Day 9 – November 21, 2009
-By Bob Chastain
I start writing again shortly after 7:00 a.m. I am anxious to get you this information and a way to inspire you to make your part of the world a better place. I will move to a new hotel this afternoon that is closer to the airport. A little bed and breakfast called La Estancia.
At 10:00 a.m., a quick visit to the pod to watch activity and video the frog bath I told you about. The frogs get bathed in a solution that is $100 a bottle, but it has to be done to ensure the frogs do not have chytrid. You will see this procedure as we post the videos of Dr.s Della and Eric starting the daily medical care each frog will receive for about two weeks.
La Estancia is interesting after my stay at a very nature-based hotel. I was nervous as we pulled up to an orange apartment building with a big iron gate and a push button to talk into, which lets them speak to the guest. My alert went up as I did not know what to expect. I was led into a hot and humid series of rooms by a man with broken English. As he showed me around the feeling of “Is this going to be OK?” came back over me. But it actually turned out to be a wonderful place. As evening came and the cool air came through the common rooms where people from around the world gather to read, talk, and work on their computer, I fell a little in love with the place.
Kevin and Jamie arrived an hour later with the same hot sweat and humid shine that I had earlier. Within the hour we were watching tamring and blue gray tanagers at the bird feeder. A sloth came down and I was able to share my find with Kevin and Jamie; and enjoy their excitement as I showed them the sloth through my binoculars. A funny squirrel came in with a broad brown strip on his back. Some scarlet tanagers species came in and the night was topped off with a possum. All this from the common area inside this apartment-type bed and breakfast. The night ended with a late dinner after a very scary cab ride where we were prepared to get, as they say, “rolled.” But that is a human interest story that you can ask Kevin and Jamie to relay, if you ever get to meet them in person. All ended well though with a perfect dinner in a local restaurant that would mark the end of our Panama trip.
Everything from here on out would be motion toward home and the hustle of an international airport with Spanish speaking customs agents.
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