Lief searched for 24 months to find the finca known as Los Islotes.
That was 18 years ago.
I’d describe our now longstanding relationship with the piece of beachfront property my husband decided to buy on Panama’s Veraguas Pacific coast as complicated.
Los Islotes has served up the greatest challenges of our lives…
And also the sweetest rewards.
It’s the biggest investment of our careers, a legacy undertaking. We hope we live long enough to realize our vision for the community we’re building here…
And we’re working hard to help our children and grandchildren feel as connected as we do. We want them to be eager to take up the Los Islotes baton when the time comes.
Meantime and at last, returning to Los Islotes last week for an extended stay, Lief and I had the same reaction.
After 18 years of sweat and, yes, occasional tears of frustration, as we pushed through obstacle after obstacle from Panamanian bureaucracy to the Herculean efforts required to bring international-standard infrastructure to this virgin coast, Los Islotes now welcomes us home in comfort and style.
We’ve returned this visit at the height of what those in the tourist biz refer to as the Green Season.
Let’s call it what it is—rainy.
I love Paris in all seasons, and I’ve come to love Los Islotes during what many might think is its least appealing time of year, too. August through October, the low, gray sky lends the landscape a sense of romance and mystery.
This is also the least touristy time of year. That’s a plus anywhere. Lief and I are guaranteed absolute privacy on our private beach.
This is the rainy season, but that’s not to say it rains every day. This past week we enjoyed days that could have been mistaken for January or February… the ideal time of year to be here.
I took these shots one nicely bright and sunny morning…
“How do you live when you’re at Los Islotes,” friends and family who’ve not been to visit us here yet wonder.
Surrounded by the best Mother Nature serves up anywhere, I tell them…
And now, I’m able to add, supported by, as our friends in Ireland might put it, all mod cons.
That is, all modern conveniences… from satellite internet to Netflix, Prime, and cable TV when we want them. Our freezer is stocked with prime cuts, our wine cabinet with Malbecs and Veuve Clicquot… all available at the supermarkets in Santiago, one of the country’s fastest-growing cities, an hour-and-a-half up our coast.
Our now mature kitchen garden puts fresh fruit and vegetables on the table according to the season. This week I’m harvesting red peppers, cucumbers, and lemons in abundance.
We’re able to stay in real-time touch via video conference calls with our team around the world… while keeping current on what’s going on in the United States and beyond.
Then, when what’s going on in the United States and beyond becomes too much to take, we shut it out.
We turn off the news and head down the hill to the sea to reset our perspectives…
Until next time,
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter
