Hiking at Rambala

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

One morning a small group of us set off for a hike in the jungle, led by the caretaker and hiking guide Javier. He has made a path up behind the main grounds of the Rambala Jungle Lodge that leads through the jungle and up to the top of the hill. I thought this was a wonderful experience guided by someone who not only has a lot of knowledge, but a great love for the jungle and everything that lives there. Again, photos can only give you the barest idea of what it really feels like to be out there.

Javier is ready for us to get going.
We spot a helicopter damselfly. It’s beautiful on the leaf, but when it flies it is a whirring of blue and black wings (thus its name). They are quite large and very beautiful!
Javier is in his element!
These rocks are so huge we made Brenda stand in front of them for some perspective.
Whoa, look, we found something!
One of many beautiful ferns.
No hike of mine would be complete without a cool bug on a leaf.
Eric and Javier check the water lines while Mariah stops for a drink of water.
It’s hard for a photo to convey the untouched beauty and wildness of this place, or the enormity of some of the trees.
Another look at the stream running through the area.
The bumpy vine looking thing is monkey ladder. Javier said it is good for the kidneys and is sold for a high price for medicinal purposes.
Just a pretty purple palm frond.
The story is that a previous owner planted this bamboo high in the jungle, and now it has turned into a massive clump of beautiful bamboo.
We make it up to the top and view the valleys and meadows below.
We can see the neighbors cows on the other side of the hill.
One of the Rambala horses, Negro, comes up to greet Javier.
Javier thumps on a fence post where the bullet ants live. You do NOT want to get bit by one of these.

We probably spent a couple hours hiking, a lot of it climbing up muddy, rocky paths. I am so glad for my good hiking shoes and the hours on the bicycle. My legs held up fine. My poor old knees weren’t so happy for a couple days but nothing major.

I’m so lucky to be here. I could have stayed in the US and worked another 10+ years. By then I probably couldn’t do these things. I also wouldn’t have met Javier, who will be the subject of my next post.

And to close, check out the leaf cutter ants at work. Apologies for the video quality. I had my Nikon which is not made for video work. The first bit is them climbing down a vine, then they are going through the leaves, and in the last bit they are heading up the other side by the path.

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Last Stop, Rambala

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Our last stop in our travels was the Rambala Jungle Lodge. We had been here before so I knew what it was like, and I was really looking forward to going there again.

Jungle Lodge doesn’t fully explain what this place is about. I probably can’t either. It is one of those things you have to experience. The place is near Rambala, a town on the north side of Panama in Bocas del Toro Province. If you are high up enough you can see the water of Chiriqui Grande.

Eric and Linda (the owners) have carved a bit of living space out of the jungle. There are cabanas so you have a roof over your head and mosquito nets to keep out unwanted night visitors, but otherwise you are literally in the jungle. There is no electricity. Water is from the mountain stream. Anything else must be carried in. It is one thing to experience Panama from a city or block house, and quite another to be out with nature in the big outdoors.

The view from the front of our cabana.
Our bed, more or less outdoors except for the roof.
The bathroom. That is the sink straight ahead. There is a composting toilet on the right. (works great – odor free)
The outdoor shower is on the right.
You can tell we’ve been out and about.

The grounds are beautiful, and it was interesting to see different flowers and plants this time. (our last visit was in December). Here’s are some photos, in no particular order.

This is only one variety of many heliconia that are growing on the property.
That’s our cabana up there.
I don’t know what these were but they were sure pretty.
A pathway up the hill.
We had fun swimming one afternoon! The water was pretty chilly but if you are hot it feels very good.
There is the water of Chiriqui Grande in the distance.
My camera tended to fog up in the morning sun after being cooled in the night air.
One the way home, hiking out back to the car.

Of course there are always interesting bugs and critters!

There were four tree sloths, two of them with babies.
I was trying to photograph a spider and found this unique bug under the lodge.
A Jesus Lizard, a different variety than we have near my house.
These Jesus Lizards are great because they freeze when disturbed, making them great photo subjects.
Some others found the poison dart frog and brought it back for the rest of us to see. When he was let go he was nice enough to pose for a moment before he hopped off into the undergrowth.
A golden orb spider, a very large spider. This one wasn’t polite enough to hang out where he was easy to photograph, or where the light would hit the web (which is supposed to be gold in the sunlight) but he was still a very cool spider.
A beautiful flag bug hanging out on the passion vine.
Another tree sloth in the tree.
I got lucky one morning and caught this sloth in the tree with the light hitting her (we know it’s a her because she is one of the moms)
Two different orchid bees. Eric put the paper towel out with a scent they like to attract them. He says they collect the scents and store them on their back legs so they will smell good enough to attract a female.
This orchid bee is quite large and very beautiful.
I saw this big critter hanging out on our door frame one morning.
A very lucky shot! The sloth stretched her front legs overhead (or underhead since she is upside down) just long enough to get a good shot of the baby hanging on to her belly.

Eric and Linda are becoming a wealth of information on the wildlife in the area, and love to point out everything they find. They said they have also been visited by a number of research scientists who want to study wildlife. One time they had a whole crowd who spent all night in the jungle looking for a particular frog! I know I have barely scratched the surface of what can be seen in their jungle.

Javier with the horse assigned the job of carrying our packs out to the car.
As we were walking out, two indians came along carrying long pieces of lumber like they were nothing!
Down the road, there is a herd of water buffalo.

I’ll leave you with some random videos I took while experimenting with my iPad. The next post will be some untouched jungle as we go hiking up the hill!

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Walking around Bocas Town

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Bocas del Toro is a province on the Caribbean side of Panama but when someone says “Bocas” what comes to mind is usually is the Bocas del Toro district and the islands. It’s a beautiful area with clear, warm, turquoise water, many islands with lush vegetation and sandy beaches, and opportunities for many recreational activities. The center of activities is Bocas Town on Isla Colon (Colon Island). It can be reached by air from Panama City or by water taxi from Almirante.

The town is a tourist destination so there are many hotels, hostels, restaurants, shops, and businesses offering excursions and activities. English is widely spoken, and you are likely to see people of every color and many nationalities. There is a very relaxed “anything goes” feel in town. You can dress however you like and ride your bicycle down the middle of main street without a care.

There are buildings and houses of every sort (though the fancy places tend to be a bit outside of town). What interests me and my camera though are the more funky and interesting places, so I set out with my camera for a walk around town.

There was a private house next to our hotel. There were many people there coming and going, and I’m guessing that some of them were in the business of taking tourists around in boats. At night there were often three or four boats tied up at this dock.
This is the front of the house next door.
All day the kids would play out at the end of the dock and in any boats tied at the dock.
We came across a dirt pile near where some construction had gone on. A closer look revealed a bunch of these blue crabs living there!
There is a fair amount of rain in this area so the cemetery had plenty of green along with the many flowering trees.
One of the many interesting houses. I like the weathered wood.
A bunch of vultures were very interested in something in the ditch. (We didn’t see anything though, so who knows what it was)
This pretty bird was also fishing in the ditch.
How much house do you really need?
Check out the kettle on the open fire outside on the sidewalk.
What interesting tile work on this house
Many houses are built up off the ground. I imagine it’s cooler and away from the ground water on rainy days.
This was behind a house, probably just a shed
I think these are breadfruit. We have jackfruit here which are similar but bumpy, and these fruits are smooth. There were quite a few trees in town but I didn’t see the fruit for sale. One of these days I want to try it.
One of the many shops, this one full of hammocks and bags, among other things.
Heading towards the park and center of town.
There were some Kuna Indians selling molas and other items.
These guys were selling guaba, a big hard bean sort of fruit. If you crack it open though, there is a delicious sweet fruit around the beans.
These are occupied houses. The one on the right has some interesting painting on the outside.
What do you need to get by?
This is the bike shop where we rented our bikes. They also have a great selection of bike accessories. I bought a new seat for my own bike.
You can stay at this hostel and rent the tree house here.
The work looked very good on this new house. Check out the ladder though. I would probably break something trying to get up there on that!
A waterfront home not far from our hotel.
There is a small strip of land that connects the town to the rest of the island, and we saw a number of these houses in that area. The building on the right is a church.
We may think the houses look funky, but look at the view from there!

This is the end of my stories and photos from Bocas. Next, we were on to Rambala and the jungle for more unique and interesting experiences!

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Bocas, the Other Side of the Island

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

On our first full day in Bocas, we rented bikes and had a great time. The second day we decided to get back on the bikes and try to see a bit of the other side of the island. Who would have thought it would be so different over there!

We rode north along the beach to get to the fork in the road, and this time we went left instead of right. We quickly found we were in a very different type of area with hills, many tall trees, and lots of birds!

I was surprised at how different it looked here.
It was lush and green, and very hilly.
It was quite a change after the flat, sandy routes of the other side.
Unfortunately my bike wasn’t as good today. It refused to move from 7th gear, so I did a fair amount of walking up the hills. No matter though because it gave me more time to look around.
Trees in front of an open meadow in the background.
I just like this photo
A few of the tall trees.
An oropendula does his thing in the tree. He is the loudest bird you hear in the video. They do this calling, flapping, and bowing thing, have gold tails, which I suppose is how that get the name of the golden pendula. They also make very unusual large hanging nests.
This beautiful huge tree caught my eye.
Some areas were open meadows, and others were this thick, lush jungle.
This house was for sale. I’m not sure if all the goats come with it. They all sure had a lot to say!

We didn’t go far in this direction since it was a bit late in the day, and we had already spent most of the day before on bikes. I was very interested to see this much of the other side though, and maybe next time we can go the whole way. We were passed by a bus on its way to Playa Boca del Drago on the end of the island, so that would be another way to see the whole length of this side.

I’ll close this post with a bit of video. Listen to all the birds!

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Work of Art

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Weekly Photo Challenge: Work of Art  This week, share a photo of something that’s art to you. It could be some actual “art,” like a painting by your grandmother or the misshapen but perfect clay sculpture your child brought home from kindergarden, or something most people wouldn’t consider beautiful at all, but that has meaning to you. The important thing is that it’s art in your eyes. 

I happened across these on our visit to Bocas del Toro, Isla Colon.

This is a bit of the wall around the cemetery in Bocas town. I’m not sure what it used to be, but now that it is faded and weathered I think it looks really interesting.
I’ve always liked graffiti. You don’t usually see it on an old boat beached just out of reach of the surf.
Graffiti on another wall near the beach.
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Panama City, Casco Viejo

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

On our recent trip to Panama City with my friend Holly, we had the pleasure of staying with Emma which was great because not only is she great company, she knows the interesting things to see in the city.

I had been to Casco Viejo a couple times. The first time was on our first visit to the country. We rented a car and got lost every time we set out, and one of our unplanned excursions was to Casco Viejo. The last time was more than two years ago on another visit when we hired a taxi driver to give us a tour around the city. This is the first time I have been there on foot.

Things have sure changed since our first visit! There has been a lot of renovation and many of the buildings are completed. It’s a really interesting area with lots of things to see, so walking is the perfect way to look around a bit.

Pretty balconies!
Many buildings are still occupied by people who were there long before the renovations and improvements started.
Vendors on the street. Do you need a hat?
The police were out and about keeping the peace.
Some of the interesting and unique art on walls.
I like the figures outside this place.
Plants are growing in the corner cracks on this building.
The Metropolitan Cathedral.
We saw something going on outside this church.
Apparently it was a procession forming, and they were going to carry this statue.
There are also many buildings in the process of, or waiting for renovation.
Our charming brunch spot.
More colorful art on a wall.
Hole to another universe. Come on in!
I like this tree
You can’t go there (The president’s home and government offices)
What an interesting wall
When renovating, the outside walls cannot be changed. There are a lot of buildings with nothing but outside walls waiting to be worked on.
Old building, new stairs
I’m not sure which church this is.
The National Theater
Nice view of the city skyline in the distance.
The streets are nicely paved with bricks.
Plaza de Francia
More Plaza de Francia
There is a lovely walkway with many vendors just beyond the plaza.
I couldn’t resist one more picturesque view of the city skyline.
There were many Kuna Indians selling molas and other items.
Lots and lots of molas!
A Kuna lady in traditional dress.

Little by little, I’m catching up. From here we had more good times at Bocas del Toro, and then the Rambala Jungle Lodge. Posts will be coming…

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Sometimes you’ve got it, and sometimes you don’t

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Once in a while I just don’t have it and I don’t feel like writing. We just returned from a number of adventures and I have stories and photos piled up, and I have other ideas rattling around in my head but I just don’t seem to be sitting down at my desk.

I always seem to need catch up time when I return home. We may be living in paradise but someone still has to restock the kitchen, wash the clothes, sweep the bugs out of the corners, and explain to the spiders why it’s time for them to move out again. Rainy season has returned and the yard is growing and needs some tending.

So, I’ve been getting chores done, spending time with neglected friends, cruising around on my bike, relaxing a bit at home, puttering in the yard, and generally enjoying some down time. We’ve been spending the evenings watching the latest season of Scandal on Netflix. Wow, what a well done and engaging show!

But, I will get it together one of these days. I have photos from our time in Casco Viejo in Panama City, our second day in Bocas del Toro (who would have thought one side of the island is so different from the other!), and our couple days at the Rambala Jungle Lodge. Of course, there are interesting things going on around here too.

I enjoy writing and sharing photos on my blog, but I also don’t want it to feel like an obligation so i figure if I’m not feeling it, it will get set aside until I do. But, I don’t want to wait until things are no longer fresh in my mind so I will get with it soon.

To close though, I’ll leave you with a feel good story. I wanted to ride my bike to the south part of town today but the Pan-American highway was all jammed up. One east bound lane was closed because workmen were working on the overpass above, and this made it hard to find a break in traffic. There always seems to be a policeman below when things are going on above. Today he saw me waiting to cross, and stepped out on to the highway to stop traffic for me. I know it’s his job to be helpful but it still made me feel very cared for.

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Biking in Bocas

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

There is a bike rental shop down the street – $1/hr or $7/day. Since we love biking, this sounded like an excellent idea. We did not know what a great adventure it would turn out to be!

We headed out on the road north through residential areas and along the beach. After a while the road ended but we saw vehicles making their way along the sand road along the beach. So, why not?

We followed the road as it made its way farther and farther north past gorgeous beaches,  homes (some of which were very large and upscale), and jungles of plants and huge trees. There were also a couple resorts which accounted for some of the taxis making their way slowly over the bumps and valleys.

Eventually we came to a barrier and a sign saying only ATV’s from the Flying Pirates were allowed through, and a hand written note at the bottom which said walking and bicycles were also ok. We had gone so far we figured that it would make sense to just go forward and around the other side of the island. I had also asked a local who told me it is faster to go ahead rather than turn around.

So, we proceeded through jungle, forest, over sandy, bumpy paths, around and through mud holes, and across small waterways until we encountered a couple unhappy tourists. They had gone to visit a snorkeling spot only to discover that the rocky shore made it impossible to go in the water without good footwear, and they didn’t find the area scenic or interesting at all. They also said there was no way through, and the only way back to town was to turn around. We turned around, got back on our bikes and left them behind to walk on with their tattered sandals.

When we arrived back at the barricade and sign, a couple police were talking with some other tourists on ATV’s (not Flying Pirate rentals), and explaining to them that they could not go on. They even told us that we were not allowed which was ok since we were leaving anyway, and they conformed that there was no way back to tow except to retrace our steps.

By now I was getting much better at navigating around mud holes and over rocks and tree roots. The challenge was getting more and more fun and we made good time. I still didn’t quite have the confidence to ride through the streams though. Maybe next time!

I am SO glad for all the biking we have done. We were out for five hours and except for a break at a resort bar for something to drink, we were on the bikes the whole time. And, we are even walking pain free today, the day after, and plan to take the bikes out for another couple hours.

The scenery was incredibly beautiful and I took tons of photos. Unfortunately the wonderful little camera died but not until we were heading back, and I was able to get the photos from the card without a problem. I’m really glad I also brought the big camera on this trip because there are more adventures coming.

Enough talk about the scenery and photos. Here are some of my favorites.

It’s not long before we are riding along by the beach, and we have to stop to take a closer look.
Of course no day would be complete without an interesting bug. This beautiful little spider was on a bridge railing.
There was beautiful beach scene after beautiful beach scene! It was almost hard to put the camera down and ride on.
You can see how rough and rocky it is in the water though, not a place to go without caution and good footwear.
We ride on, watching the waves get bigger as we get farther north.
The surf is definitely stronger up here and we start to see warning signs about rip tides.
This was close to a resort and surfers were enjoying the waves.
We cross one of the streams and ride on
This looks like a local type house, complete with laundry on the line.
We ride on over rocks and bumps, and I miss the cushioned seat on my bike back home.
Beautiful scene after beautiful scene…..
We encountered a few people on ATV’s
There were school kids in uniforms playing in the street. You can see a couple of them under the tree on the left. I think this was their school house. I didn’t see anything else anywhere that looked like it could have been a school except this.
The waves were pretty crazy up here!
Interesting house back in the jungle
Very fancy house with a swimming pool out front. It seemed like houses here have cisterns and rainwater collection from the roofs, so I wonder how they fill a swimming pool.
We bike on as it looks more and more overgrown and wild.
This huge tree has an incredible trunk
Life on the beach
Stopping to check out another beach scene
These clumps of bamboo were huge!

 

After seeing how many photos I took I realize I can’t say we were actually riding all that time :D.  We definitely got some exercise though, and had such a great experience in the process.

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Panamá Viejo and the Historical Ruins

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

On Saturday in Panama City, we decided to visit Panama Viejo, the old part of the city, and we started with the ruins. It’s really interesting to be in a busy, modern city driving along a major road and seeing these ancient ruins beside the road. The area is very large with the remains of dozens and dozens of buildings.

Click on the link or search google to learn about some of the history of this area. The city originated about 500 years ago and has weathered many disasters but natural and man made. It’s so interesting to put your hand on a stone and think of who might have placed it there, or who might have used that building so long ago.

The grounds are well maintained so it is easy to walk through the area.
Some of the walls have been braced with metal supports.
Of course, if there is an interesting tree it will catch my eye.
The most noteworthy building is a tall tower. We climbed up and enjoyed the views of the city from up there.
In the tower looking down on some ruins. I should have taken a photo of the tower!
The white dome in the distance is a Bahai temple.
Interesting juxtaposition of old and new.
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Summit Zoo and Gamboa

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Kris Cunningham

Friday was our day to do whatever we wanted while while Emma worked. She fixed us up with a driver for the day and we sure felt spoiled. We had this really nice guy with a comfortable vehicle who knew his way around the city, and he was all ours to drive us around and take care of us. How cool is that!

Emma had mentioned that there was a zoo with a harpy eagle so I thought it might be interesting to check that out. Our driver knew just what we were talking about, and it wasn’t long before we were at the Summit Zoo in the Gamboa area a bit north of the city.

It’s beautiful! I did some reading later and learned that the area is a botanical garden started in 1923 to research how different plants and trees would do in the Panama climate. The first teak in America was grown here. In the 1960’s a small zoo was added and now has about 300 animals. The whole property was transferred to Panamanian ownership as part of the transfer of the canal and it’s properties. There is a lot of land and many areas where people can relax and families can play, and even on this weekday it was being enjoyed by quite a few people.

This jaguar was having a great time rolling and playing.
I think this is an anteater. It was so active it was hard to get a photo.
This ocelot is a gorgeous cat.
The macaws were making a heck of a racket.
There were a number of cute monkeys, but they were hard to photograph through their double layers of cages.
A beautiful toucan.
This serene little pond is really beautiful.
A smiling cayam
I’m not sure what kind of cat this is.
The harpy eagle! This bird is amazingly huge. We were told that this one was raised in a zoo in Miami, FL and was recently sold to this zoo. They were selling postcards to raise money for rabbits (eagle food)
There were some amazing trees!
This walkway through the bamboo looked beautiful
This looks like a palmetto that are so common in Florida, but I’ve never seen one anywhere near this huge.
Another strange and interesting tree.
I love the beautiful trees!

This is only a small taste of the zoo and the grounds. It was definitely worth the short trip up there.

After the zoo area, our driver suggested we get a bit of lunch at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. I had seen some Oferta Simple deals on this place and was curious to see it, so lunch sounded like a good plan. It is definitely beautiful and the view overlooking the water and canal is spectacular. It’s expensive to stay there though and lunch was so-so, but I’m really glad we got to see the place.

The view from the lunch area on the upper floor of the resort.
The place is really beautiful with all the big windows.
The view of the water and canal.

Since we were so close we decided to drive by the Titan, that huge floating crane that is parked nearby. It has an interesting history starting with Hitler, so check the link if you want to know a bit more.

I saw this lighthouse on the way.
The titan! It is definitely HUGE.
As we leave, a tug makes its way north as a ship comes south.

By now it was time to head back to the city and Emma’s school for the final performance of their musical. Little did I know that the delights of the day were far from over. These were just young kids, 7-10 years old, but the quality of their performances rivalled others I’ve seen from much older students. There was no detail overlooked so singing, costumes, acting, lights, and every other aspect of the performance was first rate.

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