Blogs from Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 6

2.7. Die Reise zum Tortuguero Nationalpark ist etwas umständlich (Taxi zum Terminal, Bus nach Cariari, Bus nach Pavona, Boot ins Dorf Tortuguero), es klappt aber alles ohne Zwischenfälle, trotz teilweise heftigen Regens und schlechter Strassen. Wir beziehen unsere Unterkunft im Hostel und erkunden danach Dorf und Umgebung. Das Dorf liegt auf einer schmalen Landzunge zwischen Lagune und Meer, es gibt nur schmale Fusswege und ausser Handkarrren keine Verkehrsmittel. Die Küste ist rau, hohe Wellen brechen sich am Strand. Nach Einbruch der Dunkelheit begeben wir uns einmal mehr auf eine Nachtwanderung, wo wir Echsen, Spinnen (inklusive zweier grosser, haariger, schwarzer Taranteln), Frösche und allerlei Insekten beobachten können. 3.7. Um sechs Uhr besteigen wir im Dauerregen ein Kanu und gleiten damit durch die Kanäle des Nationalparks. Dank Regenponchos bleiben wir einigermasse... read more

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

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

Geo: 9.18149, -79.8218Up early with the alarm as we were scheduled to enter the Gatun Locks at 6:55 a.m. I think we may have started even earlier as we were out of them about thirty minutes before expected. We watched the operation of the Gatun Locks from our balcony. A couple of days ago, I scheduled a time for one of the ship's photographers to come to our cabin to take our photo on our balcony with the locks in the background. He made it just in time as we exited the last of the Gatun Locks. There were also ship photographers who disembarked to take photos at the same time the lock personnel embarked to guide the ship through the canal. Those photographers were on the side taking photos of people on their balconies and ... read more

From Panama City with an Uber, a local bus and another local bus we went to Punta Chame, at the end of a peninsula, where the wind blows often, for a few days of physical exercise for Merijn, playing around kitesurfing. That was fun!... read more