Blogs from Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 10

As i checked in this morning i was greeted with "Good morning. Just to let you the flight has been overbooked." Visions of being dragged off the flight "a la United" flashed before me "We're looking for volunteers to go tomorrow" That elicited a firm "No" from me. When seated on the plane the two beside me said they were offered $400. I was offered nothing. The flight from Toronto to Panama left on time and no one was forcibly removed to make room for wayward passengers. Except for a few turbulent moments the flight was smooth, but I am thankful I decided to have a small bite to eat at the airport (with the prerequisite large price tag) as food service didn't happen until 1/2 way though the 5 hour flight. A tasty concoction of ... read more

Playa blanca (Porto Belo) Today we had a little day trip to the Caribbean Sea. We have been near Porto Belo at Playa Blanca. Our driver took us by boat to a remote beach with white sand, coconut palm-trees, and very-warm water. But before taking the boat is saw something flying by... and was kind of sure: THAT WAS NOT A BIRD?! so... what flies as well? You got it! A bat :) We spottet a small colony of tent-building bat underneath a palm-tree leaf. It was one of the cutest bat-species there is: Uroderma bilobatum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent-making_bat#/media/File:Common_tent-making_bats.JPG) I snorkelled the whole day, seeing cuttlefishs, sting-rays, funny fishes playing with my finger, and so on. It was lovely ❤ As well, you could see many pelicans fishing nearby from their perch. These birds are quite big, but ... read more

Hey! So here i will just write about daily life :) 07/06/2017 I´m here since almost a week now. And I can say: I really like it here. Yes, it is very warm, yes, it is very humid. But it doesn´t seem to bother me, so I´m fine ? Whenever I leave the house, the estimated walk time at least doubles, because I see so many things. Let that be strange “foam blobs” in puddles (apparently tungara frog nests), female dragonflies laying their eggs in water (looks really funny), or red-lored amazons (parrots) at dusk and dawn which keep you from sleeping or wake you up, respectively. Yesterday, I went to STRI Headquarters (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) for a really nice talk about Tungara frogs. I met some very interesting people. Today, we had a special ... read more

Hi Folks, after arriving at the Tocumen Airport in Panama City, my friend Leonie and Ahana picked me up. We went straight to the beautiful Casco Viejo to our airconditioned hotelroom. First things first: Icecold panamanian rum at the rooftop with a nice view of the nightlit skyscraper skyline :) After we picked up Nora from the airport (later), we went for some drinks and a (much too big) burger. After a full nights rest, we went to the city to go shopping in the mall for groceries and so on... Arriving in Gamboa i met my new roommates and could finally settle in my new room. To conclude the first days: no jetlag, very nice people, very warm and humid, and a looooot of animals - the paradise for a (proper) biologist #greetingstomyboringtechnicalbiologistsinstuttgart #haha ... read more

I think it was late March. I said goodbye to my work. I hadn’t traveled in a while and my spirit was itching for it. Off the beaten path travel has always been my friend, allowing me to dream, also helping me process important things in life. It was time! I was off for a great trip. I flew from Seatac Airport to Houston and connected for a direct flight to Panama City, Panama. I had really enjoyed the last trip and my dear buddy Peter in Boston was going to meet me for another one. We had unfinished business there, it was also a fairly quick flight that we got at a reasonable price. I hit the ground and met Peter in the airport. It was great to see Peter’s smiling face, we got over ... read more