Burying people in the sand on Palenque

Panama! Here I am in sunny Boca Chica, just 5 miles over water from the site of our new resort development, Isla Palenque. You’d better believe it’s hot, and the sun radiates heat into you with the revitalizing sun-food you only feel in the tropics. It makes me wonder if the rest of the world isn’t just a little bit sun-starved.

This is my second time here. I came as a tourist last spring with my husband, Amble President and Manager Ben Loomis. Little did I know then that I wouldn’t just be a supportive wife cheering him on from the sidelines, but the new Marketing Manager for Amble Resorts! Today is my first day in my official capacity, so this current trip is work as well as pleasure. We are hosting friends (who are also investors in the project) with their three kids, and they are blown away by this place as well.

Last night we lit fireworks over the water to celebrate the New Year. The stars are really incredible here. There isn’t the light spill from towns you get when you’re closer to civilization. Out here it’s just Milky Way as far as the eye can see, making our little firecrackers insignificant in the scheme of things. Today we packed a picnic lunch and Captain Ben boated us out to Isla Palenque for a day at the beach. The kids were amazing. They loved the zebra-striped sand, and buried their mom in it until only a few inches of her face showed. The slope of the beach is so gradual that it makes it really safe for swimming, and we all took turns bobbing with kids in our arms or on our backs in the warm, salty water. After lunch, we walked the ¾ mile big crescent beach and saw hermit crabs, beach cactus, cool emerald colored rocks, tide pools, and the foot prints of some piggies the previous owners left to forage for crabs. We then hiked up the bluff to get a great view of the blow hole made by the tide against the rocks below. We sat on a cushion of tiny succulent plants with little yellow flowers all over them and watched the little geyser blow with Old Faithful regularity. On the way back down, we heard, and then saw, a family of howler monkeys snacking in the trees. We came home completely tired out and hungry! Tomorrow we try sport fishing.

If you want to see what Isla Palenque looks like, there’s a You Tube video HERE. It was made by a broker before we acquired the island. Eventually we’ll have some footage of our own and great photos up on our website. Until then, enjoy this fly by video and dream about coming here for a visit.