Is Panama just another small Central American country that's going nowhere? Or is it one of the future leaders of the next economic boom? An unexpected email arrived that stirred up an interest in Panama. The writer talked of a company named San Cristobal Land Development, SCLD, and its reforestation of the rain forest in Panama, plantations where the crops were teak trees and a wonder plant called noni, I heard his excitement regarding government grants, tax breaks and potential resident status. I sought more information and visited web sites that were full of Panamanian information. I became intrigued with the possibilities.
I scheduled a trip in December to tour Panama City, some of Panama's Caribbean Islands including the one with San Cristobal's tropical working form, to drive across the mountains, and to stay in the City of Flowers. I would find out that Panama City was not only a major banking center but quite a cosmopolitan city.
What I saw convinced me that Panama will be one of the leaders of the next economic upsurge in Latin America. Part of this is due to the fabulous infrastructure that the United States has built to support the Panama Canal. A bigger part is due to the people like Tom McMurrain and his excellent staff, people who want to commercially protect the Panamanian natural resources while helping the people of the country improve their communities and their lives.
Since my return I'm telling everyone I know about the wonders found in Panama. Now I want to tell you about my tour and what I experienced and learned there. (Caveat Emptor)
My tour was in three parts:
- Panama City and the Canal where the tour started and ended
- The town of Bocas del Toro on the Island of Colon, part of the Province that is also named Bocas del Toro. Bocas is the center of the new SCLD plantations, along with its marinas, and resorts.
- The trip from the Northern Caribbean islands to the mainland, up winding roads as we crossed over the mountain ridges, down almost to the Southern Pacific coast and then back up the Volcán Barú to Boquete, a peaceful small town with marvelous views and beautiful flowers.
Bocas del Toro [Bocas]
Transportation in Panama is by plane, bus, car and boat. International flights use either the Tocuman airport adjacent to Panama City or the one in Davíd (3rd largest city in Panama). For quick trips within Panama there are about 40 smaller airports that fulfill the need. On my trips I flew in the 30 passenger turboprop planes. Fares are based on the time in the air, one dollar per minute so the trip from Panama City to Bocas cost about $45.00 [Note: US money and Panamanian money are interchangeable.]
Bocas has been the center for plantation activity for almost a century. When banana plantations were the crown jewels of the Panamanian economy, they were organized as the United Fruit Company. Bocas was the headquarters of United Fruit and, though it was located on the Colon Island, it became the Capital city of the Bocas del Toro Province. Now the population of Bocas is about 4,000 and growing.
A place to stay: The streets which follow the coast line are lined with small hotels, restaurants, bars and some retail outlets. We stayed in the Bocas del Toro Hotel. It has three stories, eleven rooms, a restaurant/bar and, at the back of the building a dock that could handle several boats including the very nice 30 foot boat with dual 200 hp Mercury outboard engines belonging to SCLD (San Cristobal Land Development). The floors, part of the walls, and the beams across the ceilings were all constructed from local hardwood, smooth and beautifully finished. This hotel was one of the best in the town but the room rate was only $55 per night.
Places to eat: I ate in several different restaurants while in Bocas. Each meal was delicious! There was a lot of fresh fruit served but I can't remember seeing a desert.
Land Transportation: There were some cars in the town and lots of bicycles. The town is small and it is easy to just walk. If you have far to go, then take a boat!
Traveling by Water: The bay has many islands (Panama is surrounded by over 1800 islands) and the water between them always has some boating activity on it. The Indians use dugouts carved from great tree trunks with chain saws. There are many small boats with small outboard engines, jet boats, those with powerful dual engines, and then there are the sailboats. There are sailboats which are both home and transportation for the owners as they travel the world.
The Plantations: After getting settled into the hotel, a group of us got in Tom's boat and headed for one of the tropical working farms. Once out in the bay, it is difficult to tell what is an island and what is part of the mainland. Most of the land is covered with deep foliage that is a lush, dark green. Along the coast, one can see small houses spaced far apart. These are built on piers with a dock attached to the house. We docked at one and began walking through the SCLD plantation. This was a large plantation that had been cleared and then planted with teak trees and noni plants under the protection of Panama's Reforestation Law No. 24.
Teak: The first secret to growing teak is the spacing between the plants. They must be close enough for the limbs of adjacent trees to touch - the touching allows one tree to keep the other trimmed properly. If the trees are too far apart, then they can't help each other and growth is rather wild. The trees are periodically thinned manually to promote optimum growth until they reach maturity at 15 years. When the trees are between 15 and 20 years old, San Cristobal Land Management (SCLM) plan how they may best be harvested.
Teak is a very special wood. It makes beautiful furniture but I always associate it with boats. Historically is has been used for building boats both for its beauty and for another very special reason. The heavy oil of the teakwood prevents it from absorbing water. Since it doesn't absorb water, it does not rot and is not the objective of pests such as termites.
Teak requires some very special growing conditions. Basically, teak must be grown in a rain forest environment. The rain forest area is generally close to the equator and adjacent to mountains and close to large bodies of water. The sun heats the water and water vapor raises. Clouds form and are blown by the prevailing winds toward the mountains. The mountains turn the winds and clouds upward and over the mountains. On the other side of the mountains, the clouds heavy with water begin to rid themselves of it and produce rain. The rains generally follow a daily pattern and occur mostly in the afternoons. Enough of these rains and a rain forest is created. There were only 5 or 6 rain forest areas in the world. Now several of these have been cleared, or are quickly being cleared and are no longer qualified as rain-forest. Once this happens, the rich loam accumulated over thousands of years begins to erode. Once gone, it would take ten of thousands of years to rebuild that which has been lost - including the ability to grow the special hardwood trees such as teak.
Noni: The noni plants I saw were about 18 months old (at three years, they will be mature). The plants were about 6 or 7 feet tall and covered with fruit. The fruit is about the size of an apple or orange, brownish in color and with a texture like lit is marked with hexagons. The top of the plant must periodically be cut off, to keep it from growing too tall (it should be harvested by hand without having to use ladders.) The mature plants will produce about 250+ pounds of fruit per year. SCLM incurs all kplantation costs and splits all profits with the plantation owners. It seems to me that the land is more than paying for itself just with the noni. This is while the big cash crop, teak, is growing taller and taller.
Why noni? The Polynesians have used noni for thousands of years as a general medicine. It seems to furnish essential nutrients for the immune system. The Asian market is strongly looking at producing Noni on a large scale. SCLD has some special strategies in mind for the distribution of the products produced from noni, including its own health care products.
Other plants: Other hardwood trees are planted along with the teak. Some of these are grown for special purposes such as keeping insects away, or for the special beauty of the wood. Other medicinal plants might be as additional cash crops as well.
Building the House: Though a large portion of the plantation land is set aside for growing crops, some of the land can be used for buildings, including a residence. All of the plantations in the Bocas del Toro area have waterfront. These places are excellent for those who enjoy a broad seascape and the movements of the waves.
A mountain view: After a busy three days on Bocas, I traveled up and across the mountains of Panama, down the other side, and then up the side of the volcano to Boquete. There I saw another plantation area. Residential lots there had breathtaking scenic views of valleys, rivers and mountains. But Boquete is another story, the next in this series.
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See also:
Panama Beckons, Jim Swann
Panama: More Than Just A Canal, Mitropolitski
Caveat Emptor:
Suggested Links:
Visit Panama includes a list of 10 or 12 places to visit while in Panama with nice short descriptions of each. Some of the descriptions include descriptions of special buildings, museums, or other places that you might want to visit.
Panama Info is a travel guide covering three tours that a traveler might want to consider. It also contains a list of places to visit, what to look for and other information that will be of interest for a traveler.
Panama City is located at the South entrance to the Panama Canal that provides passage between two great bodies of water, the Pacific Ocean on the South and the Caribbean Sea on the North. At the North Entrance to the Canal the city of Colon is located, the second largest city in the country. This web-site furnishes a lot of information about the Canal.
Escape Artist is a large and very active web-site that lists properties around the world that are for sale. The also contains a lot of information for those that are traveling outside of their home country or considering moving from their home country and settling in another country.
San Cristobal Land Development, by Roger Gallo, published on "The Escape Artist.com". It gives a good overview of the projects being undertaking by the San Cristobal Land Development company. There is also a lot of information about noni, one of the plants being grown on the SCLD plantations. [Note: The article was written several months ago and some of the details regarding the plantations for sale have been changed as new pieces of land are added to the mix.]
San Cristobal Land Development - Emerging Growth Real Estate is an article write by the SCLD company. It provides an up to date review of the development projects and provides contact information for the company to those that are interested in learning more about the development projects.
