Panama Travel Journal - Day 1

-By Bob Chastain


As we flew low out of Houston, I had not yet fully realized what it was we were about to do. Looking down over the city it was a site I had seen many times. Not Houston, for I have only seen it only a hand full of times from the air, but civilization. Roads, bridges, ball parks, golf courses and much more. Every city has these elements that make up its fabric. One thing they all have in common though is people. Every time I look down out of an airplane I see life, but no people. Not because they are not there, but because they are too small.

I see cars move, boats move, golf courses and busy roadways. Each time think about the people and wonder what they are doing, totally unaware that I am watching them from above. Today I think they would be happy if they knew what we were doing. I don’t yet know if they would care about the frogs, but I know that they like the thought of frogs. I know they like the thought of a jungle, the thought of adventure and the thought that someone out there is looking out for all those things. Frogs, such tiny creatures that if we we’re all honest, we all love. Sometimes we don’t think about them, but when we do, we love them. In my heart, in a special place, that I am not ready to share yet, I have waited my whole life for this trip.

Somewhere in Panama right now there is a frog, lets call him Bob. Bob’s life is normal now. He has little knowledge that a deadly fungus has been creeping in on him for years. Slowly making its way up the coast of South America and down the narrow track of land from Mexico, through Costa Rica and now into Panama. More than likely Bob and everyone he knows will be dead in less than five years. At the rate in which the chytrid fungus moves, it could be as little as one and no more than five years before it reaches his home in Cerro Brewster.

When it does reach his home, past research shows that it will be devastating. Extensive studies by Karen Lips shows what happened to a population of frogs within a few months of the arrival of the chytrid fungus not far from here. Before this happens though we will collect Bob, and make sure he and a few of his kind live until we find a cure for the killing fungus. People around the world will fall in love with him. We will tell his story and the story of his kind and as with the story of the princess, we will fall in love with frogs all over again.


For those of you that will now follow our journey through this blog I think some introductions are in order. On the trip are Kevin and Jamie Kratt. Kevin was Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s board chair for the past two years and has supported this project from the very start. A passionate person, who loves life, his family and the pursuit of all things excellent. Jamie, his wife, has also been in love with this project and the thought of Bob the frog since the beginning. She, too, wondered what the first frog capture would be like and set her heart toward saving frogs from the first day she heard about this project. She brought frogs to a black tie Zoo event called Zoo Ball this past spring. That takes guts because frogs and ball gowns rarely go hand in hand.

Dr. Della Garelle is the Director of Conservation and Animal Health at the Zoo. She is now doing what she always dreamed she would do. As a Cornell trained veterinarian she has spent her whole adult life using her veterinarian skills to save wild life. Like many smart people her job more often is in the office arranging the saving of wildlife than in the field saving wildlife. It has been over 15 years since she has been in the jungles doing field work. As of late, most of her field work is in the high deserts and plains working with such species as black-footed ferrets and Wyoming toads.

Dr. Mark Kombert is our head vet. All day to day care of the zoo animals is done by Mark. Mark is a gentle man with a calm and free spirit. He worked at our Zoo years ago, when I was the Horticulture Curator, before going to spend several years in England with his family. He has recently returned to the zoo and it’s as if he never left.

As for me, I am a cheerleader. An encourager. A dreamer. The others have brought me along for the ride and more then likely to make fun of me. I just seem to be that kind of person. The, along with the people back at the zoo, do all the work while I get to speak for you and all those people on the Houston highways. The same people on the highways of Colorado Springs. The people that teach our kids, run our parks, pick up our trash, heal us when we are sick, keep our books, cut our hair, run our business and protect our world. Those people who want to know that someone out there is doing something for all the creatures they love, but sometimes they forget to think about.

Life is just plain busy. Just once, just this week, while we are gone and you read along…slow down, look around and know we are working for you. Working to save the animals you see everyday. If it has been a while since you have looked around to see them, do that this week and I will do the same. -Bob

Outside the Airport in Panama