Wishing each of you a wonderful weekend full of beautiful views such as this one.

As I was downloading the photos from last week yesterday, this one really struck a cord with me. Just sitting on the edge of the boat looking off at the ocean and the beautiful blue sky filled with white clouds. A perfect afternoon at the beach topped off with some really great conversation and moments of peace and quiet. This is a wonderful memory of one's vacation in Bocas del Toro, Panama.



We are starting a month long behind the scenes series on April 1. Stay tuned.

One of the little islands off of the Zapatilla Cayes. Always picturesque.

This shell is so pretty - Jan got a great image with this one.

Here are a couple of pages I put together to capture a once in a lifetime experience of some of our guests in August. This family was at the Zapatilla Cayes and it was about time to return to Tranquilo Bay. Ramon was working the beach doing his rounds looking for nesting females, but really it was quite early. He happened upon a nesting female. He told Jim and the guests to come see her and to come see what they do when they study the females to tag them, gather scientific information, etc. During this nesting season, Ramon and Natalia happened upon a female nesting during daylight hours twice. It is very unusual. If you calculated the odds of a family from New Jersey getting the chance to see this while on vacation here in Panama - the odds would be very very low. However, luck was on their side and they experienced something that so few people in the world have a chance to experience. Here are the photos.

Off for a big surf down off the point
 


They call this pearl diving



Made the drop
 


Get off my wave school boy
 


You burned me dude
 


Out of the way



I swear dude it was over head
 


Watch out, I told you not to burn me



THE GLIDE



My second stand up, no one bothered to take a picture the first time
 


Hanging with the Dads
 


We're both going for it
 


It's called a "Hang 20"
 


It's so easy dude
 


Come on, Nuri's got some cookies

Here are a few of the photos that Marilyn and Greg got the day that we went to the beach. It was a great day off for all of us. Neither Jim or I took any pictures so we are grateful for the ones that Marilyn and Greg snapped of the day. It was Marilyn's idea to take a photo of the Kimball family since it was Jim's birthday. We would have just gone on playing in the water. Thanks guys.

We had an amazing trip to the Zapatilla Cayes a few weeks ago with several groups of guests. This week we will showcase some of these photos. Enjoy

In honor of James’ annual return to Tranquilo Bay I thought it appropriate to post a typical day at the office for him:

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!

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.

Back to a video. Here is a video of some of the beaches we visit here in Bocas del Toro Panama on our excursions. Each beach has its unique characteristics which makes it special. Two of the beaches are on small islands which you can circumnavigate in less than an hour. Certain beaches are only accessible during the months of the year when our waves are especially low. One beach is part of an indigenous comarca. It is one of the longest stretches of beach here in Panama. We have a full menu of beaches such that you can select a different one each day or stick with your favorite. It is entirely up to you.

Coastal Conservation Corporation is responsible for protecting the turtles on several of the beaches here in Bocas del Toro. Our friends Ramon and Natalia have been caring for the turtles on these beaches for the last five years. We see them whenever we go out to the Zapatilla Cayes. They also come over to use our communications on occassion. They graciously provided us with a few of the photos they have taken over the term of their tenure here in Bocas. They have been blessed with some beautiful encounters over the years as you can see in these photos.






Two of our guests were at the Zapatillas with Jay on Tuesday. Natalia took them along with her as she did her final check on a turtle nest. There was one baby turtle who hadn’t dug himself out. They helped him out of the nest and watched as he made his way to the sea. Over 100 turtles hatched and made it to sea as Natalia and Ramon kept watch. Thank you!



I am going to update the Zapatilla Cay website and put all of their photos on the site. I will post on here when I have it completed.

So, I am on a bit of a video kick these days. I have been working on getting some of our photos and video footage into short clips for people to get a feel for what it is like to spend some time with us here at Tranquilo Bay. We are also preparing for a once a year trade show for Latin American businesses so I also have a bit of a deadline to meet.

This video shows some of the aerial views of the places where we go snorkeling, the beaches nearby where we snorkel, and the sights underwater while you are snorkeling as well as a few folks actually snorkeling - imagine that! Take a look.

Here is a short clip of a guy Jim saw on one of the islands shucking coconuts. It is so funny as Jim and Jay have been here in Panama for almost 9 years and up until a few months ago they thought you could only open a coconut with a machete. All of our employees and any other local we know use a machete to open a coconut. It takes lots of machete strikes to the coconut and then bending the machete across the coconut husk to get the nut out of the husk. And here is this guy with an ingenious little tool that lets him shuck multiples of coconuts in the time that it takes for anyone else to shuck one. This is all part of the fun of learning something new everyday!

This little girl insisted on wearing our guest's hat and sunglasses. And well - she looks pretty good.

The swell has dropped around the islands it was decided this day would be about cruising in search of more spots for future surf missions. Equipped with a depth finder, GPS, and charts of the area we fired up the boat and took off. There were squalls on the horizon but the sun was beating down upon us. The winds were howling and the day already had the makings of an epic adventure. First destination, an island named Cayo Agua because of its proximity to open ocean swell and shelter from wind. This island has some wonderful possibility with point and beach breaks. Due to the small swell on this day we only got a taste of what it could be like. However we did witness a few nice sets roll through and peal down the line. This got our bodies quivering with anticipation of what could be when things picked up. Everyone was ready to jump in but the consistency was just not there, another foot quite possibly could have made the difference. Guess we should have been there yesterday. To quell our thirst we shot out to the Zapatilla Cayes in hopes that the outside breaks would be a bit larger and allow us some rides. It was a good decision; we rode a few and went home smiling, another day in paradise.

Area: Zapatilla Cayes, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Activities: Walking, Swimming, Beachcombing, Relaxing
Weather: Gorgeous!

The sky has turned to blue. In this part of the world, rain takes on a different meaning and you begin to become accustomed to it especially as it is the start of the of one of the wetter times of year. Today however the sky has opened and with it my idea of just how picture perfect the view in front of me really is. Blues and greens in every shade known to the human eye, it is a storm of color replacing the thunder and rain of the last few days. After some eggs, toast, jam and strong coffee we were off to soak up the day. A boat, some ocean kayaks and snorkel gear and we were off to explore the turquoise waters of the Zapatilla Cayes that reside in the Bastimentos National Marine Park. After a short walk around the island to survey our surroundings we decided it was time to cool off. So we went for a swim – over and over again. This how the day went and it was hard to imagine ever wanting to leave but as the shadows crept closer and the sun let its grip go we knew it was time, there is always tomorrow.

Area: Zapatilla Cay, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Activities: Snorkel, kayak, swim
Weather: Sunny and clear and glassy seas

Sunrise this morning was incredible and the Caribbean’s surface was like a mirror. I could see my reflection in the water while driving 30 Mph over its surface, beautiful. The air was crisp and the Talamanca Mountains were crystal clear, backed by white streaks across a blue sky. Neil and Sue arrived in Bocas del Toro on the morning flight at 8:00 AM; their flight must have been beautiful. Their mission was to escape fall in Birmingham, England, and enjoy a week of adventure in Panama. I am sure they were admiring the clear panoramic view of Panama’s mountains and beaches during their flight. I would have been scanning the oceans surface for schools of tuna, or whale sharks.

We arrived to Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge at about 9:45 AM and Neil and Sue were ready to “get on with it”. We had our lunches prepared and packed for the beach, and then loaded the boat with kayaks and snorkel gear. We made it to Zapatilla Cay, a small island in Bastimentos National Marine Park, about 10:30 AM.

We unpacked the boat and set up our temporary office for the day. Three chairs and two igloo coolers, under just about any shade tree, makes a great office. Once base camp was fully operational, we wasted no time getting in the water to snorkel. Neil and Sue instantly fell in love with the water temperature. We chose to snorkel a wall section just off the Eastern tip of the Island. The visibility wasn’t perfect, but the fish were sure cooperating. We saw several big schools of snapper, and one of the biggest yellow tail snapper I have ever seen. There were blue schools of doctor and surgeonfish, neon blue spotted yellow tailed damsels, purple and gold Spanish hogfish, parrot fish, angelfish, butterfly fish, and wrasses. It was a great swim.

Snorkeling for about an hour and a half can work up an appetite, so we returned to the office to eat lunch. On the beach picnic menu today was a roast beef sandwich with mozzarella cheese, lettuce and tomato on fresh baked olive focacia bread followed by homemade peanut butter cookies. From under our carefully chosen shade tree, we ate our lunch while looking across the beach and over the turquoise hued Caribbean, to the Talamanca Mountains in the distance.

Feeling rejuvenated, we decided to circumnavigate Zapatilla Cay by kayak. The leeward side of the island was calm; we paddled through several schools of feeding Bar Jacks, who appeared to have fresh glass minnows on their lunch menu. A few hungry hound fish also decide to jump in on the buffet. We saw brown pelicans, black hawks, kingfishers, magnificent frigates, terns, and humming birds feeding on the blooming sea grapes. The almond trees were also in bloom and attracting birds of all sorts. On the windward side of the Island we paddled further out over the coral reef shelf and watched schools of brilliantly colored tropical fish scurry for the safety of the ledge.

Our return to base camp, to tap the igloo for some ice cold drinks, was just in time. For the next two hours we just sat in the water and watched an electrical storm brew in the mountains far away. The lightning bolts were spectacular and a rainbow aura of the full color spectrum blew off the tops of the highest clouds. What a befitting ending to an incredible day.

Tranquilo Bay volunteered to do some dock repair work at Bastimentos National Marine Park. In recent months, in two different places, trees had fallen across the elevated wooden walking trail named Sendero Interprativo El Boque Detras del Arrecife on Zapatilla Key (translated as forest path within the coral reef). With permission from Hernandez Bonilla, ANAM’s Chief Park Engineer (which makes him the head of all protected areas here in Bocas del Toro for Panamas equivalent of the EPA), and coordination efforts from park employees, Blanford Constantino, Samuel Jimenez and Richard Hinz the date was set to make the repairs.

Our employees, Enrique Robinson, July Robinson and Adalberto Baker gathered up the necessary tools to fix the broken walkways and we set off in one of our boats for the Zapatilla Cayes. Upon arrival at the park we were met by Samuel and Richard. Samuel went about his regular duties of collecting park entrance fees and Richard accompanied the volunteers and helped with the repairs.

The first damaged spot was the worst. Four posts had been driven over a foot down into the soil by the weight of a fallen tree. Two car jacks had to be used to return them to the correct level. The lumber that was used to make the walkway is called Nespero. This is a particularly hard wood and much time was spent just pulling nails out of it and putting new ones in. About six nails were bent to each one that got put in. The first repair was finished at about 12:30 pm.

No one had expected the job to take so long and we still had another spot to fix. Coconut milk and coconut meat served as lunch.

The second damaged area was not as bad. Only two posts had been pushed down by a second fallen tree. The pulling and driving of nails was still a problem, but in the end the walkway was returned to its original state.

The crew packed up and headed back to Tranquilo Bay at about 4 pm.

Mr. Bonilla was coming out the following day to meet with his employees and have a look at the repairs.

We made a trip to Punta Valiente, which is located in the Nogbe Bugle Indian Reservation, with clients Joel and Lauren. We first visited the small (fifty inhabitants) Nogbe village named Punta Valiente. In the village we visited the school, where the children were happy to have there photos taken and we then traded a couple of bags of ice for some bread fruit and plantains. The villagers were very grateful for the ice. We then contracted one of the elder villagers, Constantino, to guide us to the top of a two hundred meter hill behind the village. The trail we walked passes through the villages food crops. As we walked Constantino pointed out all of the vegetation that they planted. Such things as otoi, dashine, yucca, plantains(several varieties), cocoa, bananas(several varieties), bread fruit, coconuts and a variety of other tropical fruits. At the peak of the hill we were shown the ruins of an abandoned U.S. Military radio/lookout tower. The tower was installed during WW2. Also at the peak our guide cut down some young coconuts and obliged us to try the water inside to quench our thirst. This water is referred to as agua de pipa. It is very refreshing and we all enjoyed taking a moment to look out at the ocean and see the village from this vantage point. This excursion took about two hours and afterwards we got back in the boat and headed for another even smaller Indian village called Ensenada. Here we stopped to eat our lunch and make the short hike across this portion of the peninsula to a beach. We ate our lunch on the covered porch of the local grocery store and visited with the locals about current events in the province. The walk over to the beach was about fifteen minutes, and well worth it. The sun came out for us and we enjoyed swimming in the surf for more than an hour before we returned to the boat for the forty minute return trip to Tranquilo Bay.

Doctors Anne & Peter Meylan have been studying the sea turtle population here in Bocas del Toro for some time now. Peter spent one night with us here at Tranquilo Bay. Jim took him back to the Zapatilla Cayes where he was studying the turtles and was fortunate enough to participate in the data collection and tagging process for a group of three turtles.