Bocas Del Toro-Our Last Province

Tuesday, August 20

We left our hotel early this morning at 6:00 am because we had a long and windy drive through the mountains to Bocas Del Toro.  Before we left David we picked up one of Luis’ friends to drive us since he did not have his license and we did not want to run into anymore problems with checkpoints. Bocas Del Toro is on the far East side of the country and borders Costa Rica so there is more border security in the area.  Since we knew the drive through the mountains and extremely windy Jessica took another Dramamine and was out.  The drive was beautiful as we went up an over the mountains.  There were many indigenous indians living in the area and there houses resembled nothing more than tree houses children construct and play in in the U.S.  Seeing this first hand makes you realize how fortunate we are and to not take for granted what you have at home. 

A quick shot of a home of an indigenous indian 

Vegetable industry in Bocas

The drive took about 3 hours but we finally arrived in the small town of Changuinola, Bocas Del Toro.  We met Fernando, a ranch manager for an absentee owner, at a McDonalds before he took us to the ranch we would visit for the day.  The ranch was both a cow calf operation as well as a finisher and used cross breeding of Brahman, Simental, and Senepol.  We drove through the ranch and saw the operation where they finished the steer calves as well as bought additional cattle to finish on grass and were not supplemented at all.  After looking at the growing division, we drove to another part of the ranch and saw the cow herd.  The calves that we saw had great genetics and even saw some Brahman/Senepol crosses.  These were probably the best calves we have seen so far and you see why people think this may be the breed of the future for the country.  The calves were extremely stout and had great muscling, Fernando also explained they were great mothers and produced great milk. 

Steers (actually bulls-they do not castrate anything) Fernando was growing out

A couple Senepol cross calves-pretty fancy

Gunna definitely be a cow one day

After looking at the ranch, Fernando took us on a quick tour of the area.  The agriculture area was spectacular and there were banana plantations everywhere which were all Chiquita Banana farms.  As we continued to drive, we went through a very impoverished area where there were many indigenous indians who lived in this area. We really had a glimpse of what life was like in the 3rd world areas of Latin America and it was difficult to look at some of the conditions the people were living under.  Fernando told us to pull over in a remote area and we walked through a dense forest where we came out on the Sixaola River, the border between Panama and Costa Rica.  We took a few pictures and then he took us to the actual border crossing where there was tons of people going back and forth across a bridge between Panama and Costa Rica.  He asked us if we wanted to go to Costa Rica, and after a little convincing of Jess, we decided to make the trip.  You only live once and how many other times where we going to be presented an opportunity to experience and opportunity like this right?  We walked up to the bridge where none of the border police asked to see our passports (didn’t even get a stamp for proof) and walked across the bridge to Costa Rica. We bought a couple bottles of water from a local Costa Rican market (have to support the local economy) and returned to Panama.

Chiquita Banana Plantaion

A local bus in Boca (no joke)-"Nothing Runs Like A Deer"

The house of an indigenous indian

This little fella got him a pig on a leash

Sixaola River-The other side is Costa Rica

Wild Bananas

Headed To Costa Rica

Sixaola River-The border between Panama and Costa Rica

We Made it

A local vegetable stand in Costa Rica

This guy said the Banana market was better in Panama and was headed to capitalizing on international marking

Headed back across

Indians doing Laundry in the Sixoala River

Home sweet home

Am I Still In Panama?

Monday, August 19

We left the Castillo’s house about 7:00 am after a breakfast of huevos rancheros and more amazing Panamanian coffee.  The coffee was much needed as I did not get much sleep after my computer was giving me problems uploading pictures to the blog and I was determined to get it done last night, which I didn’t.  Manuel was so hospitable and gave us his card and told us that if we need anything in Panama to call him and he would take care of it.  His son is considering attending TCU Ranch Management and Manuel really wants him to go.

After we left we had a two hour drive to the Province of Chiriqui where we would make our first stop.  The road was once again rough as a corn cob but Jess got some dramamine from a grocery in Santiago and was out. She did however wake up when things got interesting at a police checkpoint.  The police stop all cars and ask for ID’s which has been no problem up to this point.  We didn’t think anything of it until Luis could not find his license to show the authorities.  Luis had forgotten his license at a gas station we stopped at where he gave the attendant his ID but never got it back.  They pulled us out of the car and brought a drug sniffing dog to search the car.  After the Panamanian drug dog, really a puppy, had jumped in the car and smelled our bags and everything checked out ok, obviously, we thought we would be fine.  Luis explained our situation but the authorities were giving us the run around and he was having to talk to a lot different "hefes" that didn’t really have any answers.  They told Luis he could not continue to drive so we didn’t know what to do and thought we were going to have to sit and wait for someone to come get us untill Jess suggested I drive.  We walked back to the building and asked if it was ok if the Texan with the big sombrero drove.  After they ran my passport and ID and had to talk to even more "hefes" they finally approved our plan and we were on our way.  Im not going to lie, the situation was a little tense for a few moments and yes I got a bit nervous, but it will give us another great memory and something to laugh about when we look back.  I think Jess was pretty happy about getting someone else behind the wheel, no offense to Luis but the drivers here are petal to the medal and then get to the brakes hard and fast.  

THE Checkpoint

Vamos

After we were on our way, we headed to Abel Miranda’s ranch.  Abel was a cow calf producers who also finished his cattle on grass and sold them for harvest.  He used a lot of crossbreeding which included Brahman, Simental, Angus, and Beefmasters in which he AI’d his cows to produce both good milking replacements, and good gaining calves.  They were one of the first commercial operations we have visited that was tagging cows and keeping records on them.  Abel did not feed anything besides mineral year round with the exception of a little salt and protein supplement near the end of finishing.  Now it is off to David to the transportation department to try and get Luis an ID.  Wouldn’t be a good trip without a little adventure.

Abel (left) explains his crossbreeding operation

Some of Abel's cattle

From left to right-Abel's son, me, Abel, Luis-our host and tour guide

After meeting with Abel we headed into David, Chiriqui to eat lunch and check into the hotel.  For lunch we went to El Fogon, a favorite spot of Luis, and had probably the best meat we have had so far.  The cut was called Punta de Pallimillo,the point of the sirloin, and is the beef tenderloin of Panama.  After tasting the first bite I realized why it was so loved, the meat reminded me a lot of flank steak but had great flavor and even had a little fat which has not been common on the trip so far.  

After lunch we checked into the hotel and headed to the University of Panama-Chiriqui campus.  The college was a satellite campus and specialized in agriculture, specifically research in all areas of agriculture including fruit production, forage production, beef cattle, dairy cattle, and even pigs and sheep.  We met with Dr. Juan Osorio, who took us on a tour of the research farm and then returned to his office were he explained the agriculture industry and markets in Panama with us.  The stop was very enlightening and it was great to see the research they were conducting and get a glimpse of what they see the future of animal production in Panama consisting of.

Entrance to the University Of Panama-Chiriqui

Beautiful Campus

Dr. Osorio explaining the research 

An embryo transfer calf from Germany-it is a dairy breed of Simental

Dairy Simental and Geer cross calves

Feed mill at the research facility

Dr. Osorio discusses the market structure and obstacles for the industry in Panama

We left the University research center and drove to Valcon, Chiriqui.  As you might expect this is a dormant volcano and is the tallest mountain in Panama standing 11,390 feet tall and located on the far West side of Panama just off the border with Costa Rica.  As we drove up the mountain the ecosystem changed drastically and the temperature fell as we drove into the clouds surrounding the volcano.  It was as if we had been taken out of Panama and placed in Interlaken, Switzerland because it did not even seem like the same country.  It was about 70 degrees (finally relief from the heat) and drizzled rain the entire time.  The climate was a lot more temperate and the cattle were much more English bred dairy cattle. We even passed one purebred Red Angus producer.  Luis took us to a spot where the road was going down hill but when he put the car in neutral we literally began to roll backward uphill.  I know you think I am crazy and I don’t know if it was an optical illusion or some sort of freak anomaly of nature but it happened, I promise.  Luis said it happens every time you go the spot and it is only a short stretch of road a couple hundred feet long.  After witnessing the crazy phenomenon we went back to a small cafeteria where we enjoyed coffee and local cookies on a porch as it rained down.  If you ever get the chance to come to Panama, the mountains in West Chiriqui are magnificent, as if the rest of the country is not,  and an extremely refreshing break from the heat and humidity.

"Welcome To Volcan"

Yes, those are pine trees

Not a bad spot to live

Panamanian heater-Notice the temperature (on top next to the clock) outside is 20 and the a/c in the car is 22

Enjoying another cup of coffee as I watch it rain down wanting to take it home to Texas

No Compaints

Pure Bred Cattle In Veraguas, Panama

Sunday, August 18

We started today at the Gran Azuerrto in Chitre where we have stayed the last two nights and it was great.  The members went out of their way to assure we were comfortable and even booked us the suite in the hotel.  As always they made sure we had enough food to feed a small village.  We left at 7:30 and headed to Satntiago, Veraguas to meet Manuel Castillo where we would be staying the night at his house.  When we arrived at his house he and his wife were so welcoming and continued to tell us that his house was our house and to come visit in the future.  We dropped our bags, and our host for the day, Juan Gonzales, met us and we headed out to his ranch near Sona, Veraguas.  The area is not as mountainous as the country we have been in Veraguas province had coasts on both the Pacific and Caribbean Oceans and is a very agriculture based area.  

Juan had two different herds on his ranch, one was a purebred Brahman herd and the other was a commercial herd that was crossbred with Brahman and Simental. His Brahman cattle were raised only on grass and supplemented only salt and mineral.  He also added sulfur to his mineral to help repel tics and parasites.  He was a very progressive producer and you could tell because he knew all of his cost and was a great forage manager.  By not having to supplement his cows in the dry season, and still maintain an 80%+ conception rate, he could lower his breakeven costs to help offset the decreased prices he received because the bulls and cows were not as fat as other purebred producers who he competed against.    He explained the reason he was able to accomplish no supplemental feeding is because he based his stocking rates on head per kilogram of forage, not head per hectare (2.2 acres). . He also pointed out that the size of his cows were 1.25 animal units and this was another reason for a more conservative stocking rate.  These aspects of Juan’s ranch shows the efficiency of his production and possibly the direction many producers in the country may be going.  

Juan (middle) and I (right) discuss his purebred operation 

Roping a bull Panamanian style

Juan and I in front of Baton De Oro-when young the plant contains 15%-20% protein and is used as feed in a lot of areas.

Juan showing us a set of his cows

I feel like I am repeating myself but the red carpet the people of Panama have rolled out is getting extremely long.  We left Juan’s ranch and drove to Hermes Rodriguez’ ranch where they once again treated us to a fantastic lunch of beef fajitas, corn fritters, and chicken soup which was enjoyed on the front porch as we took a short break and relaxed.  

A much needed rest

We drove about 15 minutes down the road to Mr. Rodriguez’ ranch and saw a purebred operation which raised Brahman as well as Senepol cattle.  This was my first time to witness Senepol cattle in person and I was extremely impressed.  The cattle originated on the island of St. Croix where N Dama cattle and Redpol cattle were crossed and Senepol was created.

Senepol Genealogy

The breed is extremely well adapted to the tropical climate but still has characteristics of Bos Taurus cattle.  These characteristics include tenderness, moderate size, longevity, mothering ability, and good milking ability.  Some of the cows we saw where twelve years old and still in production, and the ranch had both the World Brahman Congress Champion and the Senepol breeder of the year award.

The Rodriguez family with the Senepol breeder of the year award

During the visit a television crew, which was filming a documentary on the ranch for a local television program, asked me to speak and give my impressions of my trip and the overall cattle industry in Panama, to which I reiterated how wonderful the trip had been and how much potential I see in the cattle industry in Panama. I agreed and luckily I had a great translator in Hermes’ brother who was fluent in english. It completely caught me off gaurd so hopefully I did not look too bad on the big screen. 

I make my big screen debut

Hermes explains the characteristics of Senepol cattle (notice the tv camera in the background)

Panamanian cowboy crew

After our tour of the ranch we returned to the ranch house and enjoyed Panamanian coffee (I am going to start importing this stuff into the US it is so good-im hooked) and talking about the potential the Senepol breed poses for the region as it is very up and coming breed which has only been in Panama for about 10 years.  The Rodriguez’ family is are very progressive in pursuing the breed and developing a market for a better quality meat within the country.

Senepol cow (12 years old and still in production) on nothing but grass-no supplementation-the rain is coming

We returned to Manuel Castillo’s house and were able to relax for about an hour before we headed off to dinner.  As we sat in the living room of the Castillo’s house a nice rain came over and cooled it off immensely which was much appreciated as today was the hottest day of the trip (32 degrees celsius, I have not idea how hot that is but I know I was sweating, but that may have been my nerves from shooting my tv debut).  I think we are good luck because there has not been a day that has passed that we did not witness rain but this one was by far the biggest amount and lasted for close to an hour.  All the windows and doors were open in the house, as most of them are during the day, and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to wind down at the end of a busy day.

Our dinner crew for the night.

Experiencing Panama Like a True Panamanian

Saturday, August 17

This morning was a little slower paced compared to the other mornings and it was very welcomed because we have been blowing and going our trip.  We ate breakfast at our hotel in Chitre, Herrera with Jose Pablo and Paulino Vasquez who we would visit later in the morning.  After breakfast we headed out on a wild goose chase Jose Pablo took us on.  We headed South out of Chitre where he showed us the district of Los Santos (which he claimed was the best but, that may because he was from the area, but I won’t speculate).  The tour consisted of seeing his brothers house, his house, his farm, and we even stopped at a lottery winners house so Jess could use the bathroom, and she claimed it was the nicest house she had ever been in.  I won’t go into details of the facilities I used a local store/cantina.  We made a quick stop at a farm of Jose Pablos where he used horses, which would walk in circles, to power a machine that squeezed molasses out of sugar cane.  The further South we drove the farther into the mountains we went and it was possibly the most beautiful area we have seen, if that is possible in a country where everything is breathtaking.  The towns we drove through including Marcaracas, were bustling with people out on a Saturday morning.

The horse powered machine Jose Pablo uses to make molasses 

After the wild goose chase that took us on windy roads (which were not helping Jess’ car sickness nor was the way people drive here where it is petal to the metal and bob and weave because I have places to go), through country villages and the most beautiful mountain vistas you can imagine, we arrived at the ranch of Paulino Vasques.  Paulino was a dairy producer who used a marketing strategy for his milk which was very ingenuitive.  The dairy processors in the area would pay $.48/ litre if you could produce 400+ litres per day and $.42/liter for anything under 400 liters per day.  Paublino did not have enough production to exceed 400 liters per day so he bought the milk from smaller producers in the area for $.44 and marketed it to the processor for $.48 because he was now over the 400 liter threshold.  This margin alone made him $9,000 per year and he didn’t have to invest in more land or more cows to make the money but rather provided a service and higher price to other dairymen in the area.  The area of Los Santos experiences an extended dry period of 6-7 months, to overcome the obstacle he used irrigation sprinklers driven by pressure created by gravity fed rivers in the mountainous region.  At the end of our visit our host reiterated what so many others have expressed, the producers in Panama simply need to be taught how to project a budget and make decisions based off of financial analysis, not spend money and have no idea where it is going.

Paulino in the blue cap explaining his operation and Jose Pablo in the red cap entertaining as always

Gravity fed irrigation system with a grass known as Tawain, which is cut fresh and fed daily, in the background

I feel guilty as I try and type (see the road conditions and driving style of the area from before) while we drive through the gorgeous countryside and witness children riding horses in the streets and cattleman driving cows and calves down a dirt road on foot, using a tree branch (not a hot shot) while I am looking at my computer screen.

Paradise? Si 

Kids playing in the streets

Life in the Pueblos of Panama

After driving down a road for close to an hour, which was so littered with potholes there was no way to avoid them and you had to bounce your way through, I thought Jess might be ready to throw in the towel because she was practically doubled over from being so car sick, but she was a champ and didn’t complain once.  We pulled up to a beach where there was a beachside restaurant and we ate lunch while overlooking the crashing waves and surfers attempting to ride the them in the Pacific-literally life cannot get much better than this.  The lunch of fresh ceviche and red snapper (that was caught on the beach we were overlooking) was tremendous and the cool breeze blowing under the canopy of the open aired restaurant had Jess feeling better.  We had great conversations with our hosts and I truly feel we are forming a friendship with the producers in Panama that will last for years and years to come.

Words cannot do it justice

Buena comida

After finishing lunch we went to visit our last stop and had a roadside meeting, and when I say roadside I really mean in the middle of the road, with Emilio Espino.  Emilio raised dual purpose cattle, as I’m sure you can tell is extremely common in this area.  Emilio knew all his costs and even told us his break even price to raise an animal was $.85/lb but the price of the animal to sell was only $.75/lb.   Emilio really got on his soap box when he started talking politics and explained the market situation in Panama. The labor in the area was also extremely expensive costing $22 per day because if you didn’t pay it they would get a job somewhere else because there was no shortage of jobs in the area. we wrapped up our meeting listening to the rants of Emilio and him explain ranchers in the area do not know their costs because if they saw what they were spending and what they were being paid they would not be raising cattle.  

Listening to Emilio in the tan cap on his soap box

Once we finished the visit, Jose Pablo took us on yet another adventure and as always, this one ended in paradise.  We drove through a development Jose Pablo’s father owned and he showed us the beach houses of Mel Gibson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  We cut and shared a pineapple Aquilles had given us earlier on our trip on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean before leaving.  On our drive out of the development Jess saw the one thing she has been looking for the whole trip and it made it worth battling through a day full of car sickness and horrible roads-an alligator in a river we crossed.  As always, our hosts had another surprise for us and Emilio met back up with us and treated us to pan dulce and a traditional drink or milk, corn, and sugar at a local bakery.  I cannot reiterate enough the kindness and hospitality everyone has shown us this far and I am so glad we still have a week ahead of us in such a great country.

Nothing sweeter than fresh pineapple and view like this

Jess feeling better

Jess wishing she was filming swamp people-"choot em"

Pan Dulce at the local bakery