Some new photos of the Lodge!

I thought I'd share some photos of the lodge after the work that Steve, Bernabe, Nancy and I have done recently. We had to rip the floors out of both bathrooms due to some shody construction techniques from the builder that had the floors actually collapsing. We replaced the wet and rotted out floors with plycem, a cement fiber board material, and had a local tile guy come out to the island and tile the bathrooms. Also we had to cut out a couple of portions of the floors in the main house and guest house and retile as well. Over the last couple of weeks Steve and Bernabe replaced over 15 posts under the house also due to poor construction techniques. The house was sagging in a few spots so bad that the doors wouldn't shut! Steve did it right. Replacing all of the the failing posts that were not set in concrete nor protected in any way from the elements. The builder just set posts into the ground for the water and termites to destroy. What a learning experience this has been. From the roofs on all buildings we had to replace two years ago, to the floors that are sagging and rotted beams under the deck....I have learned that pretty isn't necessarily sturdy. With all of the elements to deal with out here on the island the rain, humiditly, termites, leaves, animals.... If you don't take these into account your bound to run into problems.

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Fishing Report - Hannibal Bank, Panama - Dec. 12, 2011

Ben and Jeff co-owners of AddictiveAngler.com came out to stay on the island for a couple of nights and fish one day with us. We started out on Sunday, after I picked them up in Boca Chica, making the 12 mile run out to Isla Paridas and catching bait right out in front of the lodge. After a couple of hours both live wells were filled with over 3 dozen blue-runners (green jacks) and the the trash bag was filled with the same number of empty beer cans!

The next morning we made our way out to Hannibal Bank. The seas were pretty rough, on and off rain showers, and it took a little longer to get there than usual. It seems than the rainy season doesn't want to leave. Upon arrival at the "high spot" there was a hell of a mark on the sonar. Tons of bait! We put out the bonitio rigs, picked up 6 nice bonitos right off the bat, and stuck them in the Tuna tubes. I had hoped to tease a Black Marlin with a slow trolled bridled bonito but after having 4 eaten by the porpoises it became evident that I had to try something else. We switched up to try a few drifts. I put two bridled blue-runners down and three on top to see what would take. Right off the bat a top bait gets eaten by a big Sailfish! One spectacular jump and he throws the hook. Gone. Not three minutes later.....Bam! One of the down baits gets hammered! A nice 40# Amberjack! A couple more drifts over the mark produced a couple nice eating size Dorados, a nice 50# Cubera Snapper, and another nice AJ. Then on the last drift of the day Ben drops down a 200 gr. butterfly jig on his little Stella 10K filled with braid and gets tight! Two and a half hours, three angler changes, and about one hundred circles over this what must have been a BIG Tuna and finally pulls the hook. Damn! Not a good way to end it but we had consistent action the whole day.

We took it back to the lodge with the box full of meat. Liz, our chef, cooked it up nice with Dorado fingers and grilled Pargo. Great day out on Hannibal Bank!

Changes in Paradise, that is Changes in Panama

Every blue moon or so Propiedad de Paradise on Isla Parida has to travel into the “real” world.  Today on the travels we encountered new construction at every airport on the way. It’s nice to see so much change, but with the new---the curmudgeon in me likes the old.  Don’t worry, we will adopt the new instantly, but I miss the San Blas Indians sitting at the front of Albrook; I now have to go upstairs before I get on a plane at Tocumen to get a cup of Sancocho; and in David at Malek there are automatic sliding glass doors.

Here are some pictures of all of the new changes in Panama.

Construction of the new David, Panama Malek Airport Expansion

Construction of the new Panama City Albrook Airport Expansion

New Food Court at Tocumen Airport in Panama City

New Watering Hole at Tocumen Airport in Panama City

Sport Fishing in Panama with the Addictive Anglers

Isla Paridas has survived another rainy season and we are ready for the Panama Fishing season to begin. The fishing is always great in Panama, but it gets only better from December - May. 

Propiedad de Paradise is Island luxury in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with virtually everything at your fingertips.  The lodge is in the Chiriqui National Marine park and offers a total immersion in nature with white sand beaches lined with palm trees, boat trips to uninhabited agate beaches, kayaking into the mangroves, bird watching, whale watching, swimming, snorkeling or world class sport fishing.

Whether you want to relax, get away from it all, or fish the Hannibal Bank, the lodge offers the Paradise Clubhouse with gourmet cuisine, air-conditioned casitas, free WI-FI, and unparalleled island hospitality.

But if the real reason is that you want to sport fish...this is it!  Yesterday we hit the Hannibal Bank with the owners of the Addictive Angler, Jeff & Ben.  The two AA anglers make fishing an experience of a lifetime...even when you are working.  The fun day started out with a small wager on the weather...and the weather won.  It was nasty, swells, and rainy...not our normal dry season day.  With all of the weather we still had an incredible day.  The fishing report will follow soon with all of the details!!