Casa de Tortugas - Stories

Ok, it shouldn't be a big deal but it is for us today.

We woke up to find our boat missing.

We weren't sure what we were seeing at first. Then we got closer.

We thought it was a crow, but we learned this is a grackle.

It's a lot of hard work to till the soil by hand.

It seems simple, but it was quite the challenge.

We have a bunch of these guys around the house.

Something as simple as hanging a new light can be a challenge.

She has been dreaming of this for a while. Now she is happy!

We started with a couple scrap boards laid across the creek, but now we have a real bridge!

I'm sure we can do better, but we recycle what we can.

Living in a tropical area, especially next to a jungle, we have insects.

We lose track of the days easily here. Is it because we're retired? Is it because we live in a remote area?

From our deck we see these islands about 5 miles away.

Today, we extended the roof on the shed to give us added cover.

It may not be a postcard white sandy beach, but it is ours and it makes us very happy.

We have wanted a kayak for a while. With both of us having shoulder issues, we decided to go with a pedal kayak.

There are gaps where the roof meets the wall. This is how I decided to fill them.

We have built stools for our kitchen counter and the porch counter.

We've been using a temporary table in the bathroom for months with no sink. Finally, we have a cabinet and running water in our sink!

Our "Panaversary" marks a full year in Panama. It's hard to believe that we have already spent a full year here. But some times it feels like longer because of how much we have experienced.

The stairs have been in place for a while but we only got the hand rail recently.

But they never bring me a bowl of cereal though. LOL!

We see them on the way to town and even near our house.

While floating and swimming off our beach, we have been seeing pelicans flying by, diving and floating.

It only took 5 and 1/2 years, but the shed is finally complete!

We haven't seen many, but there are sloths around our house.

We had a design from the start but some parts needed adjusting once they were put into use.

Being a rain forest, Bocas Del Toro gets a lot of rain.

This is our first Christmas away from family.

It gets pretty dark in and around the house, so we have a lot of lighting.

We had to tow two boats

There are so many animals around us.

We have 29 acres. Most of it is jungle.

Today was mostly relaxed, but there were a few projects to get done.

There are stingrays and probably other rays near us.

There are crabs by the beach, dock, house, jungle... Everywhere!

We get all sorts of critters coming into the house from time to time.

In October we got hit by two really large storms just a couple weeks apart.

To make a small relaxing area, Tina builds a wall in the bodega.

We fixed up a cayuco and now we are true locals.

Today we saw sharks at our dock!

For a couple months we had temporary shower curtains in place. But now we have our glass!

Because of the size of our openings, we had to have custom doors built for the house.

Today was a very zen experience.

We have a lot of yard debris and burning it is our only option.

Of course, every day is different, but a typical day may have similar qualities.

We have seen scorpions several times.

Our water pump just quit running in the middle of the day. 

Today we decided to build our own bed frame rather than buying something.

We have caught up on most of the other major projects, so today we put in the screening on the bodega.

The jungle is beautiful, but it is not forgiving and danger lurks around every corner.

The main portion of the house is more than 10 feet off the ground, so it is important to have a safe railing on the porch.

We were trying to figure out what kept happening to our pineapples, now we know.

We aren't rich, so we have to wear many hats. But we would do it even if we were rich.

Still having highs and lows and probably will for a while. The struggle to adapt to life here is real.

We have been in our new home for a week and it has been full of highs and lows.

The house is mostly complete and ready for us to move in.

This was one of the most hectic processes we have encountered. Thank goodness we are all done.

We just put two new water tanks in place.

A caiman is like a small alligator or crocodile. This was a bit scary.

Having a bathroom makes life a bit easier before the main house is built.

Under the main house we will have a storage area called the bodega.

Living off-grid means we need to get rid of our "dirty" water.

We are mounting our solar panels off the ground but not on our house roof.

When Glenn retired, his co-workers gave a heartfelt gift.

We need a boat to get around.

The base of the house is made from concrete pillars and a large slab.

Being that we are on an island, we have few options for internet.

The house build is going to happen in multiple phases.

There is no power on our island, so we will be using a solar power system.

We are rebuilding our dock because the old one is pretty tattered and has become unsafe.

In the summer of 2022, we added a sidewalk and stairs to our property on Isla Popa. 

We are building on Isla Popa in Bocas Del Toro Panama and it is a lot of hard work! Good thing we had an amazing crew to get our work done.

Keeping in mind, the world is still dealing with the COVID-19, we expected some issues. But this was crazy...

Retiring and moving money to a foreign bank can be a scary thing. Here is what we have experienced so far.

There are plenty of options for lodging. You can go super cheap or spend a bundle. It depends on what you are after.

We already had pineapples and coconuts, but now we have more fruit on the island.

Our beach is on Season 4 Episode 28 of Saling Project Atticus.

Getting to Bocas is not exactly the easiest thing. There are no direct flights.

We have had several people ask how big the property is and explaining it is a bit tricky because of the scale.

Here is a video that shows our plot of land on Isla Popa. Hope you like it.

It is very important to do your research and build contacts.

Sadly, due to the pandemic, we have not been able to visit Panama in 2020.

We planned on staying one more night but we had to get rescued a bit early.

On the second day of our island stay we ventured into the jungle. 

We will not have our house for a while but we still want to stay on the island when we visit. This first trip to the property was quite the adventure.

Getting a bank account in Panama is not very easy for Americans.

Can you imagine having anything built without being on-site?

Our home will be very simple, built using local materials and have that Caribbean feel that we love so much.

Now that we have purchased property, it is time to get serious and really learn what it will take to live there.

Yes, it took quite some time but the sale of the property if finally complete and we are the proud owners of Caribbean property on Isla Popa in Bocas del Toro Panama.

We had already set foot on the property and really did not expect to be coming back so soon. An inspection really did not seem like it would be needed until we got a look at the property map.

We get plenty of questions about our journey to becoming ex-pats. What made us choose Panama is one of the most common ones.

After the trip back in August/Septemner of 2018, we came home and gave a lot of thought to what we experienced. The joy we felt in Bocas del Toro made it clear that we couldn't let this one property slip through our fingers.

Our second trip when searching for a place to call home was the Caribbean side of Panama in the province of Bocas Del Toro. Again, we stayed in two different locations trying to get a feel for life in the area.

Our first trip when searching for a place to call home was the Pacific side of Panama. We stayed in two different locations trying to get a feel for life in the area. 

We had planned on doing a lot more looking around than we actually did. But once we found our property, we knew it would be home some day.

Island life had been a dream for Tina and Glenn individually on and off for many years. But the ball really got rolling in 2017 on a trip to Fiji.