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Happy July!

On Wednesday Eric & I set out for a few days at the beach. First stop about 4 ½ hours away was Playa Blanca Our friend Wendy has a new villa there and we were taking a few pieces of furniture and tools for her new place in the van. She has rented another villa so we have a great place to stay, cooler packed and off we go. Our plan was to drop off the items, spend a little time at Playa Blanca and then go to explore an area we haven’t been in a while. Pedasi and Cambutal ( see the Panama Report)  both located on the beach at the bottom of the Los Santos Province and in some of the best surfing and fishing areas in Panama on the Pacific side. We have been anxious to see the progress there and since we would be somewhere in close proximity at Playa Blanca  we figured it was a good way to spend the weekend.

About 3 hours into the trip the chauffeur (Eric always does the driving so he won’t sleep) ran into a little problem and thus here is our Spanish word of the day!

Galote = turkey vulture - Here is what happened as I was perusing the map to identify some of the side roads and go down memory lane trying to recall events from when we traveled those side roads before – almost 3 years ago.

About 5 minutes following the accident  and while I was still on the phone with the insurance company we were stopped by the police who said we were speeding. Since there was no sign designating the speed limit and we were on the Pan American Highway I guess it was possible that we were, but highly unlikely since Eric was almost leaning out the window so he could see to drive. Unfortunately in all the hubbub Eric didn’t have any small bills so that stop cost us $20. It is typical to not take the ticket and just pay the cop. We did check on the way back and could not find any speed limit sign in the area nor we could we find the dead vulture – no doubt his friends and family “cleaned him up” so to speak.

Well – the good news is that our insurance company covers this damage with a $75 deductible. The roadside emergency service was great and very helpful, it was not a Panamanian holiday, and we are alive and well. On the down side we did have to continue to Playa Blanca with the windshield vibrating in the wind to drop off the things. There was only Panama City or David to go to get it repaired – one another 2 hours in the wrong direction and the other our “go  to” city.  We had a great dinner treat at Buenaventura Resort, slept over and turned right back around and headed to David in the morning to try to beat the rain so we would not have to use the wipers.  Every time Eric would turn the wipers on, little shards of glass would fall on the dash!

We never even saw the beach!

Eric always used to fish on his birthday which was yesterday and Vulture catching wasn’t quite what he was hoping for – we will have to make that up to him once the van is repaired. Now the challenge is to find a windshield for a 1998 Ford Van in Panama! Below is our culprit – or one like him!

Technorati Tags: pacific beaches, playa blanca, travel to panama

One “must not miss” place to visit in Boquete is the Paradise Gardens.

The owners started out with importing their own exotic birds from England and as events will unfold in Panama they ended up with people bringing animals one by one that needed to be rescued and the animal retreat grew. Donations keep this place going and has turned this house and grounds into a busy liltle park/nursery. Below are a few photos of our visit and you will find more photos and the rescue stories iby visiting their website. One really important “take away” from the Gardens is a good understanding of what not to do with the exotic animals here. When you travel to Panama you will sometimes see the locals along the road selling exotic birds. They actually often stone these birds to get them down from the trees and then they glue their feet to perches to display them for sale. Now many of us would be thinking that if we buy and rescue one bird by the road and take it to a good home we have done a good deed and they are so very pretty. Unfortunately this is like buying cocaine from the dealer in the street to stop drug trafficking! It only means that the market for these birds increases and more birds will die. In order to get the one they are offering for sale they often had to kill a few in the process of liberating the babies from the tree by use of the stone or slingshot method. So Just say no! Do not think that you are liberating the animals; you are just encouraging the illegal and inhumane wild animal trafficking. Don’t be misled. Withour further adieu here are my photos from Paradise Gardens – keep up the great work Paul, Jenny and all your wonderful volunteers!

Here is my personal favorite! A baby 2 toed sloth. She is nocturnal so just barely tolerating us disturbing her in the daytime, sweet and cuddly! Her fur feels like lambs wool and I just loved petting her. How could you not love a face like that? Never mind that in the wild she will be slow as molasses and covered with green mossy looking goo! Best to enjoy her now while she is still an adorable baby.

This macaw is part of the family and seems to be the official greeter when you enter the Gardens!

Fruit loops anyone?? These guys are so-o-o cool! Outstanding colors and I think the red on his tail is some kind of mating plumage but I don’t know for sure. Anyone have the answer?

No idea what kind of bug but he is interesting and colorful.

Mountain black squirrel.

Kinkajou baby – also nocturnal and have a prehensile tail so swing through the canopy like monkeys but mostly at night! If you are as fascinated as I am

by these little guys visit National Geographic’s Mattias Klum wildlife photographer on Panama’s kinkajou

We had the most amazing sunset this night. It was like “sunflares” bits of rainbows at the top of the clouds!

Be sure to enjoy and support Paradise Gardens and the efforts of Jenny & Paul by visiting next time you travel to Boquete, Panama.

Next up will be some of the wildlife from our property in Punta Pena and a little update on the building of our eco adventure park. Hope we can be as good stewards of our land and animals as Paul and Jenny have been with their little piece of Paradise. Be Careful when you travel western Panama as you will find we are a big bunch of “nature freaks” here. I have even been spotted cleaning up litter by the roadside when our vehicle broke down. I had garbage bags, a bottle of wime and time to kill, why not? You should have seen the reaction of the kids at the bus stop; do hope they took a lesson.

Technorati Tags: boquete panama, travel to panama, wildlife of panama

Carl Hansen with the Smithsonian Institute (click for more) shares his photos of the jungle canopy taken from a giant construction crane. Good idea for getting up close and personal with the birds. They are so difficult to photograph since they live way up in upper story of the canopy. I never expected to become a bird watcher since I like things like kayaking, white water rafting and snorkeling, you know; low to the ground and water filled type activities.

Living in panama with so many wonderful birds has changed me for sure. I have never seen so many amazing colors in nature like I have seen with the birds of Panama. When you travel to Panama you could decide to be a bird watcher to. Below are some of my new favorites. It is very Zen like to watch the birds and patiently try not to stir so you don’t scare them off. Relaxing and exciting at the same time. Right now many species are migrating so we get new ones all the time.

Here is our favorite hummingbird who lives in the yard and hangs out on the open porch.

His name is “socks and he let’s us get within 4 feet of him and talks back when spoken to.

This is an immature male red legged honey creeper; slightly larger than a hummingbird and smaller than a sparrow.

He loves bananas. When mature he is irridescent blue and outstandingly beautiful.

Always bright and lovely this is one of the many colored tanagers from the back yard

who come to eat at the feeder every morning.

This balsam tree is a favorite of many different kinds of birds.

But this particular “star throat” hummer likes the banana blossoms best.

Our Banana tree in bloom – invitation to the birds.

I never knew that Meadowlarks like to “graze” their way across lawns and fields.

They cruise along collecting bugs and are not shy at all.

Colorful tanagers – they stay in pairs most of the time.

Here is one more of our star hummer- the “snowy breasted!”

This is a rufous tailed hummer. They think big and are very aggressive but are very small, about 4 inches and very fast traveling up to 35 MPH as they chase their adversaries. It is sometimes like a landing strip in the yard and they often zoom very close to our heads as they defend their turf.

The blue tanager!

I hope you enjoyed this little bird preview. In my next post I will be featuring an animal rescue center located here in Boquete called Paradise Gardens. I fell completely in love there with a baby 2 toed sloth.

Technorati Tags: birding in Panama, travel to panama, wildlife of panama