nusilusi

Aguas Negras, or black water, is a community located right above the mangroves behind the sewage treatment plant in Bocas town. Yesterday I went with my friend SOnia to her house. I knew she lived near the airport and assumed it was the neighborhood bordering the runway. I was suprised when she said " no por aca" and headed to the gate of the water treatment plant. She ignored the do not enter sign and opened the unlocked gate. We walked between the treatment ponds and out the other side. She was really worried I'd fall on the make shift bridge that crosses the mangrove swamp to the houses on the other side. The boards are pieced together and some are barely nailed down. I watched where she walked and made it across safely and into ... read more

I came to Bocas to invesitigate the possability of starting up a conservation education program for a local field school called ITEC. I'm spending more time on Isla Colon than I did in the past. There are so many unique things to Bocas that I never experienced previously. This week I went in a cave with 5 species of bats, including vampire bats, saw the remains of a loggerhead seaturtle nest, walked to Rio Mimbi Timbi, tried to speak GuariGuari, and ate Deba Mudu, or heart of palm, soup. Tommorrow the entire field school is going to Isla Popa 2 to see an artisan demonstration and walk on the nature trail. Hope it all goes well.... read more

Bocas Reintegration -A cold shower is always a shock. It doesn't matter how hot it is- it hits me like ice being poured down my back. -Mud. My feet will be muddy until August 7th when I get back home. -The Ngabe coffee, never quite good enough but still mange to stay up all night after drinking it. -The poverty. It's worse at least in some houses on popa. More boards missing, less food, roof falling apart. -The Bocas sun- you forget how strong it is when it bounces off the water. -The waiting. For a boat, for a friend, to eat, to chat with a friend, for the ameobas to hit, always waiting. -Sticker shock- to go from Isla Popa to Bocas where everything is more from hotels to food. I can spend the same ... read more

Techo is Spanish for roof. No idea how Techo got this apodo but he did. Techo is an 8 year old Ngabe boy who became my watcheyman (Guariguari for security guard) in Guacamayo. He noticed two mysterious lights in the forest one night and started telling us all it was a crazyman who kills cows at night, eats them, and lives by himself in the woods because he ate his family. What!! I was scaried it was dark as heck in Guacamayo and the latrine was far enough away from the house for me to be freaked out. So I told him he had to be my watcheyman. He went and did a good job of protecting me from the boogieman. Techo has an odd ailment, there is a bone sticking out right over his heart. ... read more

I have just returned from the most beautiful place- Peninsula Valiente in the Comarca Ngäbe Bugle in Bocas del Toro. This huge area juts out into the Chiriqui lagoon off the Caribean coast of Panama in Bocas del Toro province. It is a long way from nowhere. It took 3 hours by boat from Isla Popa, which is 1.5 hours from Bocas! Once I arrived, I had to carry my bag along a sidewalk from Ensenda to Gucamayo, about 1 hour from Kusapin. I ended up in a typical Bocas house- up on stilts made of wooden boards. There is an excellent ocean view from the porch and the hospitality was great. I was greeted in english by Steven, my friend’s brother. He has taught himself english mostly through books and a little help from random ... read more