Back to Panama City

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We spent our last day in Panama seeing some of the sites and packing way too much stuff in our bags. I had asked Ceasar Diaz to drive us to the Peregrine Fund building in Panama City. They have a harpy eagle there that they are planning on releasing into the jungle. You can read more about the Peregrine Fund Harpy Eagle program at: Peregrine Fund Harpy Eagles

Ceasar has a great love of the harpy eagle. It is an endangered species that due to the work of the Peregrine Fund is making a comback in Panama. The eagle represents the heritage and culture of Panama. The El Dorado Rotary Club also has a picture of the eagle on their banner. So we were all very happy to find that the falconer was willing to bring out the eagle and have him fly around. It was a really neat experience to be able to be out there with this fabulous bird. Ceasar looked like a kid out there and I don't think I've seen a wider smile on a face. At one point the falconer allowed Ceasar to handle the eagle. It was a great time.

Our group split up and Bob, Greg and I were hosted by Ceasar. We first went to an old YMCA building that now is used for people to come and sell crafts. We were going to take a cab back but Ceasar decided to go in and shop too. We were not too surprised to see that he bought a carving of a harpy eagle. We then headed out to the Causeway.

The Causeway was built with the fill from the rock dug out of the Panama Canal. It was built out to the four small islands. There is a lot of history of the islands and at one time, it was a fort. We visited the Centro de Exhibiciones Marinas. It is run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. There were many exhibits and was really neat. Our guide was an interesting woman from New York, and she was very informative about what the Smithsonian is doing in Panama. There was a place that you could observe all of the ships waiting to enter the Canal.

When we got back we all spent some time packing. It appeared that we all had more bags than when we left. I brought back a backpack full of coffee and rum along with several baskets and many small crafts. But the best thing we brought back to Kansas was the great memories of Panama and the friends we made.

More important, we brought back more projects that are in need of funding. We hope to go to more clubs this year to make presentations.

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Photos

Who knows who you will see
Alexsa Oduber, President of Panama Nordesta Rotary Club, happened to be riding on the causeway when when we were going to lunch. This was during his "free time."