Alex
Livingston and Tom Giles started this fishing lodge project at Mariato, Panama in Feb
1999. The lot had been fallow for many years
and was covered with thick scrub brush. Alex camped out for 10 months in Billy
Boughner’s “Chiva”; the boat shown below, during construction. Tom joined
Alex most weekends to bring in supplies and provide “adult” supervision. The
land was cleared to bare earth by machete. Alex used a vehicle-mounted winch to pull
stumps. The well shown below is 8 feet in
diameter and 35 feet deep. Two young men using a pick ax, shovel and 5 gallon bucket dug
the well in two days. The blocks were hand made on site by a neighbor using a wooden form.
All concrete was hand mixed on the ground with shovels then hauled in 5 gallon buckets to
pour. Doors and Windows were made in Santiago
from locally grown teak. We were connected to “city” water in May 1999 and
electricity in November 1999 when Alex finally moved out of the “Chiva”.
