Below are links to pictures of TropicRiverWoods, Panamá in its various stages of botanical evolution. Paul Visits Panamá The first voyage taken in August of 2002, was to get a feel for the Country and determine if it would be right for our vision for the future of our lives and for our mandate to the Earth. Paul and Brad Find The Finca Once we visited Finca 4 with its' owner/keeper, Filiberto Reid, we knew we had found a special place in this world and that we wanted to protect and, more importantly, husband, a portion of this magnificent land ourselves! Planting At TropicRiverWoods Begins The first planting mission commenced in February of 2003 but, alas, because Brad (our photographer), could not go on this early trip and Paul was totally engaged in both closing on the finca in Panamá City and planting the initial shipment of fresh rainforest tree seeds, there unfortunately, is no photographic record. Now available for your review, however, are photos "just published" of the intrepid duo's busy June work sessions at TRW! In addition, we are proud to announce that a new permanent partnership has been forged with a visionary "indefatigable threesome": Paul, Brad and Filiberto! View our latest photos, and catch some of the excitement that comes from a concept becoming reality! Filiberto becomes the defacto Manager of TropicRiverWoods Filiberto continues to make sound suggestions and now announced that the company he has worked for for over 37 years has informed him that he could now retire (read that as they could hire 4 people at his salary to replace him). Filiberto could not be happier and his company's loss has become our gain. The Horticultural Successes Multiply March, 2004's trip revealed much progress in TRW's reforestation planting goals. Filiberto's ingenuity has "paid off" nicely! Seedlings are now growth in small horticultural bags off-site, in shade, then are planted ONLY when Filiberto feels that they are sufficiently developed to take the sun, heat, and sometimes voraciously hungry ants! Our Seedlings Are Becoming Trees June, 2004's "solo' trip by Paul, had two main goals: finalisation of the long quest to obtain the title to the land and to inspect the progress of our future forest. By trips end, the acquisition of the title was closer at hand after meetings with key government officials, and the need for human intervention to assist the lack of rain was discovered and addressed. The Pathways Take Shape November, 2004's trip by Paul and Brad showed continuing progress on the Finca from the addition of framing and river rock stairways and pathways, to the continuing growth of all the trees along with new additions to create the canopy of TropicRiverWoods. Our Seedlings Are Becoming Taller Than Us! March, 2005's trip by Paul and Brad was an inspiring event to see what a difference of only four months has made to the look of the Arboretum. Over 1/4 mile of walkways and staircases have now been dug out of the earth and we can now begin to see the canopy that will one day soon protect the understory plants. The Walkways are another indication of permanence Paul's solo trip in June, 2005 showed how the arboretum is taking on a certain permanance that was envisioned by Paul many years ago, but is even more of an inspiration now. Now that the walkways have been laid out (so far) they are in the process of being laid in cement. Visit this, and the continued canopy growth that continues to grow daily.
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