Looking Back-Gamboa

I find that reviewing my photography is an important thing.  Today I begin the 4 part series that started my birding adventures with a camera.   Last year I traveled to Panama with an okay camera.  It would also be the first time I started to watermark my work as I had several pics stolen and used on other sites as their own.  It was also the first time that I seriously examined my work with a critical eye.  Sometimes my eye was too critical and I left pictures out of the writing.  If you followed Las Aventuras last year, these pictures will not be repeats at all.  Part of my job with this 4 day series was to re-examine my work from last year and figure out why I didn't post them.  If you are newer to the blog, all of these pics will be new.  If you are interested in Panama, check out the post suggestions below.  This is how I came across Eileen from Viewing Nature With Eileen.

Every year I take a major trip somewhere.  I haven't taken one this year....yet.  The house came first this summer. But we are currently planning a big event for next year that may include penguins and lots of snow.  Before travel to another country, we research months in advance on places that are barely known about or are important to explore for cultural reasons.  We are Spanish language specialists(my day job) and love getting a closer look at the cultures surrounding the language.  Like any language, Spanish is different from one country to the next.  In any case, there is a lot to see/cram into these visits.  Today we visit Gamboa. And then we'll move onto Coiba Island, Bocas Del Toro, and Boquete.

Oropendola Nest

Gamboa would prove to change directions for me in my pursuit of wildlife.  Last year at this time, I didn't really understand birding and kind of laughed at it.  But a friendly man by the name of Ivan helped me take a closer look at our winged friends.  This place is not only beautiful but it changed me.  If I had money, I'd buy one of those old homes there and live!  It was really beautiful.  Birders if you haven't been to the famed Pipeline Road in Gamboa, it's really worth your time.  You won't regret the trip at all. 

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

But onto the photography.  I didn't post a lot of these shots because they were blurred or at the time, I thought rather boring.   But with blogging, it's okay to post the not so perfect shots as well.   I went back on several of my albums and pulled these beauties out.  I hadn't been planning on doing these posts as I was studying the Ivory Bill Woodpecker which led to several other Woodpeckers in Mexico etc.  It was devastating to find out that several of the largest woodpeckers were wiped out and now labeled extinct.  But I remembered a shot from the rainforest of this colorful number above and I went back into my files(thank you to a fellow birder who told me never to delete pics).  Good advice because I was able to ID this particular Woodpecker.

And this Toucan flew right into view.  While I didn't get the shot of the head like I had hoped, I did capture proof that I saw one on the wild.  No zoo. No captive wildlife program.  And I realized for the first time in my life that the camera I was using wasn't good enough for me.  I'm going to be honest here.  I loved my camera, but I discovered that my hands would be tied for most of the shoots around Panama.  I didn't have control of the focus or shutter speed.  If I had the camera I have now(the Canon Rebel), I would have gotten that shot.  But I also learned much from the experience.

While we were in Gamboa, I was inspired by this bamboo corridor.   Today I have created this idea with Buddha Belly's Bamboo in the fern garden.  It looks great!  You can see me climbing one of the poles on the left side because I'm a bamboo freak:)

Oh and this story.  Here we are catching a break from the downpour.  I was filming a heron and my camera cap rolled into the water.  I thought it was gone but when I looked down I could see it in the water but they were full of caiman and crocs...so a boat person came along and fished it out for me.  I was extremely thankful for his help. 

Black Vultures

The hikes were long and difficult.  Bring plenty of water with you as we dehydrated quickly. It was one of the sweatiest experiences of my life, but the wildlife was a treat to observe.  I made a video last year capturing the beauty of this area.  More tomorrow.....

This is pretty scary.  Harbinger of Death?

Ivan's Bed and Breakfast

When I look at this pic, I appear a giant.

Today, I thought I'd share with you a great place to stay near Pipeline Road in the lovely town of Gamboa.  There's this guy.  His name is Ivan and he's one of THE best hosts we had on our trip to Panama.  We loved him so much that we had to change our itinerary to go back one last time before we returned to the United States.  Both he and his wife Gladys run a wonderful bed and breakfast in an old canal home.  The best part is that the whole family lives there so it feels like a home away from home.  Ivan is knowledgeable about birds and helped me identify a lot of my pics.  There is a lot to mention about his place and I consider it one of the hidden gems of Gamboa.  Most of you who read my blog are gardeners, birders, or nature enthusiasts, but some of you are also anonymous readers perhaps planning your vacation in Panama.  For my readers, you'll definitely love this place. For the anonymous reader, I wouldn't recommend this place for college kids who like to drink and party or for families with little kids.  This place is definitely for birders, nature lovers, and people looking to relax.  It draws a larger older crowd who are looking for some creature comforts away from home after their day's excursion into the rain forest.  If you have a family with older kids, this is a great place to explore together.   I loved it here and didn't want to leave.  It was like going back in time to the early 1900's.   

Breakfast, evening meals, and relaxation are found in this general area. 

Top ten reasons to stay at Ivan's Bed and Breakfast.

1.  Ivan.  He's a great guy.  Genuine, fun, and knowedgeable about birds and the Gamboa area.  He cares about his family, home, and guests.  Ivan's a great host who will make sure your stay is fun and memorable.  If you need recommendations for things to do, he's got them.

2.  Gladys.  For a little bit more money, you can add on the dinner option.  We were glad we did because Gladys makes a delicious meal. After a busy day, the last thing you want to think about is how you're going to fix up dinner.   Candlelight dinners are usually served at 7 PM. Many times we would chat with Ivan or guests about our day. 

3.  You are physically minutes away from the famous Pipeline Road and Soberania National Park.  Birders, this is an absolute must see!!  Ivan's is perfect for the bird enthusiast.  He knows his birds.  The place has books with information on birds.  And of course, it's near one of the world's premiere birding places.

4.  It's an old historical canal home with a lots of personality. It's quite large and spacious with 3 floors.

5.  If you arrange it ahead of time with Ivan, you can have transportation arranged to and from the airport. Make sure you talk about the price.  No need to get stuck in Panama City.

6.  Speaking of avoiding Panama City, you can grab a cheap bus from Gamboa and head over to the Miraflores locks on the Panama Canal.  You can catch the bus one block away from his house.

7. You can organize trips, like Monkey Island, with Ivan ahead of time. Or several blocks away, the expensive yet beautiful Gamboa resort offers kayaking or canopy tours.

8.  A/C and hot water!!  Panama's weather is oppressively hot and sticky.  Each of the rooms offers an a/c unit with fans.  While my body eventually adapted to the humidity, I found the a/c a great way to sleep and relax a bit from the onslaught of nasty temps.

9.  Breakfast and coffee included. Ivan is flexible and will organize a time with you the night before as to when you'd like to have breakfast.

10.  Wildlife is all around you.  Just steps away from the house, you'll see the real residents of Gamboa....the agouti.  You don't have to go far to see bats, birds, reptiles, insects, or mammals.  Without even stepping into the national park or Pipeline road, we saw a green iguana, a toucan, bats, agouti, fireflies, tanagers, parrokeets, tons of butterflies, turtles, frogs and capybara.....all within a several minute walk from Ivan's place.

Outside my bedroom window

We had a great stay at Ivan's Bed and Breakfast.  It was difficult to say good-bye.  One of the most enjoyable things that we did on our last day at Ivan's was absolutely nothing.  The town is virtually empty and oh so quiet.  We took a walk to the lighthouse and Los Lagartos along the bamboo forest next to the Chagres river for one last mojito.  Traveler tip.  Sometimes the best plans are not to have any at all.   Until tomorrow.....

http://www.gamboaecotours.com/

Panama Rainforest Discovery Center

The Eurybia Butterfly

Greetings everyone from Pipeline Road in the Soberanía National Park!!  We had a lot of fun exploring this beautiful area of rain forest next to the Panama Canal. This place is internationally known for its magnificent bird sightings.  With over 525 species of birds flying around this jungle area, you can only imagine why birders love this place so much! But this forest is home to so much more including howler monkeys, ocelots, deer, and capybara. Try and identify the critters in the pics if you want to challenge yourselves.  Some posts take longer than others....this one took 3 hours!! So get your binoculars ready as we take a hike down Pipeline Road and head towards the Rainforest Discovery Center.....  

Anderida Longwing (Heliconius hecale anderida)

My birding post is tomorrow so you won't see too many pics of actual birds today.  The secret to good photography in a rain forest is to keep your eyes open and mouths shut.  You must walk lightly and look for bursts of color and movement.  It all happens so quick.  Of course you need to prep yourself well for this hike.  While it may not seem like a long hike at 3 kilometers to the center, remember that it is humid and you will be walking into a rain forest.  Bring plenty of water because a lot of people sweat and you need to keep your fluids up.  Instead of carrying a water bottle, I suggest wearing a camelpack with a large bladder so that you can keep your hands open for photography or binocular use.  Keep that camera ready because there is lots to see here.  I am proud of these photo shoots from this particular day.  Remember to focus your eyes on the small details and not the grand picture......

I spent about 5 minutes with about 20 shots of this darn spider web before I got the angle I wanted.  The rain forest is full of the little details.  An easy and short walk from Gamboa, Pipeline road is the only road that goes into the Soberanía National Park where it eventually dead ends. The park covers over 190 square kilometres with several well maintained trails.  You'll see plenty of birders.  Remember the rule.  Walk lightly.  Don't speak or whisper softly.  On this trail, everyone was extremely respectful of that rule.  Birders will spend thousands of dollars on these expeditions!!  Your chances for seeing lots of wildlife is extremely high here. They'll either cross your path or you'll cross theirs. 

Some rules for the Pipeline Road.  Two agencies are basically run here....the National Park system and the Discovery Center.  They are both separate entities.  If you walk the Pipeline road to get to the Discovery Center, you won't be charged, but if you continue all the way down the Pipeline road, you'll have to pay the National Park. At one point in the road, you'll see another road intersect with Pipeline. Take a left and follow that road to the Discovery Center.  There are also signs. It can be a full day adventure like it was for us. Or it could be a halfday, but it just depends on your itinerary. The Discovery Center charges a 15 dollar entrance fee and is open from 10 AM to 4 PM.  There are earlier times(6 AM to 10 AM) for the serious birders which will cost 20 dollars because it's the best time for viewing birds in the forest.   For current information click on http://www.pipelineroad.org/

Long-billed Hermit (Phaethornis longirostris)

Once you're in the center, you'll be swarmed by hundreds of hummingbirds!!  At this point, we took out our cameras and spent a good half hour snapping too many pictures. The above pic took me around 30 shots just to capture this species of hummingbird.  I don't know what it is about these creatures, but they do capture my attention. Use the rapid movement piece on your camera(normally used for sports events) and press the button down for a rapid fire of shots.....one of those pics will be a hit.  Just remember to delete the bad ones so that you can conserve memory on your card.

What's this little hummer squaking about?

Remember to keep your eyes open around the feeders.  Many of the hummers will sit on branches.  As you can see from this pic below, hummers blend in with their surroundings:) A safety tip for travellers to this area.  While it is very unlikely to happen, robberies have been reported every now and again.  To avoid this, hike with someone else or have an attack agouti with you:)

Blue-Chested Hummingbird (Amazilia amabilis)

The Discovery Center has a lot of lovely trails that will allow you to observe many things around the park. One trail will allow you to climb into the trees.  There is a 100 foot observation tower that will take you above the forest canopy. 

Really keep your ears open.  You may think you hear insects, but they could be frogs, lizards, birds, or mammals.  Case in point.  The pic below is from me zoning in on the chirp.  We were on the tower and I heard the sound on the very top.  I moved down one level silently and voila!! found my pic:)

Anole

Once we got off the observation tower, we headed over to the Chagres river and sat on the benches there.  Honestly, some of this stuff looks to be straight out of Avatar.  We sat there quietly watching the snail kites, jicanas, dragonflies, and other critters floating around in both air and water. Breathtaking scenery! Here's a secret to mental sanity.  When I want to scream at my students and rip their heads off, I stop and place myself in this pic pulling the memories of serenity and nature.....and then I don't feel so baaaaad:)  But seriously that's why I never scream or shout at my students.  I have lots of happy places to visit in my head. Call it crazy, but it works:)

I liked to call these reptiles "skanks" because they look like a cross between snakes and a skink.  But that's not their real name.  Does anyone know what they're really called?  If you're guessing, be careful scrolling down.  Another rain forest tip.  Listen for leaves rustling and watch for brief movements. Hold your position and don't make a move.  Stare at the patch and let your eyes adjust.  Camouflage is a powerful agent. 

Panamanian Whiptail Lizard

I love this bird!  It was everywhere in Panama and my first pic of anything bird.  And my first step into the birding world.......scary:) What is it?

The Lesser Kiskadee

There were lots of bugs in Panama. So it wasn't just the humidity that made these trips challenging, it was also the mosquitos and chitras(or sand flies!!).  My body is still recovering today from the hundreds of bites that I got from these evil creatures.  That's why this praying mantis made me happy.

Here are some shots from my friend Desiree.  I, for some reason, didn't think it was important to take shots of the Discovery Observation Tower so I'm glad she did.

Anyone know the name of this popular Panamanian bird?  The pics are "easy" to snap.  It's the hours of identification afterwards with the internet, books, and human experts that can drive me insane:)

A Snail Kite

Another shot of the tower from the ground level.......

This park is worth the visit and so is Gamboa.  If you're looking into a wonderful vacation for your family away from drunk college kids, set your sights to this beautiful area.  Or if you're a birder, why haven't you been here yet?  So how did you folks do on the quiz? If you knew a lot of these animals, you are wise beyond your years.  It was my first time meeting several of them in the wild. The massive bird post tomorrow.....

LOST! in Gamboa

Sometimes magic happens when you least expect it.  We left Panama City and in 45 minutes time, we were taken back in time to the quiet community of Gamboa circa 1915.  The town was abandoned when the US turned the Canal over to Panama. Gamboa remains today a reminder of the past where Smithsonian scientists go to escape the City and some Panamanians remain to tell their stories.  A part of the Canal still functions as workers dredge the bottom of the river so vessels won't get stuck.  However, many of them don't stay in the town but instead take a bus back to Panama City. There are no real super markets except for the tiny shop behind the purple house near the bus station. There's really nothing here for urbanites and that's why the town is left alone.  So keep it secret; keep it safe:) Today's post is a fun one....pure fiction and stupidity on my part.  I didn't realize how special this place would be for me until it came time to go home. Imagine a bubble where time stopped and the ghosts of our past remained. While we were here, I was reminded of the TV series LOST!  Here is some evidence that we think created the inspiration for this show.

We were surrounded by lots of wildlife as this ghost town kisses the border to one of Panama's premier birding locations in the world.....the infamous Pipeline Road.  But iguanas weren't the only things we saw.....

We saw evidence that the "Others" lived in or near the Soberanía National Park.   It was eery to think that beyond the howler monkey situation, there were people watching us.  But it didn't stop there.....

Signs were barely visible behind all the vegetation indicating there may be some dangers lurking around us.....

The Smithsonian kept a research center on tropical plants that looked very much like the Orchid Station.....but where were the scientists?

Old structures on the verge of collapsing, which also included a Catholic church, were reminders that a civilization once lived here.

Apparently, super humans existed with great big muscles.  Were they still there?  Or were THEY "the Others" we had read about?  The back sign reads, "DEAD end".  Luckily we weren't attacked by these ball loving super human monsters.

These gorgeous Panama Canal homes just sat empty.  We tried to escape within them to protect ourselves from the race of agouti that had overrun the town, but we discovered that a lot of the wood had been rotten.  Staircases were dangerous to climb.  Therefore, we had to run elsewhere.....

Constant rain and lightening reminded us that it wasn't a good idea to remain too long on the empty streets.....

These homes had a lot of vultures around them waiting for some unsuspecting tourist to die.  NO ONE was around.....I wish I could really buy one of the old homes and fix it up. Can you believe that no one lives in them??  In the US, they would be purchased in a snap, but here in Panama they just sit.  Perhaps indications that there were crocodiles around waiting to eat humans........Best move on!!!

What is this????  The animal race known as the Agouti.  They were all over the city and today, they are the only living creatures you'll see around town. 

This is a dead leaf.  It was just cool to look at......

Final evidence that we were LOST! in Gamboa......a lighthouse full of bats!!!  Catch the video below to see the action pics......

Tomorrow we'll take a serious look at Soberanía National Park and the infamous Pipeline Road.