Finca Los Monos (The Monkey Farm), Bocas del Toro, Panama

http://www.bocasdeltorobotanicalgarden.com/

What an awesome visit we had yesterday to this wonderful place!  Finca Los Monos is just up the road from our house here.  It is the home, garden, and event center of Lin and her husband (see website).  She met us at her place and toured us around.  Lin is from England but left there at the age of 18 and has never lived there again.  She traveled for years alone, and when she heard we are from Colorado, told us about her time in the 70's living in a cave above Telluride and coming down each day to work as a waitress in town.  She never thought she'd marry, but met her husband in New Zealand (where he's from) and they ended up here.  They found their property 15 years ago and have been here since; it sounds like the longest she's been in one place for a lot of years.  When they bought their property, which spans the thin part of the island from ocean to ocean, it was a thick jungle; it took them months just to clear a path with machetes to get to the top of the hill.

They selectively cleared some of the land and built a beautiful house with swimming pool, some outdoor shelters for events, an outdoor kitchen, and a trail system through their property.  They host weddings, retreats and other events, and give tours.  Over the years they've collected an amazing variety of plants which thrive in their tropical garden, and the local animals have made a home there as well. 

We saw bamboo, many varieties of ornamental ginger, orchids, strangler figs, a shampoo plant, many varieties of edible and not so edible bananas, including a pink colored self peeling banana that the birds like to eat.  We saw passionfruit and pineapple, breadfruit, other local fruits and foods, and so many varieties of palms from all around the world.  We heard howler monkeys, and saw an animal that Lin hasn't identified yet, but she thinks is a night monkey with its baby living in one of her trees.  We saw a sloth and her baby as well.  There were many kinds of birds and butterflies and at the end of the tour, we drank coconut water from fresh coconuts with straws, and had lemongrass tea.

It rained some but we are so glad we went!  Their website is above, and Ray took pictures which I will upload later (along with those from the Smithsonian).