb trees.
Today we traveled down the Pan American Highway, east of David about 25 miles, then south to the coast. The small town of Boca Chica itself does not have much to offer, but nearby are a couple of resorts with restaurants and great coastal views, including the small islands nearby.
On the way, we stopped to visit with our new friends "Sam" and Fred and their great pets. Two Doberman dogs and a squirrel monkey... along with another dog and various birds. They are on a private hilltop outside of Boca Chica and have an excellent view of the mountains, David at night, and the Pacific inlets and coves. The climate at nearly sea level is much too warm for me, but we had a nice visit!
I did get to let the monkey climb on my arm and Blue got to chase the monkey. Blue discovered that he is not as fast as a monkey, and that dogs cannot climb trees.
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