I started clearing some of the growth to get reclaim some of the land. I had to stop short today because I hurt my back. It's gruelling work. It took a very long time to clear the path and the clearing, and in 4 months almost everything grew right back. Farming here is different than back at home, the land never sits still for winter breaks.
When I bought the land I discovered a stand of bananas right in the middle of the rainforest. This island was once entirely owned by the United Fruit Company, but they pulled out in the 30's as it was cheaper to buy land and cultivate on the mainland. Interestingly enough, the bananas are a variety known as "gros michel" bananas. They were mostly wiped out in the 1950's during the banana blight, otherwise known as the Panama disease. They were replaced by Cavendish bananas, and just about all the bananas that are grown worldwide are now Cavendish. Most people have never eaten a banana that hasn't been a Cavendish. This is why candies that have "banana flavouring" taste nothing like the bananas you can buy in stores, the flavour has always been based on the old gros michels. These bananas are indeed a sweet treat.
My crew and I cleared the area around the banana crop and have been cultivating them ever since. Luckily the clearing was mostly intact, just a lot of grass growing on the ground and creepers had started strangling some of the trees, but nothing that can't be fixed in short order. The pathway there was overgrown and we had to hack our way through. Bamboo grows wild, and once it takes root, it is hard to eliminate because it is a rhizome.
Another plant that grows wild is called Manilla hemp. It was imported from the Philippines during WWII. When the Japanese took over the Philippines, the American Navy ran out of material to make rope with, so they quickly started growing it here and on the mainland. That is one of Panama's great contributions to the war effort. I have no use for it though.
The last picture is of a spider on the wall of the house. For scale, it is about as long as a beer can from leg to leg.