Birds
What? You didn’t get enough birds in the previous days?
Well, say no more…
A Red-crowned woodpecker with a tasty breakfast.
A rufous-collared sparrow…I think.
At 7 a.m. we assembled for a walk through of the Metropolitan National Park, a wonderful bit of forward thinking to contain a vast natural area in the center of a large urban city for people and animals to enjoy looking at each other. Think Central Park or Garden of the Gods. Needless to mention, the Panamanians are very proud of this resource.
Back for a short second breakfast and it was “bags out at 11:30 & SYOB at 11:45”.
José 1 drove us to the Flamingo Marina through the every-present and hair-raising Panama City traffic. There we dined on skewered and bacon-wrapped shrimp while waiting for our ship to arrive.
At 2:30 we boarded the M/S Discovery and were welcomed by the captain and crew and were introduced to our new guide for the Panama Canal portion of our tour, José 3. (Alas, I have only one sorry photo of José 2, a young man who joined us for the early part of our trip along the southern coastline in the provinces of Herrera and Los Santos. He is a returning O.A.T. guide who was shadowing Roberto to pick up on changes since he left the biz.)
José 3 helped serve us cold fruit drinks and gave us an orientation, followed by the obligatory safety drill where we all donned our flotation gear and met at the stern (rear) of the boat (ship?) for instructions in the case of an emergency. Soon we were underway out of the marina and into the Pacific.
After unpacking and moving into our small but very nice cabin, the motor boats were lowered into the water in preparation to take us to Taboga Island. We had a great, low-key walk about the island with José 3 narrating and answering our many questions.
Soon it was time for dinner aboard the Discovery, and a fine dinner it was, safely back in our Flamingo Marina berth!
Can’t ID this one. Looks like it has no tail. Black-capped pygmy-tyrant? Tody-flycatcher?
Neat sign at the park entrance. Alas, all in Spanish.
Being mooned by a blue-gray tanager.
An upper and a lower view of a squirrel cuckoo. Too bad I couldn’t have gotten a good shot of both parts in one frame!
At some point we first heard and then saw the flash of a troupe of howler monkeys. While chasing in the direction they ran, I literally tripped over this object in the “jungle”. It turned out that before this area became a national park, it was an aircraft repair depot, and this engine was just left where it lay!
We totally missed the monkeys, but did spend several minutes watching this adult 3-toed sloth negotiate these thin branches searching for the few remaining small leaves.
Carpenter ants. Similar to leaf-cutters. Can transport ten times their body weight!
Another Jesus Christ basilisk lizard.
Beginnings of a new termite house.
Biodiversity Museum designed by Frank Gehry.
Sculpture in downtown Panama City
Back to Clayton to have a long last look, pack the bags and move on to the Canal portion of our tour.
Flamingo Marina with the Panama City skyline in the background.
It was hot, but this shady floral bar/restaurant hit the spot.
We thought briefly about buying each other these yachts , but only briefly. We bought potholders for the neighbors instead…
This was the one I was lusting after. It was a harmless lusting, however, because I couldn’t even afford to fill the gas tank!
The first view from inside our floating hotel for the next three days.
This cat pretended to fall in love with Mary’s hat…until the shrimp arrived and it became clear these Americans didn’t understand “sharing”.
These are the extra boats tethered to the hydraulic stern of the Discovery as we head out to open water. All of the ships behind us are waiting their turn to transit the Panama Canal.
The Captain dropped anchor in this beautiful bay, and the smaller crafts ferried us to the dock at Taboga Island.
Cathy waves goodbye to the second group to go ashore.
Looking back at a fishing boat, the Discovery and a party boat moored near us.
This colonial structure was the first thing we saw at the landing.
José 3 gathers us on the dock for an introduction to Taboga Island. There are 500 residents and 4 automobiles. There are a few ATVs and bicycles, but mostly people just walk. The small island was first inhabited in 1524, and the San Pedro Church was built in 1526 - the second oldest church in the Western Hemisphere. The island was the home of Saint Rose of Lima who was Mother Theresa’s mentor.
Planters made from automobile tires somehow don’t seem out of place on this lush promenade…however, only 4 cars???
Ginny(?) sports some headgear supplied by her daughter which seems totally appropriate for the island.
If only the San Pedro Cathedral could relate the stories of 500 years of continuous use. All the indoor statuary was shrouded because of the beginning of Lent.
Local scenes from our short walk. Who would have guessed we had relatives running a hotel on Taboga Island?
Paul Gauguin came from France to work on the French Panama Canal. He became sick and was sent to this island to recover. He returned to France, but soon came back to the tropics where his career took off.
Goodbye, Tabogo, we’re glad we got to meet you!
360° of spectacular sunsets from the deck of the Discovery at the mouth of the Panama Canal. Yup, this is a special place to dine!