http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Panama , Panama , Panama Canal en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:12:45 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:12:45 UTC Our first stop in Central America was in the hot and humid Panama City. Whilst temperatures were in the low thirties the humidity made the city feel twice that. Thankfully our hotel room had air conditioning which kept us cool during the night. So cool in fact that I woke with a head cold the first morning.Despite being on the 6th floor of the hotel we were awoken at 5.30 by the incredibly loud e http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-329137.html Wellhellip what a Panama Irsquove been throughhellipliterally. I had been told about it by Mum and could not wait to go through the canal and see what Mum had seen on her own cruise. I was still asleep when we went under the Bridge of America I believe itrsquos called but some other crew members got photos so itrsquos all good Itrsquos just a bridge anyway He he. So anyway I was http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-326799.html 8 p.m. August 14 2008Panama Canal ldquoMy grandfather helped build the Panama Canalrdquo said Steph as we stood on the 4th story balcony overlooking the Miraflores Lock. ldquoHe was quite upset when Jimmy Carter signed a treaty which ultimately turned Canal authority over to the Panamanians.rdquoOn September 7 1977 Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos signed the Neutrality Treaty which http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-316263.html The big day had finally arrived. No matter how much you read and speak to people about the Panama Canal transit the whole thing still seemed like a daunting task.Firstly you need one captain four line handlers and an advisor from the Canal Authority. Jen and Ulf from Sea Quill who we met on the way back from San Blas kindly assisted with the lines. We also hired Rudy as our fourth lines pers http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-286276.html Some photos of the crew which helped during the transit http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-285819.html A few shots of us preparing to go through the canal http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-284829.html Hi there all Currently in Panama the weather is hot and Humid. We are waiting for the Hydraulic backstay to be serviced Then we are bound for Galapagos for a spot of diving and fishing. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-284690.html Headed out to the Canal today spent much of the time bartering with taxi drivers to save a whole 4 ha. I headed out there with Chris and Diana Chris is from the US and Diana is from Oz they both speak good spanish so it was quite a relaxing day not having to worry about trying to talk to non English speakers. The canal was actually a little bit of a let down expected it to be so much bigger t http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-284559.html na ja.. meine lieben.. somit bin ich gestern in panama city angekommen nach etlichen beinahe schon laecherlichen grenzueberquerungen bei denen es vorallem darum geht anstaendig dreinzuschauen ein paar stunden zu warten und dann deinen rucksack streicheln kein witz zu lassen. naja ansonsten war ich dann wiedermal ziemlich fertig von der reise und habe mich dann mit ein paar reisenden in alt http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-281201.html End of the Field SeasonAs three willing and able assistants we finished our field season with a bang. We captured and studied 23 bats the record from past years was about 14 bats and finished all the data entry and analysis for each individual. Our last bat was named El Ultimo .. you may remember from my first blog entry that our very first bat was El Primero so it seemed fitting to give our l http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-265104.html I have definitely been sadly neglecting this blog page for the last little while... All my posts on here seem to start with that sentence or a similar one.. O'well. I have the night off tonight so i'm on a mission to try and remmember what i've been doing this past little while and write a little bit. I updated my Boquete post with a few details I haven't read it over yet so it may still be a http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-261770.html This morning one tamarin was darted at the Gamboa Ecoresort. It was a young female. Unfortunately the dart factured her leg. I guess this happens frequently but the majority of the animals return to the forest and heal over time. So she will be released later once we find the tamarins again. The tamarins live in a small forest patch between the Gamboa canal zone houses and the Gamboa resort. Ma http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-255137.html Well I figured out how to catch a falling monkey. You use bird netting the same kind used to mist net birds. We caught 2 mono titi tamarin monkeys in the neighborhood where we are staying. They were literally right across the street from the house in Gamboa where we are staying. It is a little surreal to see monkeys from the porch window of a canal zone style house. The monkeys are fed by the fa http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-254481.html Hi everybody adding to yesterdays tour we are then off to Mexico City and taking part in a 60 day tour which finishes in Panama. We will visit some old stuff Cancun and 6 or 7 other countries on the way. The other blogs look very encouraging. Love you all. Kev and Wendy. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-253006.html Hello everyoneFinally after 2 months of floating around in the Caribbean I will be passing through the Panama Canal from Saturday March 1 Sunday March 2 and entering the Pacific OceanIf you are so inclined you may be able to see us passing through the locks via the web cam. This travelblog entry will give you the details belowAPPEARANCESee photo attached. Please note the brown sail cove http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-250686.html Today Monday we began our cruise through the Panama Canal. Pilot was taken on board at around 0630 in the morning and we began our approach to the canal at around 0830. Normally when a pilot is taken on board the captain still has command of the vessel but this is the only time and place in the world where when a pilot is taken on board the captain of the ship relinquishes full command to him.J http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-248997.html A few days ago Rachel Katie Alisha and I decided to drive out 2 hours to get to a beautiful little beach town on the coast called Santa Clara. Being the middle of the week and a bit overcast there weren't too many people just mostly us and the seabirds. The water was a bit too turbid for snorkeling but it was great just swimming and reading on the beach. After a while we paid some fisherme http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-248667.html Another day another family another roast pighelliphellipthe sound of a thousand tiny balls bearinghellip..thoughtlessly efficient designhellip..back on boardhellip.and so much lesshellip..than last timeLife in Cuba the people the country can be described in many many ways but I can tell you one thing for nothinghellipit is NEVER boring nunca aburrido Not that I get bored http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-246651.html Sorry once again technology baffled me and I have to do this again to get the pics up. Enjoy http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-246650.html Riots in Panama City As some of you may have heard on Feb 13th a construction worker was shot and killed during a demonstration in Panama City. The union to which this worker belonged became outraged at the act and promptly turned violent. Riots began and several roads were closed bonfires burned in the middle of streets stones were thrown at cars and buildings and property was damaged. Polic http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-246335.html I just got back from an early morning excursion into Ciudad del Saber near Panama city. One of Alisha's friends does educational programs for the peregrine fund and invited us to come and see a captive Harpy eagle that they use for educational presentations. His name is Luigi he's 6 years old barely a reproductive male it takes 5 years for them to reach sexual maturity. It was amazing se http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-246291.html We spent 3 weeks in Shelter Bay Marina on the Colon end of the canal. It is a new facility and has the usual teething problems but otherwise a very pleasant place to hang out and haul out which we did to do the regular bottom but also to add keel coolers for the new Frigoboat freezerrefrigeration systems and as a treat a couple of Oceanled underwater lights. Also on the worklist was a Duogen wa http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-245991.html This is just going to be a quick update it's been pretty much batwork as usual lately. This week on Tuesday was Carnival Fat Tuesday so we went into Panama city for the festivities. Being a foreigner I quickly got targeted for being squirted with waterguns and showered with confettii all in good fun. There were street venders everywhere selling beer and Chorizzo sausage on a stick pr http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-243949.html It can all be summed up quite simply The Pacifico Project is a goFebruary has been an incredibly long month of Panamamania but we've finally made our way through the canal and we're now sitting happily on an southwestfacing anchorage making final preparations and provisioning for the next few long months of crossing the world's largest body of water the Pacific OceanIt seems strange to say http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-243937.html Hi folks I'm going to try this again http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-243920.html Birds of the Avocado TreeI might have mentioned in my last entry that I have a huge avocado tree outside my bedroom window. I must say it is an incredible source of entertainment and excitement during my time off among other things of course I have seen so many beautiful birds in that tree. I have also taken to waiting quietly with my camera until a bird comes close enough to get a good photo http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-243585.html So here we are in Sunny and warm Panama getting ready to transit the canal tomorrow. For those online you may be able to see us on the Panama Canal webcam on Friday about noon MST going through Miraflores locks.After a month comig down from Cartegna the Columbian islands Rosarios with a nice aquarium and strange aviary where we were greeted by 2 Emus and many birds from aroun the world to Isla http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-241149.html Well its about time that I post some actual text on here instead of just photos... Yes I guess i have been a bit lazy lately...The captive bats are doing well we just released the first one a few days ago after he completed all of his trials. He had gained almost 5 grams in about a week which is quite a lot considering that his initial weight upon capture was only about 31g or so. Itrsquos http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-240887.html Week 1 I didn't realize that I would be back in the lush jungles of Panama so soon after my last visit. But here I am a field assistant at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute working with my favorite frogeating bat. It is the dry season JanMay and I've noticed that there are a lot more animals about. Just in my first week I saw a family of coatis raccoonlike anim http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Panama/Panama/Panama-Canal/blog-238234.html