Tourist Living

Kuna Yala continued...

On our second day we went on a boat tour of the coast. This was great because we got to see the mangroves and snorkle over the coral reefs but bad because even with sunblock many people got sunburnt and after snorkling it took me forever to get back in the boat, lol. Afterwards, many of us stayed on our island, including me, taking naps and hanging out while the rest went to see the end of the first reenactment day.

Day three we were on the main island all day, watching the reenactment of their struggles against Panama and Chris was used to play Dr. Marsh (the American that helped the Kuna get US support). Then we got to join in on their celebrations which was really neat; it involved music, dancing, traditional smoking (which was interesting to watch because two guys blew smoke in four guys faces and then each other and repeated), and old drunk women. We all felt like it was a real treat to be allowed to see this part of their culture.

Later that night, while sleeping in our little, non-waterproof tents, it started to storm really bad. The water was coming in through the vent on the roof and near the entrance, and some even soaked through the walls. I luckily just threw on my sheet and went back to sleep waking up occasionally when the wet side of the tent smaked me in the face. However, most of my fellow students, and professors were not able to get much if any sleep that night.

In the morning we headed to Panama City. We got to visit the Panama Canal as well as the two older towns that still remain. Afterwards we went back to Gamboa and took some very needed showers (getting the sand out of our hair). It was also brought to my attention that the inside of both of my arms were covered in purple bruises from my attempts to get in the boat.

The next day I woke up and birded around the house; we found a toucan, a motmot, a trogon, and many others. I´m loving all the brightly colored tropical birds and will post some pics to share. Later, I went into Panama City with a group of students; we got some food, used the internet, and I bought another calling card.

Later that day we headed back to La MICA. The first full day there I spent recovering and doing some homework. The second day was spent in the field (8am-4pm) and (930pm-2am). We were able to swab 13 frogs, even though we seen many more that had gotten away. I´m sure we´ll get better the more we are out though. It is very awesome walking through a cloud forest catching all the frogs you can. Also when we went out at night we found an eyelash viper only a few feet off the trail.

The next day we all woke up and did some homework before starting our free days. Some people went to see the Shaman, some went to Panama City, and the majority of us came to Boquette, a 45 minute drive from the Costa Rican border. I travelled to Boquette with Dan, Rebecca, and Audra we got here tuesday night and were able to get a really nice hotel room with 2 singles and 1 double bed, a male and a female bathroom, and our own shower for only $50 a night ($12.50 each). Yesterday, we woke up early and went on the Quetzal Trail (the main reason I wanted to come here). We met up with Marc (my History and Jins professor) and Will and left for Cerro Punto. From there we hiked up part of the mountain to the trail-head, continued hiking for an estimated 10-15 miles on level 2 terrain (which was semi-difficult). We were able to see 4 quetzals (and endangered bird that on lives in three Cloud Forest in the World). They were calling all along the trail (which is a beautiful bell sound). I was filled with aderaline, it was an amazing day that I don´t think I´ll ever forget.

Once we finished we hiked to a nearby town and got a bus to Boquette. Today, Rebecca, Dan, Audra, and I are taking it easy before heading back to La MICA around 1pm.

Talk to you later!