Funny, how almost all of the children in North America are on summer vacation right now. Then here in Panama they have been in school since April. One of the great things about having our school on site is that we control the schedule. So, now that everyone is back at Tranquilo Bay from their vacations, school begins again. Boty is a bit bummed as she missed her solo afternoon for the week. She will get over it. Tres, Scott and Gina all headed off for class this morning with just some of the supplies we hauled back from the USA. It was a good trip. But it is really nice to be Tranquilo again. Come see us!

Here is a page from the Isla Bastimentos website. Click on the photo to go to that page and navigate further through the website. It includes a good explanation about the park and the wildlife within it.

Beaux and Mary Kathryn are getting married right now! Congratulations guys!

Okay, not one of the best caught photos of a Tarpon, but it was a big one. You can read Jason's own words about it by clicking on the photo.

I figured it had been awhile since I went out to see what information was available about Bocas on the internet. So one of the first places I popped over to was Wikipedia. Here is what the basic description about Bocas included:

Bocas del Toro is a province of Panama. The capital is the city of Bocas del Toro, found on the island of Colon. The population of the province numbers some 89,300 people. Its extension is 8,745 kilometers and is formed by 9 principal islands. There are many plantation of plantains here, often called the oro verde or green gold of Central America.

You can get to the description here.

PictoBrowser is a free web application that displays Flickr images on websites and blogs. It creates one of the best slideshows I have found on the internet. I have a page on the website that includes some of the photos we have out on Flickr.

So, technically we are on vacation beginning today. Jay is onsite taking care of things. Jim and I and the kids are on our way to Panama City and then to Houston later in the week. Stefanie and the boys head to Houston later in the week as well. You can still get in touch with us. We live in a virtual world. We will be back onsite before you know it.

Episode 63- Tranquilo Bay, Panama Tarpon: Want to learn the biggest secret in Tarpon fishing all for less than it would cost to fight the crowds of Florida? Then join Randy this week you travel with him to the Caribbean of Panama for world class Tarpon fishing without the world famous crowds! You will be amazed by the beauty and ready to book your trip to Tranquilo Bay at the end of this adventure! You also won't want to miss this week's guide tip and are you the Catch of the Day winner?

Randy Jones Strike Zone - The Outdoor Channel - Tarpon Fishing with Tranquilo Bay episode airs on Saturday, May 30, 2009. Check your local listings for exact times: 7:00 am and 1:30 pm Central Time. This time Randy went way beyond Southern California. It was great fun to have Randy and his crew here. We are looking forward to the episode.

Check out the details for the show here: http://www.outdoorchannel.com/Shows/RandyJonesStrikeZone.aspx

What is it about a vacation that excites a child? Is it going someplace new? Different? Seeing people or places that are different than everyday life? Is it riding on an airplane? I think it is something different for each person. Our children have been counting down the days until their vacation begins. They are excited about going to Texas to see their extended families. They have certain traditions that exist only in Texas (or so they think). The countdown to the trip is about each and every one of these things. It is about a break from school. It is about trying out new things.

It is really no different than when you, our guests or future guests, are preparing for a trip to come here. There is a spark of excitement in a change from the every day. Our every day is wonderful. Ask our kids, they will tell you the same thing. Yet they are excited about a trip to Houston, Texas. Arguably, Houston is not a vacation capital. But it works for us.

This year it is interesting to watch Scott and Tres as they calculate the number of days until we arrive in Houston. They are doing it on their own this year. Once they designate the number of days for a given day, Boty follows suit and will repeat it several times throughout the day letting anyone who comes within her zone know that she is going to Texas in X number of days. Children's excitement is like a virus - super easy to catch. I am happy they gave me this infection.

Take a look at the new website for the Bocas Sustainable Tourism Alliance. It is www.discoverbocasdeltoro.com The website provides a forum for both tourists and residents alike to talk and gather information about Bocas del Toro, various initiatives underway and in the future sustainable tours. We are excited to be working with this group and watching the positive changes it is bringing to Bocas del Toro.

National Geographic in partnership with Ashoka’s Changemakers, is sponsoring the second annual global Geotourism Challenge: Power of Place—Sustaining the Future of our Destinations.
National Geographic defines geotourism as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place -its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. Geotourism incorporates the concept of sustainable tourism -that destinations should remain unspoiled for future generations- while allowing for enhancement that protects the character of the locale. Geotourism also adopts a principle from its cousin, ecotourism -that tourism revenue can promote conservation- and extends that principle beyond nature travel to encompass culture and history as well: all distinctive assets of a place.

Tranquilo Bay is participating in this challenge. We submitted an application for our Bocas Adventure project. You can see our application here. Our Bocas Adventure project will create a facility adjacent to Bastimentos National Marine Park that provides sustainable public access to the area’s parks and reserves. As you know, Bocas del Toro, Panama is an ecologically sensitive area. Current estimates show 100,000 travelers visit Bocas del Toro each year. Currently, there are no facilities providing sustainable public access to the area’s parks and reserves. Bocas Adventure will immerse visitors in our community’s local and natural history, culture, ecology, flora and fauna. We will use sustainable activities such as arts, hiking, kayaking, research, snorkeling and wildlife viewing as educational and cultural exchange tools to enlighten visitors and provide sustainable employment to the community. Bocas Adventure gives the entire demographic spectrum visiting Bocas del Toro (from backpackers to wealthy travelers) access to the extreme biodiversity found within and adjacent to Bastimentos National Marine Park.

Bocas Sustainable Tourism Alliance is also participating in the challenge. You can see the BSTA application here. Bocas Sustainable Tourism Alliance is an organization here in Bocas del Toro that we are working with on destination management among other pressing issues. The ultimate goal of BSTA is to conserve one of the most important watersheds in Central America. Currently, the remarkable ecology of the Bocas del Toro watershed is under threat from unplanned and incongruous tourism and residential development. To respond to the threat of unplanned development, tourism stakeholders in the region have decided to create a Destination Management Organization (DMO), known as the Bocas Sustainable Tourism Alliance (BSTA), with the following objectives: (i) develop best management practices for stakeholders in the Bocas del Toro watershed: (ii) inform tourists about the culture and nature based activities that can be experienced in Bocas and facilitate booking of these activities through a geotourism information center and Web site (www.discoverbocasdeltoro.com) (iii) diversify the tourism products available in Bocas by identifying and supporting the development of culture and nature based tours and packages; (iv) facilitate training programs for natural resource management, guiding, and other tourism services; and (v) generate revenue to support local conservation efforts in the region.

Right now, there are 415 nominations from 74 countries and 1048 nominations from 112 countries. Latin America has the strongest presence in the challenge because the MIF, through its Sustainable Tourism Cluster (STC), has signed partnership agreements with National Geographic and Ashoka Changemakers aiming to promote and support geotourism initiatives that benefit local communities by improving the competitiveness, social use and sustainability of tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean. MIF’s STC will select and co-finance 20 projects from institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean proposed through the Geotourism Challenge 2009.

The Geotourism Challenge is completely on a Web 2.0 platform. You are welcome to peruse the entries and make comments on any of them. We would love it if you took a look at our application and let us know what you think. You will have to join the website to provide comments or nominations. Voting for the challenge opens in Fall 2009. Good luck to all the participants.

Tranquilo Bay is on FaceBook. You can find us here if you are on FaceBook. I am still rather new to this technology so we are stepping in slowly. As we increase our activity there, you can watch us if you become a fan. For those of you not on FaceBook, ignore this public service message! Have a great week!

Randy Jones Strike Zone - The Outdoor Channel - Tarpon Fishing with Tranquilo Bay episode airs on Saturday, June 6, 2009. Check your local listings for exact times: 7:00 am and 1:30 pm. This time Randy went way beyond Southern California. It was great fun to have Randy and his crew here. We are looking forward to the episode.

Check out the details for the show here: http://www.outdoorchannel.com/Shows/RandyJonesStrikeZone.aspx

Last weekend, some of Jim's fraternity brothers came down to do a bit of fishing. One of the guys also went to high school with Jay and law school with me. Small world. Anyway, back to the fishing. The first day they did some Tarpon fishing. They had a great day. On Saturday, they decided they were going to check out some of the other things we can do here in Bocas, so they went off to the Zapatilla Cayes to do a bit of Bonefishing, snorkeling and beach combing. After they had tried all of those things, they decided to go ahead and go offshore to catch some fish.

As soon as they got to the bank, they noticed the Bonita jumping. So they threw a line out of the boat and caught one right away. Jim was getting ready to rig it to use it alive to catch a bigger fish. Glenn was on the rod and Mike was close by. Mind you this is a trout rod as all they were after was bait. Next thing they know, there is a Tuna jumping. Right after the Tuna was a Wahoo. The Wahoo took a bite out of the Bonita. One half gone. Jim told them to go ahead and leave the line in the water as the Wahoo wold come back for the other half. Sure enough, he did. He was caught. However, Wahoo have super sharp teeth. This rod was not set up to catch a Wahoo. It didn't have enough line on the reel, there wasn't a wire leader, etc. etc. Jim, Glenn and Mike all worked to put the fish in the right position around the boat so that they had a chance of landing this one. Once the fish got to the boat, Glenn had the gaff to get it. Glenn had never used a gaff at this point. He got it on the fish and they got him in the boat. Jim says that the fish was more difficult to handle and bigger than Tres. So that means it was at least 50 pounds. This one they brought home. We ate it for dinner. It was extremely tasty.

Jim has looked up the world record for a wahoo on twelve pound test - 57 pounds. It is awfully close to this fish. Of course, we had multiple people touch the rod, so no world record here, but it was a world record fish for sure!

I get an email Monday through Friday from a company called Ideal Bite. They have different tidbits of information for one to improve day to day activities and purchases so that what you do is more sustainable than other options. Some work for those of us on an island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea and some do not. Today they sent out a special email with a link to a contest where you write a 250 word essay about what you would do to make your community a greener place. The top five entries will receive $20K and a variety of other things. You must be a resident of the USA in order to enter. So we strike out in this instance. But really, what does it take to come up with an idea and write 250 words? You might win. You might not. So what. Give it a try.

Go see it here: http://greeneffect.nationalgeographic.com/

We have done a fair amount of fishing this month. Various species, authors, guests, and friends and family. It has been a lot of fun.

These are the shots of our guests that jumped out at me for the month of April. There were way to many to choose from, but I went with these as a great representation of the fun our guests had during the month of April.

Here are a few of the shots that jumped out at me when I was going through the photos for April. Ramon and Natalia have been catching some amazing photos of us and of all of our guests. Jim and I also took a few of these photos. You have much better odds when you have so many photographers. Whatever it is, skill, luck, good equipment, or excellent subjects I am thrilled to have so many wonderful photos from which to choose.

This is a picture that Tres drew for his teacher, Gina, a few days ago. He and Scott are constantly drawing things for her. They are so excited about school. It is ever apparent when they light up when Gina walks into the room. Miss Gina, Miss Gina. They need to tell here whatever it is they have learned or are working on so that they can continue it in class. Boty is loving school as well. She is thrilled when it is her time to go to class. What a wonderful life for them. What a treat for us.

Jim, Ramon and Natalia received this thank you note from a young boy who stayed with us earlier this month. When you get a thank you note like this one, you know you are doing something right.