ISLA GRANDE THE CARIBBEAN FACE 

Eva Aguilar – La Prensa of Panama

Lloyd Smith first got to this island 30 years ago, to get here he had to take a boat in Portobelo and then row an extensive distance. According to this Panamanian economist, who then was a college student, he was fascinated with the beauty of this place. Back in those days there were no roads, motor boats, latrines or electricity at the island. The native survived from fishing and the trade of coconuts they sustained with the Colombians. They conformed a society with a basic and slow rhythm of life, which seemed to work perfectly for them.
There were no hotels therefore, no one would come to the island. Smith says that an American that had tried to establish a hotel in San Blas built the lodging place. Never the less, he had problems with the natives of the San Blas Area and the migrated to Isla Grande, where brought the first electric plant. That happened 28 years ago and things have changed a lot since then.
To get to Isla Grande from the city you take the Transistmica Street and turn right on the road that takes to Portobelo. Once you pass this historic area, that is in advance decay, but which you access by a road in perfect state, you enter on small road which takes you to La Guaira , a small village located on mainland in front of the island, where you take a small motor boat that transports visitants to the different docks or directly to the south side beach. Isla Grande is a place highly appreciated by the surf and diving lovers and it is always crowed by tourists on weekend, carnivals and holidays.

In the south side of the island all the places of service for the public: restaurant, grocery stores, a hotel and small cabins which square rooms count with the essential to spend a couple of nights. Several years ago, Smith, who is the proprietary of a pink & white color villa on the east side of the island and a concession on most of the north side land - (Isla Grande is located inside the National Park of Portobelo, reason why you can not buy the land) decided to step out of the ordinary and build a hotel like never seen before.
The construction took to years and today , on the north side of the island, far away from crowds and the noise you can find BANANAS VILLAGE RESORT, a hotel with triangular yellow cabins which is almost invisible from the sea due to the foliage of the palm trees.
Smith located the resort in a different beach , not as good as the town beach? he admits but since it is less accessible, provides more privacy and adjusted to the type of edifications he wanted.
On relations to design and edification, the owner of bananas overlooked the practical and economical factor. ? Lots of time the esthetic is sacrificed by the practical and the economic?, says Smith, ? so in this case you can accuse me of not been practical and not haven taking any considerations on the economical aspect, but i had the pleasure of making the hotel of my dreams.?
Married and with no kids, designed the resort with inspirations on the Caribbean spots for couples. ? I wanted to create the atmosphere that I particularly enjoy: a peaceful environment, no phones, with gourmet food, reason why we avoid the buffet style, massive food that sacrifices quality.?
But been the new kid in town, the pretties and more expensive, is not something that have been easy or most profitable; at least right now. Since its opening last February, the bananas village resort gets most clients during the weekends, and maybe practically empty during weekdays.
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I have put myself on a dilemma; and it is that for the hotel to be retable has to have a high occupancy level and in Panama the traditions is to go out only during weekends.? The economist is conscious that people would always look for the cheapest places and for a hotel, as his to prosper is necessary to attract the International tourist that comes to Panama on vacation. At this time the hotel is on its first stage of construction which conforms 12 rooms with balcony, no television or phones; an open air restaurant and a pool, at the same time as recreational activities such as, kayak lessons, aerobics and walks into town. Additional, as a cultural attraction for the Caribbean area, there is a group of dancers from town that perform the Congo a traditional dance. Smith is thinking of expanding the number of room and adding more activities to the hotel, but before that some events have to happen.

he tourism has always been a product of the commerce in this area and last as long there is business. There fore for us to move to the second stage, something has to happen particularly on my hotel and the overall tourism, what I mean is , we have to start getting vacationer tourism.? N
ver the less the way he sees things, this has not yet happened in Panama, even with our exuberant natural beauty is because the country does not count with the proper accommodations for the ecological tourism. ?
It is a vicious circle: the tourism doesn?t come because there are no facilities and they do not create the facilities because there is no tourism. Therefore we require a few crazy people, were i include myself, to give the first step knowing they are going to have to suffer the consequences of the lack of market, because first they have to create it. Wi
h Isla Grande has one of the few Caribbean options that has Panama, where the waters are more tranquil than in the Pacific Ocean and the tourism has a more refine stile, Bananas is an obvious choice for those that may look for commodity and class; sun, beach and tranquility.   
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