With the coming of the rains in early May, we discovered and fixed several leaks ("goteras") in the roof of the Tower. After careful examination we discovered the leaks were in the exterior surface of the fiberglass dome which sits right on top of the Tower. In the old days of the USAF Semaphore Hill Radar Station, this dome was used to enclose the radar and protect it from the elements. It has no metals in its structure to allow the unimpeded flow of electronic signals. It is a geotangent dome, a variation of the geodesic dome invented by the world-famous American architect and inventor Buckminster (Bucky) Fuller (1895-1983). It is one of only two buildings in Panama based on Fuller's design, the other one being the gymnasium of Curundu High School. For more information about Bucky Fuller and geodesic and geotangent domes you should visit: http://www.bfi.org

    However, repairing the dome is easier said than done. The lower sections were no problem but to fix the leaks on the upper part we had to build a special ladder shaped in the form of the sphere in order to reach safely those sections. In addition, working 25 meters (82 ft) above the forest floor takes a special breed of people. Thanks God we completed the work without major problems.

    We also began to paint the tower and built a "guindola" to reach the upper sections. Before applying the paint we had to remove the old paint which was peeling off and giving a terrible "abandoned" look to the place. This is a time consuming job which had to be done manually to avoid the lead-based paint to reach the forest. We could have sandblasted the exterior walls and remove the old paint in a matter of days but that process would have meant polluting the surrounding forest with fine particles of lead, in effect poisoning the area.

    Finally, in order to help us with the design of the interior space and to help us choose the color scheme of the Tower, we contracted the services of Grid3 International, a New York based company specializing in interior design. Ruth Mellergard, the senior partner of Grid 3 and an old friend of ours, came to Panama with this purpose during the week-end of May 15. We spent all of saturday in the Tower and finally decided on the location of the living room/dining room/bar/kitchen area. Prior to her visit I had spent countless hours thinking on how best to fit all of these spaces within the Tower and, at last, found a satisfactory solution. In next month's report, I will share with you the details of Ruth's design. In the meantime, you can check her website at: www.grid3.com

    This month we did not have much time to receive visitors, we were so busy repairing the dome and meeting with Ruth and Gaspar Silvera, the local architect who is also working with me in this project. However, we were fortunate to receive the visit of Megan Epler Wood, President of the Ecotourism Society who was in Panama researching a book on ecotourism. I had met Megan in September of 1994, in the USVI during the First International Ecolodge Development Forum which took place in Maho Bay. That was a great seminar!! Since then I have participated in several conferences, forums, congresses, etc. on ecotourism but none has surpassed that one. In any event, Megan was impressed with The Canopy Tower and assured me of its success. According to her, my main problem will be how to reconcile the needs of the daytime visitors with those of the overnight guests. In general, she feels Panama is truly an undiscovered treasure for ecotourism and is very optimistic of the country's success as nature tourism destination.

    We did have three guests this month, three fellows from New York who had never been to a rain forest. Everything was new to them: the sounds of the cicadas (cigarras), the songs of the Tinamous, the howls of the Howler monkeys, not to mention the dense canopy of a neo-tropical rain forest and the amazing colors of a Keel-billed Toucan. Needless to say, they loved the place and promised to be back with their girlfriends next year.