Tales about Aviation, Coaching, Farming, Software Development

The attempt to acquire land and set up a farm in the rainforest of Panama

Between September 2009 and August 2010 I attempted to acquire 130 hectars of land in Eastern Panama near Lake Bayano.

The land in question was under right of possession, which means that there is a user but not an owner of the land. What is being purchased is the right to possess the land and the purchase price is supposed to reflect the investment the former user has made into improving the land. The improvements to be paid are things like fences, special pasture for cows, a house or other structures, etc.

Some in Panama treat right of possession the same was as a title to the land. Titled land is a property that can be sold and the purchase price is for the land itself.

Unfortunately it was not possible to resolve the legal issues and so at the end we had to abandon the project.

04 Sep 2009 A farm in the rainforest of Panama
04 Sep 2009 How to get to the farm
06 Sep 2009 The final 2 km are on horseback
06 Sep 2009 Exploring the farm
06 Sep 2009 How the farm looks like at the moment
07 Sep 2009 Figuring out where to build an access road
07 Sep 2009 Going all the way to the end of the road (1/2)
07 Sep 2009 Sometimes leaving can be difficult
10 Sep 2009 Going all the way to the end of the road (2/2)
11 Sep 2009 Finding horses
12 Sep 2009 Saddles, Machetes, Lasso, etc.
13 Sep 2009 Picking up Luzero to join the others
14 Sep 2009 Horse Beauty Salon
15 Sep 2009 The big trip to the farm for our new horses
16 Sep 2009 Our temporary home base
18 Sep 2009 Didimo's old and new home
19 Sep 2009 Another attempt at finding a good route for the access road (1/2)
22 Sep 2009 Another attempt at finding a good route for the access road (2/2)
02 Oct 2009 Exploring a true jungle
04 Oct 2009 Some more offroad fun
17 Oct 2009 Seems like this will be the access road (1/2)
19 Oct 2009 Seems like this will be the access road (2/2)
22 Oct 2009 Rights of Possession in Panama
24 Oct 2009 How to do a land survey
26 Oct 2009 Food and beverage in the wilderness
28 Oct 2009 Flower and fruits
31 Oct 2009 Where the rainforest is
02 Nov 2009 Vaccines for our horses
11 Nov 2009 Buying cattle via Blackberry
11 Nov 2009 No luck today with the cattle purchase
13 Nov 2009 Buying cattle from a local farmer
16 Nov 2009 Our first two heads of cattle
18 Nov 2009 Removing a large jobo tree to unblock the access trail
19 Nov 2009 A farm in the rainforest - but with great cellphone coverage
20 Nov 2009 Fixing up and cleaning the rancho
21 Nov 2009 Searching for wood and finding a "quebrada"; More weeding
22 Nov 2009 Land survey in the jungle
07 Dec 2009 Agreements are not always honored by all parties
10 Dec 2009 There is a better access road
16 Dec 2009 No solution yet to the legal issues
26 Jan 2010 Hauling a tree with the Jeep
27 Jan 2010 A path on top
28 Jan 2010 The last 300 meters
30 Jan 2010 Analysis of legal problems with Right of Possession
02 Feb 2010 We are building a dirt road in the jungle
04 Feb 2010 Progress on our dirt road
07 Feb 2010 Where no car has gone before: what a great feeling
13 Feb 2010 Jeep as Logging Tool
15 Feb 2010 Crossing the "Brazo de Chuluganti" river
17 Feb 2010 Registering our brand
18 Feb 2010 Meeting with the district administrator to complete the road
17 Mar 2010 Right of Possession and local authorities that fear to act
06 Aug 2010 Farm plans on hold due to authority dragging their feet