Our Camaroncito Community
The word COMMUNITY has FOUR core meanings.
... According to the Britannica dictionary. We agree!
1: A group of people who have the same interests
TOURISM: Camaroncito helps to develop the tourism industry in our area, by providing social media, marketing, and business advice to other tourism related businesses:
- Restaurante Liliana, a small fonda with seating in Achiote, about 30 minutes after crossing the Atlantic Bridge.
- Cevicheria Vista al Mar, an amazing little seafood place on a cliff overlooking the ocean, about an hour after crossing the Atlantic Bridge.
- Genos Cafe, another small fonda, about 15 minutes past the Cevicheria, in Salud.
- Hostel Don Oscar in Miguel de la Borda, a simple but clean private bedroom with shared bathroom where we sometimes stay when the ocean isn't cooperating.
We are thankful for our excellent business partners:
- TRANSPORTATION: SkyRide provides our exhilarating and FAST helicopter transport.
- SUSTANANCE: PriceSmart allows us to purchase a mix of local and imported goods at wholesale.
- WEBSITE: Lodgify is our amazing website and channel management provider.
- BANKING: Banco General provides us with excellent financial services.
- CREDIT CARDS: Payyo allows us to accept payment in any credit card using any currency.
- SOLAR POWER: Bluetti Solar Panama helps us keep the lights and fans on using the sun's power.
2: A group of people who live in the same area
Camaroncito is the local name of our beach cove which is along a stretch of coastline called "Costa Abajo". There are eight communities in our coastal neighborhood, in order away from Colon: Miguel de la Borda, Quebrada Grande, Diego, Aguacate, Limon, Platanal, Camaroncito and Cocle del Norte.
Each community hosts a few events each year such as rodeos, softball tournaments, BBQs, Carnival and other national festival celebrations. There are both marriage and blood relations tying everyone together.
We also contribute to shared work efforts, such as cutting the dirt road that now provides significant accessibility relief (please watch the video linked in the 2. title above) to residents and farmers. The project involved several months of community funded work by a bulldozer, many chainsaws, and hundreds of man hours moving dirt and debris. Camaroncito provided several 55 gallon drums of fuel and the huge culvert tubes that allow water passage for dozens of streams and boggy areas along the 30 kilometer stretch through the rainforest. The road is still only dirt, but we are actively seeking government or private industry assistance to build the bridges that span the three larger rivers, and to perhaps even pave it!!!
We contribute to the economic and social development of our nation of Panama by paying above average wages, providing training in English, hospitality, sustainable construction and agriculture techniques, and exposing this isolated area to the broader world. We strive to protect the environment, and help others to do the same.
4: a feeling of wanting to be with other people or of caring about the other people in a group
We strive to make Camaroncito a place that people be associated with, to work for, and to be at. Doing things the right way for the right reasons is important to us.