Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Photos
1100 photos have been uploaded to my online gallery; gallery.me.com/tcreger, just look for the 3 Albums labeled Panama
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thank you
I just want to post a note to thank you for following along with my blog. It was fun to write, although I caught a lot of grief from people on the trip for spending time on my computer, I enjoyed sharing. I've received a lot of comments about my posts on Facebook and I'm overwhelmed by the number of people that read these. So thank you for the encouragement and support, whilst traveling far away from home. I will add a link, or two, to the gallery where my pictures will be soon, and I hope you enjoy them!
I will be setting the album as a view only, not allowing downloads. I ask that you please do not use my pictures without my consent. It has become a problem with some of my previous albums. I appreciate your understanding.
Cheers to all!
Love,
Tess
I will be setting the album as a view only, not allowing downloads. I ask that you please do not use my pictures without my consent. It has become a problem with some of my previous albums. I appreciate your understanding.
Cheers to all!
Love,
Tess
Day 11, January 23rd, 2011
Day 11, January 23rd, 2011
One last day, mostly a travel day, but not before a couple of stops. The group decided to meet for breakfast at 7, but Polly and I didn’t get the memo, so we met them at 7:30. The bus rolled out at 7:45, we were off for a stop at the park in the middle of Panama. It is a national park, 500 acres of rain forest, last chance for some bird watching. After 10 days to looking up into the trees, my neck is soar and I just couldn’t look for anymore birds. Yet, the moment someone says, “hey, there’s a sloth” and I just deal with it. So, on our walk today, we saw a 3 toed sloth, Tamarind Monkeys and a rarely seen nocturnal bird named a Potoo; I swear it looked like it was carved into the branch it was perched on, it was asleep, of course, so it was perfectly still and very difficult to see. The park ranger worked really hard pointing it out to me, in broken English, luckily I finally saw it, got a couple of pictures too.
Next up and our final stop before the airport was a little tour of Panama Viejo (Old Panama). The area we went to was the ruins from building built in the 1560’s. This was the area of Panama that was the first settlement on North America from the Pacific side, landing here in 1514; 400 years before the Canal was finished. The buildings were quiet large, with thick walls and of some importance, since they were built with stones, making them expensive as well. Most all of the houses from that time would be similar to the wood and thatch buildings that the Embera People live in currently. The area was inhabited by the Kuna Indians at the time, known for having a large population of albinos. At one point in history, the Smithsonian did a study on the “White Indians” in Panama, it wasn’t until later, after the study was complete, did they identify this inbreeding abnormality. The albinos are highly regarded in their culture and are treated as though it were a special gift. During our tour, we saw a group of modern Kuna Indians, dressed in their native clothing, on display for what appeared to be the filming of a documentary. They wore vibrant colors and the women wore beaded bands on their legs, looking more to us as stockings or leggings, it was fascinating to see. There were even 2 albino included in this group, one girl and one boy, yet the boy was not part of the filming. But shortly after we arrived, they all changed into “street” clothes and went on their merry way, talking and texting on their cell phones; jokingly we said they were probably on their way to Mc Donald’s, haha.
We casually strolled around the area, absorbing the history and taking interesting pictures of the Viejo and Nuevo Panama together; the tall skyscrapers piercing the blue sky back drop of the ruins. Someone on the bus proclaimed the modern Panama City to be reminiscent of Dubai, although never having been there themselves. I strongly disagree, Panama and Dubai have a charm each of their own and al though Panama does have very tall buildings, it is a far cry from Dubai and I hope it stays that way.
Off to the airport, we swiftly floated through the few lines of ticketing and security and the group disbursed to separate lunch spots. Polly and I had pizza, nice way to ease ourselves back into our world. Short afterwards, we bid our phenomenal adventure farewell and boarded our plane to Houston. 12 hours later, we were home and cold, saying goodbye and wishing everyone well. Until we meet again, friends, fare forward travelers.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Day 10, January 22, 2011
Day 10, January 22, 2011
Another travel day. We were traveling back to Panama City again today and we didn’t have any scheduled plans for this morning. After breakfast, half the group went out and rented bicycles and the rest walked around the city. I decided to just sit at the hotel and relaxed. I did a bunch of packing, computer stuff, since my computer didn’t work for an entire day and I reflected on the adventures we had had, it was wonderful. Then I went to lunch with Jan and Gary at a little sandwich shop with air conditioning, yeay.
Our flight to the city was uneventful and we settled into a County Inn and Suites; we can see the bridge of the Americas from our room. Then after a little more computer stuff on a faster connection, Polly and I decided to take a taxi to the Hard Rock Café, at Metrocentral! We had a good time in the mall, back the real world I guess, and the HRC was fantastic. I spent a bunch of money on shirts, glasses and a really cute hat.
We giggled and laughed and joked with our driver on the ride back to the hotel and after a quick call home to a friend, I called it a night, showered and went to sleep. See you all manana!
Day 9, January 21st, 2011
Day 9, January 21st, 2011
Another leisurely morning; coffee, then breakfast, a lot of fun visiting on our dock and balcony. Push off was again 9 AM and we were headed to Bird Island. An area where special sea birds nest once a year, otherwise they are out to sea. We didn’t dock, no one is allowed to walk on the island during nesting season, so we motored around it a couple of times. We also boated by “Turtle Beach”, an area that the sea turtles nest, again we didn’t land, it was very rough sea near by and we were nicely out in a spot that was only effected by large swells, no waves.
Our first stop was a beach for lunch, it took us quiet awhile to do our in boat sight seeing. The beach was clean and pretty, I even found a fantastic shell very close to the boat, and that started a search by a couple of us to find some more.
Then a lunch of fruit salad and a club soda. I also took a walk along the beach for a while and visited another little shack with trinkets for sale, got myself a keychain.
We were then off to snorkel some more, 4 spots, 1st stop, Starfish Beach. It was really cool, and we got to turn a Starfish over on it’s back and watched it turn itself over. Another spot was a mangrove, it was fascinating. Mangroves are the nurseries for all the fish, schools of tiny baby fish, I loved it. It was also really cool to see all the roots for the trees, neat to see how they grow. Then off to a couple corral reefs, that were full of color and fish, but still awfully small fish. I did get to see some cool jelly fish, a Green Murey Eel, a bunch of Parrot Fish, more Star Fish and a Spotted Ray, gorgeous!
Snorkeling took up the rest of the day and we made our way back to hotel, we were scheduled to have a farewell dinner for everyone at 7 pm, so we had some time to clean up and chill out. I had bought a bottle of white wine at a grocery store stop that we made in Vulcan, so we decided it was a white wine night. Dinner was a Red Snapper, coconut rice with beans, veggies and delicious orange/pineapple juice, delicious again!!!
After dinner, I sat in the hammock for hours, listening to my ipod, Benedictine Monks, Chants, while I was watching the moon rise in the sky. My mini computer decided that it didn’t want to turn on for me, I was very concerned, but what could I do? So I left it in my room, in it’s case, with a couple silica packets and hoped it was just the humidity bothering it; it’s working now, only took a one day break. Then off to bed late, almost feel asleep in the hammock, Tranquillo!
Another leisurely morning; coffee, then breakfast, a lot of fun visiting on our dock and balcony. Push off was again 9 AM and we were headed to Bird Island. An area where special sea birds nest once a year, otherwise they are out to sea. We didn’t dock, no one is allowed to walk on the island during nesting season, so we motored around it a couple of times. We also boated by “Turtle Beach”, an area that the sea turtles nest, again we didn’t land, it was very rough sea near by and we were nicely out in a spot that was only effected by large swells, no waves.
Our first stop was a beach for lunch, it took us quiet awhile to do our in boat sight seeing. The beach was clean and pretty, I even found a fantastic shell very close to the boat, and that started a search by a couple of us to find some more.
Then a lunch of fruit salad and a club soda. I also took a walk along the beach for a while and visited another little shack with trinkets for sale, got myself a keychain. We were then off to snorkel some more, 4 spots, 1st stop, Starfish Beach. It was really cool, and we got to turn a Starfish over on it’s back and watched it turn itself over. Another spot was a mangrove, it was fascinating. Mangroves are the nurseries for all the fish, schools of tiny baby fish, I loved it. It was also really cool to see all the roots for the trees, neat to see how they grow. Then off to a couple corral reefs, that were full of color and fish, but still awfully small fish. I did get to see some cool jelly fish, a Green Murey Eel, a bunch of Parrot Fish, more Star Fish and a Spotted Ray, gorgeous!
Snorkeling took up the rest of the day and we made our way back to hotel, we were scheduled to have a farewell dinner for everyone at 7 pm, so we had some time to clean up and chill out. I had bought a bottle of white wine at a grocery store stop that we made in Vulcan, so we decided it was a white wine night. Dinner was a Red Snapper, coconut rice with beans, veggies and delicious orange/pineapple juice, delicious again!!!
After dinner, I sat in the hammock for hours, listening to my ipod, Benedictine Monks, Chants, while I was watching the moon rise in the sky. My mini computer decided that it didn’t want to turn on for me, I was very concerned, but what could I do? So I left it in my room, in it’s case, with a couple silica packets and hoped it was just the humidity bothering it; it’s working now, only took a one day break. Then off to bed late, almost feel asleep in the hammock, Tranquillo!
Day 8, January 20th, 2011
Day 8, January 20th, 2011
Tranquillo… The most common descriptive word used here on Bocas Island. There was quite a party next door last night, but otherwise, the place is gorgeous and peaceful, the easy life. The partiers were at the youth hostel next door; a big group of surfer dudes, that are loud, but easy on the eyes, haha. Apparently, the surfing is amazing here, not far down the coast are some killer waves, we can see them from our balcony. From our dock (car port), we got a good look at a Lion Fish, not native to Panama and they are killing a lot of fish. It’s now common for them to be hunted with reward; population control. There were also a few crabs and a little school of fish, once in a while. A lot of corral and mussels cling to the pillars that our hotel was built on.
Today, we pushed off in our boat at 9 am, after a wonderful breakfast. I’m really going to miss the fruit and fish here in Panama. Our 1st stop today is a village named, Salt Creek. It’s another Indian village that hosts tourist, to a very limited extent. They let us come in and walk through their rain forest and they sell their handmade items, much more primitive then the other villages we visited. Our intentions in this village were to see more birds.
We also got to see a caiman, a couple of poisonous frogs (and I didn’t die from them, maybe next trip, haha), a 3 toed sloth, a 2 toed sloth and a couple of night monkeys. As well as the birds, I got some fabulous pictures of some of them, but I can’t remember their names. I enjoyed shooting some butterflies too, so colorful and graceful. One big, beautiful butterfly doesn’t land often, so I never got a shot of it. This was the hottest, buggiest place we had been to; very dense forest. It was a pretty quick trip, but some had a really difficult time with the heat.
Through the mangroves, we went to a neat little restaurant built on the water, specializing in lobster. I had the mixed fish, with coconut rice and an orange crush. The water was so clear next to the dock that we could see Starfish, Needlefish, Sea Urchin, some Parrot Fish and watched sardines jumping, fabulous.
We also got the chance to change into our bathing suits for our snorkeling excursion. We were going to 2 different corral reefs, in 2 different locations. The corral here looks over snorkeled and our stupid guide, Ricardo, was standing on it, I was not amused by this display of disrespect, nor was Skot. He also didn’t know the names of the fish, just hollered a lot, “Lady, come see the pretty fish”, ugg. The driver of the boat was a native Panamanian, Livingston, and you could tell he has seen his share of tourist and difficulties. He was not amused by Ricardo either, nor by the other boats of snorkelers that were bringing lobsters to the surface in excitement calling it lunch; he'd yell out to the other driver to mak them throw it back. Such ridiculousness. It was interesting and fun to snorkel, but a little sad to see the poor conditions and the lack of really large fish, that should be normal for this area.
One last stop was a pretty private beach. It was a five minute walk, through the woods, that looked like everything was planted instead of natural and most of the “park” was under construction. We weren’t exactly sure why we stopped here, some of the group found some nice views of birds, but otherwise, it was just a bit weird. The funniest thing was while Skot and Suzy were taking a walk on the beach alone, they came across a couple, the woman was nude and the guy was taking pictures, Skot felt very awkward, Ricardo however, he thought it was great and felt it necessary to borrow some ones binoculars, to get a better view, yikes, that’s professional. But I don’t think professionalism is part of Ricardo’s vocabulary. The rest of the group could see the seen from where we perched ourselves with beers and kinda just laughed at the whole thing. We didn’t stay at this location very long at all, we were all ready to shower and rest.
Once back at the hotel, cleaned up and ready to eat, Skot, Suzy, Georgia, Jan, Gary and I, went to dinner at the Pirate. A filleted Tuna was my pick tonight, along with coconut rice and beans, oh a horrible margarita. We had a great time chatting about the whole trip so far and playing, “who sings this”, to the 80’s music, I loved that of course. We also stopped for some ice cream too, delicious.
Stayed up late, trying to upload some pictures, updating info on the blog and such, went to bed at about 11:30, what an eventful day.
Tranquillo… The most common descriptive word used here on Bocas Island. There was quite a party next door last night, but otherwise, the place is gorgeous and peaceful, the easy life. The partiers were at the youth hostel next door; a big group of surfer dudes, that are loud, but easy on the eyes, haha. Apparently, the surfing is amazing here, not far down the coast are some killer waves, we can see them from our balcony. From our dock (car port), we got a good look at a Lion Fish, not native to Panama and they are killing a lot of fish. It’s now common for them to be hunted with reward; population control. There were also a few crabs and a little school of fish, once in a while. A lot of corral and mussels cling to the pillars that our hotel was built on.
Today, we pushed off in our boat at 9 am, after a wonderful breakfast. I’m really going to miss the fruit and fish here in Panama. Our 1st stop today is a village named, Salt Creek. It’s another Indian village that hosts tourist, to a very limited extent. They let us come in and walk through their rain forest and they sell their handmade items, much more primitive then the other villages we visited. Our intentions in this village were to see more birds.
We also got to see a caiman, a couple of poisonous frogs (and I didn’t die from them, maybe next trip, haha), a 3 toed sloth, a 2 toed sloth and a couple of night monkeys. As well as the birds, I got some fabulous pictures of some of them, but I can’t remember their names. I enjoyed shooting some butterflies too, so colorful and graceful. One big, beautiful butterfly doesn’t land often, so I never got a shot of it. This was the hottest, buggiest place we had been to; very dense forest. It was a pretty quick trip, but some had a really difficult time with the heat.Through the mangroves, we went to a neat little restaurant built on the water, specializing in lobster. I had the mixed fish, with coconut rice and an orange crush. The water was so clear next to the dock that we could see Starfish, Needlefish, Sea Urchin, some Parrot Fish and watched sardines jumping, fabulous.
We also got the chance to change into our bathing suits for our snorkeling excursion. We were going to 2 different corral reefs, in 2 different locations. The corral here looks over snorkeled and our stupid guide, Ricardo, was standing on it, I was not amused by this display of disrespect, nor was Skot. He also didn’t know the names of the fish, just hollered a lot, “Lady, come see the pretty fish”, ugg. The driver of the boat was a native Panamanian, Livingston, and you could tell he has seen his share of tourist and difficulties. He was not amused by Ricardo either, nor by the other boats of snorkelers that were bringing lobsters to the surface in excitement calling it lunch; he'd yell out to the other driver to mak them throw it back. Such ridiculousness. It was interesting and fun to snorkel, but a little sad to see the poor conditions and the lack of really large fish, that should be normal for this area. One last stop was a pretty private beach. It was a five minute walk, through the woods, that looked like everything was planted instead of natural and most of the “park” was under construction. We weren’t exactly sure why we stopped here, some of the group found some nice views of birds, but otherwise, it was just a bit weird. The funniest thing was while Skot and Suzy were taking a walk on the beach alone, they came across a couple, the woman was nude and the guy was taking pictures, Skot felt very awkward, Ricardo however, he thought it was great and felt it necessary to borrow some ones binoculars, to get a better view, yikes, that’s professional. But I don’t think professionalism is part of Ricardo’s vocabulary. The rest of the group could see the seen from where we perched ourselves with beers and kinda just laughed at the whole thing. We didn’t stay at this location very long at all, we were all ready to shower and rest.
Once back at the hotel, cleaned up and ready to eat, Skot, Suzy, Georgia, Jan, Gary and I, went to dinner at the Pirate. A filleted Tuna was my pick tonight, along with coconut rice and beans, oh a horrible margarita. We had a great time chatting about the whole trip so far and playing, “who sings this”, to the 80’s music, I loved that of course. We also stopped for some ice cream too, delicious.
Stayed up late, trying to upload some pictures, updating info on the blog and such, went to bed at about 11:30, what an eventful day.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Day 7, January 19th, 2011
Day 7, January 19th, 2011
Travel day. Breakfast at 7, roll out 8 AM to drive across the continental divide over to another state named, Boca Del Toro, to an island resort. It was a long, long day, traveling by day bus, stopping to see birds and little shops along the way. It was taking a very long time to get a short distance, but as the bus was making it’s way through the hills, the clutch went out. So we had to make a very short stop to wait for another bus, and transfer all of our baggage from one bus to another.
Once we were all settled, we were required to drive direct to our destination, no more stopping, we needed to get to the water taxi by 3pm to get to our hotel. It took us 7 hours to make the trek.
I write this blog whilst sitting in a fabulous sling back chair, on a balcony, overlooking the Caribbean Sea, in a little bay that is now perfectly still with the full moon gazing at its reflection. I’m loving this hotel, it’s named Bocas Inn and it‘s adorable. Our group occupies the whole Inn and we are enjoying the quietness and each others company, out in the open.
The only other thing we did tonight, once settled and sharing a couple of beers together, was to take a stroll down the main street. It’s charming and of course there are lots of little stores with brightly colored hammocks and shirts hanging up outside to entice you to come inside. A little group of us, Polly, Jan, Gary, Skot, Suzy and I all stopped at a stand that had some of the art that was displayed inside the hotel. Gorgeous vibrant paintings, that looked a little more Jamaican or African, then Panamanian, but we all loved them and made some purchases.
Then, just a little lighter in the wallet, we ventured off to dinner, on the water, overlooking the taxis. It was a fantastic fillet fish dish, grilled in garlic and tomatoes, served with coconut rice. Yum! We also enjoyed a view of the full moon rising.
After dinner, in the darkness, I made my way back to the hotel alone, I was starting to feel the bugs biting, and decided to type my blog and rest for a little bit. Then Georgia and I went for another little stroll, in the other direction from before. It was a beautiful evening, the perfect ending to a long day.
Travel day. Breakfast at 7, roll out 8 AM to drive across the continental divide over to another state named, Boca Del Toro, to an island resort. It was a long, long day, traveling by day bus, stopping to see birds and little shops along the way. It was taking a very long time to get a short distance, but as the bus was making it’s way through the hills, the clutch went out. So we had to make a very short stop to wait for another bus, and transfer all of our baggage from one bus to another.
Once we were all settled, we were required to drive direct to our destination, no more stopping, we needed to get to the water taxi by 3pm to get to our hotel. It took us 7 hours to make the trek. I write this blog whilst sitting in a fabulous sling back chair, on a balcony, overlooking the Caribbean Sea, in a little bay that is now perfectly still with the full moon gazing at its reflection. I’m loving this hotel, it’s named Bocas Inn and it‘s adorable. Our group occupies the whole Inn and we are enjoying the quietness and each others company, out in the open.
The only other thing we did tonight, once settled and sharing a couple of beers together, was to take a stroll down the main street. It’s charming and of course there are lots of little stores with brightly colored hammocks and shirts hanging up outside to entice you to come inside. A little group of us, Polly, Jan, Gary, Skot, Suzy and I all stopped at a stand that had some of the art that was displayed inside the hotel. Gorgeous vibrant paintings, that looked a little more Jamaican or African, then Panamanian, but we all loved them and made some purchases.
Then, just a little lighter in the wallet, we ventured off to dinner, on the water, overlooking the taxis. It was a fantastic fillet fish dish, grilled in garlic and tomatoes, served with coconut rice. Yum! We also enjoyed a view of the full moon rising.
After dinner, in the darkness, I made my way back to the hotel alone, I was starting to feel the bugs biting, and decided to type my blog and rest for a little bit. Then Georgia and I went for another little stroll, in the other direction from before. It was a beautiful evening, the perfect ending to a long day.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Day 6, January 18th, 2011
Day 6, January 18th, 2011
Orchid Farm. We got to sleep in, hooray! Since in this area, the birds don’t get up as early as the coast and we didn’t roll out until 8. The group enjoyed breakfast together, a little stroll around the grounds in the cool morning air and a visit to a wetlands area across the street from hotel, where a groups Ingrids perched for the night.
Our first destination today was a hike in the lower areas of the volcano. It was a great walk, an we were looking for a bird called a Quetzel (Ket-sul). It’s a brilliantly colored bird, red breasted, black ish head, blue back and an extremely long blue tail. It was quiet difficult to find, special to this area, but our guide Skot was able to call a few of them to his attention, with help of our field guide, Narano. Once found, I was so happy to get a great picture of a male (longest tail) and the female, I was so proud. I’ve been switching back and forth between my regular lens and telephoto, and of course I had just switched to my regular lens, then the bird appeared. I quickly switched back and everyone was amazed at the shot I got and are asking for copies, yeay! On the walk back to the bus, we got to see a huge tarantula, it was so cool and kinda creepy.
A little while later, after a few stops on the side of the road to check out birds, we stopped in a little town named, Curro Punto. This is were we had lunch and walked around a little. I had fried fish AGAIN, and I have to say, it gets better everyday, wow. After lunch, I walked to a shop that was selling the normal trinkets and hammocks, t-shits and bags and so on, I ended up buying a pretty little purse that goes nicely with a small clutch wallet I always carry on trips (made in Guatemala, given to me by a friend).
This little purse is big enough to carry my big camera and a water bottle, it’s perfect. Very unusual for me to buy souvenirs, sometimes, you just gotta do it.
This area is absolutely beautiful and rich in agriculture, with lots of cows and chickens. The land ide even hand plowed, farms everywhere and it is so clean and well kept. The homes here are very nice and a lot of pride is taken in their upkeep. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of homes and shops that are run down or look impoverished, but there is no trash along roads and tons of bright colors.
Next up was an Orchid farm, Finca Dracula. It was a beautiful place, the gardens were fantastic. I took more picture, I’m at over 700 now, and I still have 4 days to go. Yikes. In addition to pictures, we took a tour and learned about what an Orchid is and that there are over 2000 species. It was a nice diversion from birding.
But wait, we went birding some more, haha. A few of us in the group, that were tired of looking for birds, decided to just hike. We were at another trail in the cloud forest and it was beautiful, cool temps and more exercise, we enjoyed ourselves.
Once back at the hotel, the majority of the group sat and had drinks, I went with a margarita for a change, I also showed off my pictures of the day to the group. Dinner was quick, a little handmade pizza, made with local veggis, it was delicious!!!
Polly and I then just resigned to our room, packed up a little bit and chatted for about 2 hours, nothing like a little girl talk to whine down from a busy day! She is a great personal and I’m blessed to have been matched up with her.
Orchid Farm. We got to sleep in, hooray! Since in this area, the birds don’t get up as early as the coast and we didn’t roll out until 8. The group enjoyed breakfast together, a little stroll around the grounds in the cool morning air and a visit to a wetlands area across the street from hotel, where a groups Ingrids perched for the night.
Our first destination today was a hike in the lower areas of the volcano. It was a great walk, an we were looking for a bird called a Quetzel (Ket-sul). It’s a brilliantly colored bird, red breasted, black ish head, blue back and an extremely long blue tail. It was quiet difficult to find, special to this area, but our guide Skot was able to call a few of them to his attention, with help of our field guide, Narano. Once found, I was so happy to get a great picture of a male (longest tail) and the female, I was so proud. I’ve been switching back and forth between my regular lens and telephoto, and of course I had just switched to my regular lens, then the bird appeared. I quickly switched back and everyone was amazed at the shot I got and are asking for copies, yeay! On the walk back to the bus, we got to see a huge tarantula, it was so cool and kinda creepy.
A little while later, after a few stops on the side of the road to check out birds, we stopped in a little town named, Curro Punto. This is were we had lunch and walked around a little. I had fried fish AGAIN, and I have to say, it gets better everyday, wow. After lunch, I walked to a shop that was selling the normal trinkets and hammocks, t-shits and bags and so on, I ended up buying a pretty little purse that goes nicely with a small clutch wallet I always carry on trips (made in Guatemala, given to me by a friend).
This little purse is big enough to carry my big camera and a water bottle, it’s perfect. Very unusual for me to buy souvenirs, sometimes, you just gotta do it. This area is absolutely beautiful and rich in agriculture, with lots of cows and chickens. The land ide even hand plowed, farms everywhere and it is so clean and well kept. The homes here are very nice and a lot of pride is taken in their upkeep. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of homes and shops that are run down or look impoverished, but there is no trash along roads and tons of bright colors.
Next up was an Orchid farm, Finca Dracula. It was a beautiful place, the gardens were fantastic. I took more picture, I’m at over 700 now, and I still have 4 days to go. Yikes. In addition to pictures, we took a tour and learned about what an Orchid is and that there are over 2000 species. It was a nice diversion from birding.
But wait, we went birding some more, haha. A few of us in the group, that were tired of looking for birds, decided to just hike. We were at another trail in the cloud forest and it was beautiful, cool temps and more exercise, we enjoyed ourselves.
Once back at the hotel, the majority of the group sat and had drinks, I went with a margarita for a change, I also showed off my pictures of the day to the group. Dinner was quick, a little handmade pizza, made with local veggis, it was delicious!!!
Polly and I then just resigned to our room, packed up a little bit and chatted for about 2 hours, nothing like a little girl talk to whine down from a busy day! She is a great personal and I’m blessed to have been matched up with her.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Day 5, January 17th, 2011
Day 5, January 17th, 2011
Cloud Forest. Up at 4 AM again, to be on a flight at 6 AM to the Western part of Panama, in a province named Chirique, bordering Costa Rica. We flew into the city of David and then were shuttled to an archeological site that states they have found remains of a civilization dating back 3000 years, mainly consisting of Chinese and African people, cohabitating. It was an interesting little museum as well and the lady that runs the place does a fantastic job giving tours in English, BUT the placed was a little too unbelievable, too much of the story didn’t make sense and everyone has commented about that. The name of the area is Sitio Barriles, and sits at the base of an extinct volcano, hasn’t erupted for 800 years, and near the town of Vulcan. We had a really nice time visiting the site and got to see a lot of really cool birds as well. I honestly can’t tell you all the birds I’ve seen, but it’s more then I would ever pay attention to.
We then had lunch at a local restaurant in Vulcan, (I had fish again, I think I’ve done that everyday) and proceeded to our new hotel.
It’s really quant place, we take up half of the rooms, but the grounds are beautifully kept and the people are very friendly. And beer is SUPER cheap, $1.25!!! But before we got to beer, we went for a hike in the cloud forest. About an hour away from the hotel, we were taken to another national park that is shared with Costa Rica. We hiked and watched for birds for about an hour. It was a nice steep trail, at an elevation of 3500 feet, that pretty high for Panama. It was much cooler in that clouds and we welcomed the change of scenery, yet still being in the warmth of the rainforest. It was absolutely beautiful and I took more pictures of flowers then anything else. I can’t wait to go the orchid farm tomorrow. A cloud forest is: generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, or frequent seasonal low level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Often exhibiting an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as mossy forests. - Wikipedia
As soon as the rain started, we jumped in the bus and headed to the hotel for the night. It was time for relaxation. I had beers with Polly and the 2 Anne’s, then dinner with a large group that gathered about an hour after we returned. I had spaghetti this time, delicious. I knew when I saw all the farms around this area and the fresh tomatoes at the market, that the tomato sauce would be fabulous, I wasn’t disappointed. Before dinner, Georgia and I decided that spending some time doing yoga would be a wonderful break from birding, so at about 8:30 we met in a little empty room off the lobby of the hotel and spent an hour doing yoga, it was magnificent!! We then resigned to typing our blogs, writing in journals and calling it a night early.Sorry for the lack of pictures, I will try to add some to the previous posts, the connection here is not that great, so I will do my best.
Cheers
Day 4, January 16th, 2011
Day 4, January 16th, 2011
Dawn Chorus. The tour began at 6 this morning, after a great hot breakfast, coffee and juice and some of the best yogurt I’ve ever had (btw… I always talk about my meals because of a friend, Eric, mentioned every meal he ate in his blog from New Zealand, so I carry on the tradition). The bus was late for our tour, we were headed to the famous Pipeline Road to take in the sounds of the birds as the sun came up, so we started walking down the hill to listen. After the bus arrived and found us, we were delivered to the Pipeline Road. It was supposed to be a great place to be in the rainforest to see wildlife, it was a little quiet. The birds hid from us, but we got a chance to see an animal from the raccoon family, called Coati Mundi, it lives in the trees along with the monkeys. We got to see some more Howler Monkeys, White Faced Capuchin Monkeys, a few Parrots flying and some kind of spotted cat crossed out path quickly. The group was picked up again by the bus at 9 AM and had the afternoon to ourselves and we would be picked up again at 4:30 pm.
Polly and I spent the day in the resort relaxing, these early morning were really wearing me out. We spent some time at the gorgeous pool, eating lunch (Sea Bass Ceviche) and drinking.
I attempted to update my blog at the pool, but I decided to take a nap instead. It rained a little bit, but the warmth and sun was delightful. Afterwards, we walked to an area of the resort that was formerly the Canal workers lodging, they are cute villas. Then we wandered to the marina and looked at the boats, as well as taking a bunch of pictures. 
The evening activities were to visit the Maraflores Locks Museum, for an after hours tour, then dinner overlooking the locks. The museum was beautiful and we had a guided tour and lesson about the history and future of the Canal. They are adding a third lane to the Canal to help with the traffic. This project should be completed in August of 2014, which is the 100 year anniversary of the Canal opening. Dinner was a buffet; great salads, paella, and some really great fish, then a wonderful dessert table. The locks were really awesome to watch, several boats worked their way through and it is fascinating the way the water raises the boats and they float into the next stage of water, I was awestruck. 
Once we all returned to the hotel, we had to prepare for departure, our flight is at 6 AM, so we have to leave at 4:50, yikes. So we packed our bags and went to bed, but not before we had our last drink with my little waiter friend at the lobby bar, I had to be sure to say goodbye to him. He had to tell me, via Polly’s translation, that I was pretty, he was such a cute kid. But everyone laughed at how many free drinks I got from him! LOL
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Day 3, January 15th, 2011
Day 3, January 15th, 2011
Birding day. The group met up at 4:45 AM for a quick continental breakfast of fresh fruit, bread rolls, juice and coffee. We were attempting to get out into the forest early enough to hear the birds as they begin their day. Our destination this morning was the Caribbean side of the Canal (the Atlantic side. It was a tour of driving to different locations and getting off the bus to see as many different birds that presented themselves. The birds did not disappoint us, Toucans, Tropical Kingbirds, Brown Pelicans, Black Vultures and probably 20 others that I can’t remember and would have no idea I even saw them. There were some magnificent colors in these birds and the sounds were impressive. We also got to see some Howler Monkeys, adorable little things, but they make a sound that is loud and moving, much larger then they appear to be able to make. You can feel their presents when they howl”. It would make more sense to call them Growler Monkeys, because they sound like they are growl.
Interesting things seen along the way; we crossed the Panama Canal on a one way bridge, that is the only bridge that crosses the canal on the Atlantic side. Saw several gigantic ships that appear to be too large to make it through the deceivingly narrow canal, in some places. We also saw some of the spillways; this area of the canal was opened up on December 8th, 2010 to allow the canal to drain from all the rain. On this date, it was the 1st time in history the Canal was “closed” due to weather; delayed is actually the correct term, per our tour guide Ivan. The water shed areas flooded, causing a rush of water into the Canal.
St Lorenzo Fort was our next stop. It was a fort at the entrance of the Chagres River from the Atlantic Ocean, so the area had to be protected from Pirates and things of that nature. The area was very green and the clouds were forming above, it reminded me of Wales or Ireland. The waves of the Atlantic were huge, whilst a little fishing boat with 5 people aboard were anchored trying to get today’s meal. It began to rain, but in the humidity, the cool drops felt really good on the skin, I had to take my over shirt off to cover my camera, and I enjoyed being in just a tank top for a little while. Ivan had spotted a sloth, in a far away treetop, and we stood in the rain looking through his high powered scope at the fantastic creature. Yet with the rain getting heavier, we decided to jump in the bus and head to lunch.For lunch, we visited a little poor village that our guide, Skot, visited during college, he help build a lookout platform for a nature center there. There was also a group of students from CU that helped build a small café in the middle of the village to encourage tourist to visit and spend their money.
The town was making attempts at cleaning up the building and homes, but they make very little money. Even our bus driver, whom lives in Panama City, remarked at how sad it is to see this town and how poor the people are, “we don’t’ realize how much we take for granted the way we live, internet and cell phones, cable and such, it’s just sad”. Everyone was very kind and grateful for our patronage, as we pull away the kids wave at the bus. We got back to the hotel and we had a nice dinner of a salad bar and again, sat in the hotel lobby bar to enjoy some local beers and talk about our day. I was served by my nice waiter that invited me to disco, and when the opportunity arose, he gave me his phone number. So cute, but I don’t speak Spanish and he doesn’t speak English, but such a lovely gesture. I even got a kiss on the cheek upon my departure to my room, awe. The group resigned to bed early, the day tomorrow begins again at 5:45.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Day 2, January 14th, 2011
Day 2 - January 14th, 2011
Since this is a bird watching trip, I think it’s going to be a whole week of early mornings. Luckily, they are starting us out easy. We inadvertently slept in a little bit, but didn’t miss anything. We were to meet the group at the bus at 8:30 AM, breakfast started at 6:30.
Breakfast consisted of a hot buffet, fresh tropical fruit, cereals, breads, cold cuts and cheeses, as well as coffee and juices, watermelon juice, I’ve never watermelon juice before. I ate breakfast alone and worked on my blog, I’ve got to keep you updated, haha. The hotel has free wifi in the lobby and lobby bar, so I sat with my little pc and wrote to you all. And of course, I took some pictures of the hotel, it is beautiful.
The tour left promptly at 8:30 and we were off to see the Embera People, indigenous to this area, amongst the water shed of the Panama Canal. Whilst we drove, Ivan, our Russian named, Panamanian born, English raised, bi-lingual tour guide, explained Panama’s culture, politics, geography, history, diversity and everything else that could be explained in a 1 ½ hour bus ride. Our group had tons of questions as well. Interesting to me was the fact that Hibiscus is call a weed by Ivan and trash is Panama’s cancer. There is kind of a hierarchy when it comes to trash pick up, the more affluent areas have regular pick up, the poorer areas get picked up when they get around to it, it’s quiet sad, trash is everywhere outside the city. There is no recycling programs at all here, unless the neighborhoods volunteer themselves, and local groups have even asked the US to aid them in getting a reliable program in place, but much to no avail.
When we arrived to see the Embera people, we had to take a water taxi out to there village. We were greeted by all of them, young and old, with music and huge smiles. Hosting tourist and selling their handmade goods are how they survive with no government assistance. They are such kind and gracious people, rich in culture that they have clung to and works very well for them.
They explain to us in a little presentation, their history, their village system, their rules, their religion (which is quiet beautiful, not to mention, not influenced by any modern forms) and their medical systems. They also explain to us how they made their handmade goods and the process of the dying of the palm fronds they use for weaving, they made some beautiful pieces. We were then served a traditional lunch of fried plantains and fried tilapias, I don’t generally eat fish at home, but this was as fresh as I was ever going to get fish, next to pulling it out of a river myself, These people get the food from the water around them and the grounds they live on. It was unbelievable, we were also served organic bright red, plump tomatoes, cheese, fruit, pita bread and humus. It was all incredible. After lunch we got time to send some money on their goods, walk around the grounds to see how they live and watch them perform a native dance. They are phenomenal people and they have such a peaceful simple life. On our way to the Emberas, we also stopped to pay our toll into the national park and got a moment to shop at a little “store” for a company called G12 Mujeres; 12 women got together and created a business, with the help of USAID, to sell goods to tourist. It was such a wonderful little story. After this wonderful experience, the tour headed to the Zoo. It’s a small zoo as far as how many exhibits they have, but on a large piece of property. It was fun to see so many local animal species, including lots of monkeys, birds, reptiles (alligators) and felines, as well as seeing rare animals such as the Harpy Eagle,
amazing. It’s the largest eagle and not really the prettiest either, but quiet dangerous. And since we were a birding group, we spent a fair amount of time learning about these creatures. Then we proceeded around the zoo and were eaten alive by chiggers, well that is, I was, my legs look like I have the measles. 
They don’t itch or anything, yet, so I guess it’s all part of the “fun”. The really sad thing about the zoo is that it is under funded and dilapidated. There was a sad desperate look on the face of the zoo guide as he was asked questions about the facility and he apologized several times about the conditions of most of the exhibits. You can see he had such pride in his work and a love for the animals and it pained him greatly that the zoo was in such poor condition, I guess you could say he was embarrassed. We were all very grateful for the tour he gave us and we all had a heavy heart for the situation. The day of tours ended there and we were hot, sticky and bug bitten, so off to the showers. Polly and I decided to just hang out in our rooms for a little while, instead of joining everyone at the pool, then we just sat at the lobby bar, drank Mojitos and Pina Colatas, and I had a hamburger. I can say I certainly won’t be craving the beef from Panama when I get home, but I always like to try the beef in different countries. After these few drinks and attempting a conversation with our 24 year old waiter (I‘m glad I made some kind of attempt at learning a little bit of Spanish, I‘ve actually been able to understand when I’m talked to in Spanish), who invited me to a disco tomorrow night in Panama City, we went back to our room and crashed. Tomorrow morning, out of the hotel at 5.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Day 1, Jan 13th, 2011
Day 1 - Panama, Jan 13th, 2011
Travel day. You wouldn’t think that this would be a day worthy of writing home about, yet it was a great day. From inside my cocoon of warmth in my bed, 4:15 AM came too quickly, but I was quiet excited for it. Yet, realizing, I should have turned on the space heater for the room over night, boy it’s cold, I can’t wait to feel the warmth that Panama is promising me. I prepared my bags the night before and I only needed to finish up a few details and I was ready to go. It was awfully nice of my ex-husband to offer to give me a ride to the rendezvous point for the group I was traveling with; roll out 5:15 AM.
During this trip, I’m traveling with 12 people, Skot and Suzy, trip organizer and his lovely wife, Polly is my roommate, Cory, Ann (times 2), Peggy, Deb, Georgia, Gary, Jan and Janette. Our details for today are a flight to Houston, 2 hour layover, flight to Panama and a shuttle bus to Gamboa Rainforest Resort. You can see details about it at www.gamboaresort.com.
During our flights, I sat with Polly and Cory, we had a delightful time. It was fun to hear of where they were both from originally, all of us are from the Denver Area now. Polly from Minnesota and Cory from Holland, the Southern part, along the Belgium border. Lots of talk of where we’ve been and the adventures we have had. Additional chats about the kinds of foods we like, one of my favorites was hearing about the progression of meals during a day in Holland. Lots of chocolates and sweets, yum! We each enjoyed some time with word search books or crosswords and I of course had to take several naps. The entire trip was very smooth and we had no trouble at all with any bags or people, haha.
The Gamboa Resort is 45 minutes North East of Panama City, along the Chagres River, ABSOLUTELY gorgeous place. We even have a hammock on our balcony! Since it was so late when we arrived, only a hint of the river was visible, illuminated by a brilliant half moon. The air was warm, humid and mildly thick, it feels wonderful. We all dropped our bags in our rooms, I took a couple of pictures before the beds were disturbed and then a quick evening snack of Civiche, and a couple of drinks in the lobby bar with everyone.
One thing I noticed, as I walked along the outside corridor, was the sound of the tropical insects and maybe a couple of monkeys, welcoming me to Panama. The sound was intense and I realize it was an appropriate greeting to the country, since this all started with a walk in the park, listening to singing insects.
I was a little anxious for the next day and had a little bit of a hard time getting to sleep, but it was much welcomed once I settled my mind.
Travel day. You wouldn’t think that this would be a day worthy of writing home about, yet it was a great day. From inside my cocoon of warmth in my bed, 4:15 AM came too quickly, but I was quiet excited for it. Yet, realizing, I should have turned on the space heater for the room over night, boy it’s cold, I can’t wait to feel the warmth that Panama is promising me. I prepared my bags the night before and I only needed to finish up a few details and I was ready to go. It was awfully nice of my ex-husband to offer to give me a ride to the rendezvous point for the group I was traveling with; roll out 5:15 AM.
During this trip, I’m traveling with 12 people, Skot and Suzy, trip organizer and his lovely wife, Polly is my roommate, Cory, Ann (times 2), Peggy, Deb, Georgia, Gary, Jan and Janette. Our details for today are a flight to Houston, 2 hour layover, flight to Panama and a shuttle bus to Gamboa Rainforest Resort. You can see details about it at www.gamboaresort.com.
During our flights, I sat with Polly and Cory, we had a delightful time. It was fun to hear of where they were both from originally, all of us are from the Denver Area now. Polly from Minnesota and Cory from Holland, the Southern part, along the Belgium border. Lots of talk of where we’ve been and the adventures we have had. Additional chats about the kinds of foods we like, one of my favorites was hearing about the progression of meals during a day in Holland. Lots of chocolates and sweets, yum! We each enjoyed some time with word search books or crosswords and I of course had to take several naps. The entire trip was very smooth and we had no trouble at all with any bags or people, haha.
The Gamboa Resort is 45 minutes North East of Panama City, along the Chagres River, ABSOLUTELY gorgeous place. We even have a hammock on our balcony! Since it was so late when we arrived, only a hint of the river was visible, illuminated by a brilliant half moon. The air was warm, humid and mildly thick, it feels wonderful. We all dropped our bags in our rooms, I took a couple of pictures before the beds were disturbed and then a quick evening snack of Civiche, and a couple of drinks in the lobby bar with everyone.
One thing I noticed, as I walked along the outside corridor, was the sound of the tropical insects and maybe a couple of monkeys, welcoming me to Panama. The sound was intense and I realize it was an appropriate greeting to the country, since this all started with a walk in the park, listening to singing insects.
I was a little anxious for the next day and had a little bit of a hard time getting to sleep, but it was much welcomed once I settled my mind.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
The Start
Another adventure, another blog. I love hearing that so many people follow along with me on my trips, I'll do my best to give you good details.
I've been asked, "why Panama", some love it, some are not so fond of it. Of course, there is always a story as to what draws me to my destinations. This time, it starts with a simple nature walk, or a "Full Moon Walk" as they are titled, with the South Suburban Parks and Recreation center in my county. I was looking around on their website, whilst signing up for my summer dance classes, and found a list of nature walks, hosted by the Carson Nature Center (CNC) at SSPR. Once a month, on the night of the full moon, there is a guided tour along the paths at the CNC, and the one that sounded intriguing to me was named "Insect Orchestra". It was a night full of singing nighttime bugs, along with description and education about these little singers. I love these kinds of things, but as I drove to the center, I was talking to myself, asking why I was doing this alone, I found this summer to be filled with an enormous amount of shared time with friends, but also many lonely moments wishing my friends were joining me. I share this only because there is an "Ah-ha" moment coming. So alone I went and joined a group of about 10 people and learned about the bugs that perform for each of us, every night of the summer. At the end of this walk, our guide Skot, announced some additional programs sponsored by SSPR and also added "If any of you like international travel, we are going to Panama in January, I can give you some additional information about it, just see me after our walk is done". WHAT!?!?!? (insert Ah ha moment, it was obvious now, I was there for a reason) How exciting, I was immediately interested and followed Skot back to the office to get the details on the trip.
Side note; at about 3:30am, the morning of this walk, I was awake and fretting about how I was disappointed by how many people were giving me their feedback on how it was probably not a good idea to travel in the middle east alone as an American woman (at the time I was still planning my trip to Abu Dhabi). I was also discouraged by friends telling me that all the places I wanted to go on my way to Abu Dhabi would be cold and uneventful at the time of year I was going. Wishing I had friends to go with or a group to travel with had crossed my mind and I guess I said a prayer about it, because at 3:30am, I had a voice tell me, "then don't go anywhere but Abu Dhabi, you'll be just fine". I stopped fretting, stopped tossing and turning and went to sleep, it was like I flipped a switch, and it didn't matter anymore. That very night, I was given the "golden ticket" with the opportunity to travel with a group, on an amazing trip to a place that was going to be magnificent. Sure it's not Cairo or the Dead Sea, or Croatia, but it's a place that will definitely fill up my traveling heart and will give me a chance to take a whole bunch of pictures.
I barley hesitated at signing up for the trip, it was a bit more then I would normally spend, especially since it is less then 60-days after another big trip, but I didn't care. I felt it was a gift that I was given, based on what I was asking for, a group trip to a foreign country; ask and you shall receive. If you do ask, you best be willing to go with what you are given; timing is not for me to decide. SO, I'm off in 12 days!!! The trip is a 10-day journey with about 15 people that I don't know, yet, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them all.
I will do my best to post each day, with pictures, if possible. I hope you enjoy reading about this journey and I look forward to hearing from you, with questions or comments about my trip.
I've been asked, "why Panama", some love it, some are not so fond of it. Of course, there is always a story as to what draws me to my destinations. This time, it starts with a simple nature walk, or a "Full Moon Walk" as they are titled, with the South Suburban Parks and Recreation center in my county. I was looking around on their website, whilst signing up for my summer dance classes, and found a list of nature walks, hosted by the Carson Nature Center (CNC) at SSPR. Once a month, on the night of the full moon, there is a guided tour along the paths at the CNC, and the one that sounded intriguing to me was named "Insect Orchestra". It was a night full of singing nighttime bugs, along with description and education about these little singers. I love these kinds of things, but as I drove to the center, I was talking to myself, asking why I was doing this alone, I found this summer to be filled with an enormous amount of shared time with friends, but also many lonely moments wishing my friends were joining me. I share this only because there is an "Ah-ha" moment coming. So alone I went and joined a group of about 10 people and learned about the bugs that perform for each of us, every night of the summer. At the end of this walk, our guide Skot, announced some additional programs sponsored by SSPR and also added "If any of you like international travel, we are going to Panama in January, I can give you some additional information about it, just see me after our walk is done". WHAT!?!?!? (insert Ah ha moment, it was obvious now, I was there for a reason) How exciting, I was immediately interested and followed Skot back to the office to get the details on the trip.
Side note; at about 3:30am, the morning of this walk, I was awake and fretting about how I was disappointed by how many people were giving me their feedback on how it was probably not a good idea to travel in the middle east alone as an American woman (at the time I was still planning my trip to Abu Dhabi). I was also discouraged by friends telling me that all the places I wanted to go on my way to Abu Dhabi would be cold and uneventful at the time of year I was going. Wishing I had friends to go with or a group to travel with had crossed my mind and I guess I said a prayer about it, because at 3:30am, I had a voice tell me, "then don't go anywhere but Abu Dhabi, you'll be just fine". I stopped fretting, stopped tossing and turning and went to sleep, it was like I flipped a switch, and it didn't matter anymore. That very night, I was given the "golden ticket" with the opportunity to travel with a group, on an amazing trip to a place that was going to be magnificent. Sure it's not Cairo or the Dead Sea, or Croatia, but it's a place that will definitely fill up my traveling heart and will give me a chance to take a whole bunch of pictures.
I barley hesitated at signing up for the trip, it was a bit more then I would normally spend, especially since it is less then 60-days after another big trip, but I didn't care. I felt it was a gift that I was given, based on what I was asking for, a group trip to a foreign country; ask and you shall receive. If you do ask, you best be willing to go with what you are given; timing is not for me to decide. SO, I'm off in 12 days!!! The trip is a 10-day journey with about 15 people that I don't know, yet, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them all.
I will do my best to post each day, with pictures, if possible. I hope you enjoy reading about this journey and I look forward to hearing from you, with questions or comments about my trip.
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