Strindberg’s Star is a fast-paced thriller set in Scandanavia and other parts of Europe.
Strindberg’s Star is a fast-paced thriller set in Scandanavia and other parts of Europe.
Posted at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Nonfiction historical about the mysterious death of a diplomat's daughter set in Peking before the Communists and before the Japanese invade.
Posted at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Peter Hollens first easy listening album is out.
Posted at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
If you plan to visit Spain, it helps to know what you will experience and the answer is a taste of culture over the centuries that is varied, living and unique. Here’s my list of great things to do and see on your trip to Spain.
Posted at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Today started brighter and warmer and after breakfast and private time together, Bob and I walked to Pika Point where we found a neat little hostel, restaurant and surf joint where we had drinks—Bob beer and I diet coke. On the way, we birded, finding many creeks, coral patches, 1 variegated squirrel and what not that I photographed to my heart’s content. By the time we returned, we were both hot and sweaty and ready for the pool. But our key didn’t work. Once in the pool, Bob found a dead grasshopper bigger than my hand. I suggested he show the two young girls who called their brother and sister to come look. The kids attacked it with splashing, trying to make it move away from the edge—the corpse was soon floating mid pool where it was hard to avoid. I splashed it to the edge where Bob picked it up and through it out—ick. It did not come back to life, poor thing. This time the kids took our inclusion of them in the episode as an okay for them to get into the adult pool where they played and soon began running and jumping into it. The pool is plenty big and it didn’t affect us a bit. The hotel is much busier now.
After a shower and dressing, we took a taxi into town. The taxis act like part of the bus system, cost is $1 to town per person. The taxi already had three people in it when we got on board, one departed soon, the other two and their bike delivered near the airport. The taxi driver waited while Bob got cash and then suggested Pirates for dinner (since this is Sunday and not everyone is open). That sounded fine to me since it was on the water and had a varied menu. It turned out Pirates was crowded but soon the crowd left and was replaced by another crowd. Bob ordered his usual drink of a whole lime squeezed, gin and hielo (ice) and one for me. The drink was pretty stiff and I forgot to order the bottle of water I wanted since I felt quite parched. I gave my drink to Bob when the waitress came back and got water and a sangria—they think the wine with pineapple and I think pineapple juice and it was quite sweet but I soon got used to it while drinking water. Bob ordered lobster (only $25) with French fries and salad and I had fried shrimp with rice and a plate of limon. I couldn’t finish my rice and skipped all the beans, but the salad was very good. Bob added an additional $5 tip to the waitress that pleased her immensely. When we left, I teased Bob that his hat didn’t make him look more sober so he asked the table next to us and one guy said, you look fine but I don’t know about her. We all laughed.
We found no taxis on the street but across the street from Pirates was a small grocery where we found M&Ms, potato chips, mina’s, and cashews. I wanted supplies in case we actually get to go on a tour tomorrow.
We returned to our room and the deck but soon found downstairs by the pool a better choice to write.
Birds:
Great-tailed Grackle, Bananaquit, Great Kiskadee, Amazon Kingfisher, Tropical Peewee, House Wren, Redbreasted Blackbird (out of range, short tail), Groove-billed Ani, Panama Flycatcher, Blueblack Grassquit, Passerini’s Tanager, Spotted Sandpiper, Great Black Hawk, Magnificent Frigatebird, Belted Kingfisher, Turkey Vulture, Wilson’s Plover, Willet (breeding colors), Variable Seedeater (Caribbean slope colors), Blackpoll Warbler
Posted at 12:31 AM in Travel, Writing Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
What to See on the Road from Oslo, Norway to Karlstadt, Sweden
Many visitors avoid traveling by car due to gas prices, but for those willing to accept the time and cost, there are a few good stops where they can get out and stretch their legs and find history, nature, and beauty--here's where to visit.
Posted at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Use of Correct Grammar in a Letter Makes You More Effective - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Posted at 01:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
After a late breakfast—if you arrive too late, there’s no scrambled eggs left, we took a long swim in the deliciously cool pool. Everyone watched since it was overcast. We tried to convince some kids to join us, but it was no go, they liked the warmer kiddie pool cum hot tub and the 6 inch deep water underneath the lounge chairs. Then we went to lunch—I had chicken broquettes and Bob the shrimp—but I had to ask for mine cooked longer then the staff asked me for a service review and I was very nice. After that, I asked for down time to do some of my work. I wrote and posted 5 poems and one poetry review. Then I turned to my grammar and read two chapters. Bored with grammar, I almost finished the essay collection I’m reading (The Mobius Strip of Life by Freese) while copying CDs of pictures back on my hard drive. About dinner/drinks time, Bob and I returned to the cute little over the water bar for more drinks and dinner. I soaked my feet in the pool—too much sugar and my feet and legs swell, and found the reason many people like the over the pool lounge chairs as their body gets somewhat wet. For dinner Bob had a club sandwich and I a green salad with plantain chips which I liked but Bob doesn’t mind skipping. Our next exciting venture was on to the web where nagged by Gardens of Time I played and gifted folks before posting. Then I crashed with Bob—it felt good to have a restful day.
Birds:
Great-tailed Grackle, Great Kiskadee, Mangrove Swallow, Spotted Sandpiper
Posted at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The 5 most exciting ways tech has revolutionized the book industry | Nokia Connects
I wonder if the new Microsoft alliance will have impact?
Posted at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Mathias B. Freese is always thoughtful, questions reality and has interesting remarks to make about many stages in life; he, in fact, offers up his belief that life is somewhat like the Mobius Strip used in his title, circulating round and round and sometimes offering up a bit of magic insight.
Posted at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
This morning we woke up and dressed, went to breakfast, checked out and headed to David by way of the scenic route down to Boquete, heading south (I think) from Finca Lerida and heading toward Sendero de los Quetzales, then following the road along the river. It’s quite beautiful and this time I managed to get the pictures taken in bright happy sunlight.
When we reached Boquete, it was 10:00 and that gave us just enough time to make it to the airport in David where we turned in the car and met our guide and driver from Ancon. On the way, we passed through the massive highway contruction project (turning a two-lane road into a four-lane divided highway). It wasn’t very scenic but then again I hadn’t seen it before. Bob wanted to talk so I didn’t work like I planned.
At David, we found McDonald’s for lunch and filled gas and turned in the car at Hertz. Our guide, Sergio, and driver, Orlando (they both thought his name being the same as the city we lived in funny) immediately helped with the luggage, offered up water, and allowed Bob to explain we wanted most of our birding experience on the Caribbean side of the mountains. This matched their plans well.
Our route followed our previous trip to Gualaca, then turned toward Bocas. I got one picture of the dry cattle range lands and the hilly land formations. Our first stop was at Fortuna Dam which we were told was over 100 meters deep and quite wide. We picked up our first birds (except for the Caracara in flight) at the dam, although we were a bit slow and missed two birds (one a siskin and the other a wren). We then reached our first birding stop in the Palo Seco Protected Forest. It was raining very hard and though we both wore our Harry Potter plastic ponchos and hat’s, our legs and feet got wet, our glasses and binoculars speckled with rain so we gave up since the birds hate rain for the most part. We did get excellent pictures of flowers, one a native orange orchid that grows all along the roads. Our second birding stop was at the Anam station for the Palo Seco Protected Forest. The station is hosted and has a nearby coffee shop and lots of flowering plants. There’s no hiking trail like the path up at the top of the pass, but we walked along the road, across the river and spotted a white hawk, then tons of toucans. We didn’t see any lifer toucans but we did get other birds and it was an excellent experience to see the toucans in flight, hopping up and down the bare trees, eating and of course pooping. The lighting was pretty difficult to make out colors.
Birds:
Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Chestnut-collared Sparrow, Blue-and-White Swallow, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Spotted Sandpiper, Montezuma Oropendula, Scarlet Tanager, Panama Flycatcher, White Hawk, Keel-billed Toucan, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Collared Aricari, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Broadbilled Motmot, Great-tailed Grackle, Crested Caracara
Animals:
Hoffman’s Gray Sloth—three-toed (all curled up in his favorite tree)
Posted at 12:15 AM in Spanish, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Ancon Expeditions, Birding Guide, Boquete, Fortuna Dam, Palo Seco Protected Forest, Panama, Travel Guide
This morning we woke up and dressed, went to breakfast, checked out and headed to David by way of the scenic route down to Boquete, heading south (I think) from Finca Lerida and heading toward Sendero de los Quetzales, then following the road along the river. It’s quite beautiful and this time I managed to get the pictures taken in bright happy sunlight.
When we reached Boquete, it was 10:00 and that gave us just enough time to make it to the airport in David where we turned in the car and met our guide and driver from Ancon. On the way, we passed through the massive highway contruction project (turning a two-lane road into a four-lane divided highway). It wasn’t very scenic but then again I hadn’t seen it before. Bob wanted to talk so I didn’t work like I planned.
At David, we found McDonald’s for lunch and filled gas and turned in the car at Hertz. Our guide, Sergio, and driver, Orlando (they both thought his name being the same as the city we lived in funny) immediately helped with the luggage, offered up water, and allowed Bob to explain we wanted most of our birding experience on the Caribbean side of the mountains. This matched their plans well.
Our route followed our previous trip to Gualaca, then turned toward Bocas. I got one picture of the dry cattle range lands and the hilly land formations. Our first stop was at Fortuna Dam which we were told was over 100 meters deep and quite wide. We picked up our first birds (except for the Caracara in flight) at the dam, although we were a bit slow and missed two birds (one a siskin and the other a wren). We then reached our first birding stop in the Palo Seco Protected Forest. It was raining very hard and though we both wore our Harry Potter plastic ponchos and hat’s, our legs and feet got wet, our glasses and binoculars speckled with rain so we gave up since the birds hate rain for the most part. We did get excellent pictures of flowers, one a native orange orchid that grows all along the roads. Our second birding stop was at the Anam station for the Palo Seco Protected Forest. The station is hosted and has a nearby coffee shop and lots of flowering plants. There’s no hiking trail like the path up at the top of the pass, but we walked along the road, across the river and spotted a white hawk, then tons of toucans. We didn’t see any lifer toucans but we did get other birds and it was an excellent experience to see the toucans in flight, hopping up and down the bare trees, eating and of course pooping. The lighting was pretty difficult to make out colors.
Birds:
Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Chestnut-collared Sparrow, Blue-and-White Swallow, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Spotted Sandpiper, Montezuma Oropendula, Scarlet Tanager, Panama Flycatcher, White Hawk, Keel-billed Toucan, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Collared Aricari, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Broadbilled Motmot, Great-tailed Grackle, Crested Caracara
Animals:
Hoffman’s Gray Sloth—three-toed (all curled up in his favorite tree)
Posted at 12:10 AM in Spanish, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Ancon Expeditions, Birding Guide, Boquete, Fortuna Dam, Palo Seco Protected Forest, Panama, Travel Guide
Unsure that we’d actually see the Resplendent Quetzal, I tell Bob we should take a tour at Finca Lerida, just in case the guide can help us find one. After breakfast, we meet up with our guide, Alberto. Alberto, it turns out, is quite knowledgeable about Finca Lerida operations and growing coffee, but less about birds.
From him, I learn that coffee trees can last up to 25 years, but if they start to look diseased, they plant a new tree beside and cut it down. Finca Lerida uses very few chemicals if none—I think they might use an anti-nematode chemical, otherwise nothing. The coffee plants sometimes get nematodes or another insect. To grow the new plants, they take a seed, plant it, when it sprouts, they move it to another container for 7 months, then transfer it into the ground. The coffee is picked and packed in 30lb bags by the pickers (mostly indigenous), who are paid a minimum of $425 for the season, $3 for each 30lb bag, and all of their housing and food supplied. Panama has a state medical insurance. The Panamanian President’s family owned Finca Lerida, but it was sold and placed under a non-profit management. The hotel was built in 2004, but an addition is being built now. At one time, Finca Lerida had a dairy operation, but apparently it couldn’t compete against Netherland butter (a possible exchange for all the Chiquita bananas we see shipped back?) and the area has been replanted. No more trees are cut on the property. The coffee is sort of shade grown—some large trees within the coffee plants provide shade to many plants, and the hedge row/forest fringe provides more. They often sees a light mist of rain.
After wandering past many coffee and other trees and a vine called “kill tree” that will cover a tree and kill it within 1-2 years, we reach forested area. We take a walk (missing most birds but surprisingly see the nightingale out in the open and then although we hear the song many more times, never see it again) up to several lookouts where we can see the Pacific Ocean and the farm operations on Finca Lerida and a neighbor that has truck farm operations—this is where the irrigation water flowing down the property in pipes goes partially.
Then we head down the Cascades path—which is rocky and has some difficult places on the trail where one can slip. The trail leads eventually to a lookout of another waterfall. Then we start hearing the Resplendant Quetzal. We see three different males—what a treat. The blue tail looks turquoise against the native greenery, the red bright, the tail curls on the end. He’s simply stunning while his mate is just prettier than a Trogan. We hear the Bell birds and others see it, but not us.
After our return along the Cascades path, we take the el Roble trail which is much narrower and follows a huge number of old trees down to the coffee trees. The hike is a delight and we find others staying at the hotel sign up for a coffee tour.
After a good lunch, we return up to where we hiked in the morning with Alberto and bird the forest fringe in search of all the birds we heard and missed and find quite a few, but it rains, then gets chilly so we wear our ponchos. When Bob’s feet start hurting, we head back, finding the Acorn Woodpecker as a surprising close to the day—the picture in the bird guide is far too white compared to the yellowish faces we see.
Chestnut-capped Brush Finch, Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush, Black Vulture, Resplendent Quetzals (male), Yellowish Flycatcher, Green Violetear (hummingbird), Slaty Flower-Piercer, Rufous-collared Sparrow, White-naped Brush Finch, Yellow-bellied Siskin, Yellow-faced Grassquit (in nest), Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Slate-throated Redstart, Flame-colored Tanager, Black-cheeked Warbler, White-tipped Dove, Acorn Woodpecker, Clay-colored Thrush, Blue-gray Tanager
Posted at 10:19 PM in Spanish, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: birding, birds, birdwatching, Boquete, coffee, Finca Lerida, hiking, Panama, travel, trees
A Rainbow of Lilies Marching Toward Easter - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Posted at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
We woke up excited to look for Quetzals, not our first try by any means. We’ve looked for Quetzals in Mexico and Costa Rica and Peru, but they like mountains with cool tropical rainforest and apparently according to one of our fellow travelers, specific trees in flower.
We ask if it is safe to park at the trailhead next to the bus stop, but the office manager is unwilling to commit to potential liability and suggests we walk or take the local bus. We drive down (4km from the hotel) and pull into the trailhead, finding a place to turn around and park. The caretaker for the trailhead has us sign in and pay $3 each.
I didn’t believe that we would see a Quetzal—the trail starts through agriculture land, but slowly it begins to rise. Luckily, most of the trail is rocky so the continual rain hasn’t left the trail very muddy or wet. Soon we start spotting birds we found at Finca Lerida, then new ones—mostly warblers or warbler look-alikes by size. We miss one small bird again and again. Worse, while documenting a bird we’re viewing, people come up and start asking questions—a sure guarantee of failure. Then while we’re looking at a warbler, a group of three young guys approach and ask us about our birding—they tell us they’ve just seen the Resplendent Quetzal 100 meters up the trail. We decide to pay attention to the possibility we might actually see a Quetzal. We start hearing two voices calling back and forth but can’t find either bird. Finally, we pause and stand quietly a few places.
A female Resplendent Quetzal swoops up and lands on a tree branch above my head. I tell Bob, quick, get the picture.
He does so, approaching nearer while I stand back. I don’t realize he has seen the male until he’s taken several pictures then mouths to me, quick, he’s about to leave. Both birds swoop 100 meters away into the forest and I never do see the male, although Bob spots it twice more.
We continue to get what birds we can, telling others where to look and at what height. Most of the people we run into are hiking fast and hard. We spend 6 hours doing the trail up to the waterfall and then slowly back. What a delight to see the environment—so many old trees and blossoms and ferns and so much water as the trail follows the creek. Bob’s eyes get tired and he starts only wearing his glasses when I find a bird.
We return back to Finca Lerida well pleased at our day. But I have a headache from lack of food and someone sends me a message about a blog that had nasty things to say about me, but no way to contact him, so I quit following this person. What a mean thing to do.
Sendero des Quetzales
Birds:
Silver-throated Tanager, White-throated Mountain Gem (hummingbird), Flame-throated Warbler, Yellowish Flycatcher, Resplendent Quetzals (male/female), Three-striped Warbler, Slate-throated Redstart, Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Chestnut-capped Brush Finch, Common Bush Tanager
Posted at 08:45 PM in Photography, Spanish, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: birding, birdwatching, Boquete, Finca Lerida, hiking, Panama, Quetzal, Resplendent Quetzal, Resplendent Quetzal Female, Resplendent Quetzal Male, Sendero del las Quetzales, travel
Yesterday’s storm continued today. We woke in not so bad drizzle, went to breakfast—continental with cereal, Passion Fruit juice, plate of fruit and homemade bread toast and jelly and coffee and tea for me. After breakfast, we decided to skip our tours due to the rain and try for Volcan Baru. The office gave us a map. We followed the road up as far as we could go, but the graveled part of the road looked washed out with huge boulders making it difficult to head straight up. So we continued on to Volcancito (the town) on the return loop to town.
Once in town, I asked that we head back to Finca Lerida via the road to San Ramon where there is rock climbing (in good weather).
The road there follows the river, shows many geologic formations—sediment layers uptilted I think. They look like hexagonal rods piled on top of each other with a bit of a twist upward. The river, too, is scenic, with many waterfalls. Lots of flowers in bloom now, but the birds are uncooperative disliking the rain.
We return to Finca Lerida for a late lunch (and beers for Bob although I have one two). We split chicken fingers and fries and Lerida Decadence – a mocha brownie served with carmelized bananas and cashews and a dish of rum raisin ice cream. Delicious all. We meet Dave and Dave the boatmen traveling from Costa Rica south who are hanging in the region. Dave is from Princeton and the other Dave is from New York. Then we meet Woody who is beside himself and traveling from San Francisco area. We tell everyone we have been promised a bar with a wood fire tonight.
We take a nap while the rain falls, but as soon as it lets up, I urge Bob out to do the Misterio Falls road. Five minutes down the road, the next cloud hits and the rain is once more torrential. By the time we get to the Sendero de la Quetzales, we find too much rain but a Black Guan under the canopy posing for us. Great way to end the day.
Birds:
Silver-throated Tanager, White-Naped Brush-Finch, Flame-Colored Tanager, Rufous-Collared Sparrow, Panama Flycatcher, Common Black Hawk (Immature), Blue-Gray Tanager, Buff-throated Saltator, Clay-colored Thrush, Tennessee Warbler, Slaty-Flowerpiercer, Black Guan, Cattle Egret, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Violet Sabrewing, Green Violet-Ear, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird
Posted at 12:05 PM in Food, Photography, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: bird, bird watching, birding, Boquete, dining, Finca Lerida, Panama, rock climbing, Volcan Baru
We skip breakfast, shower and pack up. No taxi is waiting so Bob sees a guy and waves him down. The cab looks dangerous to my health—bald, skiddable tires that are a bit low and very limited brakes. We get to the airport just fine, passing others wanting to flag him down. We ask him where to eat in David, but he tells us eat tamales, fruit and a special spiced meat. He tells us he goes swimming in the hot summers at the Grand Canyon and takes his young son and says, yes, there is crocodiles—his son fell into the river and they both got quite scared.
At the airport, I watch people sit near each other and share pictures of their families on their telephones. A lady asks me if we are going to David and I reply yes, she said, she had just come for the day to see her daughter. I ask if her daughter is married, and if she has grandchildren, she says yes. I tell her Bob’s kids haven’t given us grandchildren.
The flight to David is remarkable smooth via Taca Airlines Aeroperlas. Bob wasn’t able to get the Panama Airlines website to work. While we waited for out flight, many people arrived without luggage, bought tickets, then left again at the Panama Airlines ticket counter. Aeroperlas wasn’t as busy—they must be the late comers to town. The airport is expanding another wing and another floor.
The Hertz people are super nice to us and get us set up in a four-wheel drive vehicle and give us directions through town. They laugh when we verify the location of McDonald’s—we’ve struck out on the internet, and with three or four people asking where to eat in David. McDonald’s worked—while we ate, I convinced Bob to take the alternative road to Finca Lerida by going north from Chiriqui—it’s the same one to Bocas del Toro for a short time, but part of the way will be new since we’ll take the other route back to David.
The road follows Chiriqui River and eventually we come to a dam, muddy water flooding over the spillways. I think that’s highly unusual since this is the dry season. The road has several places where we could pull off and do a little birding. By the time we get to Finca Lerida, it’s raining quite hard—no wonder the water was rushing over the dam.
We found Finca Lerida with ease, signs pointing at the key places one might wonder. We check in wearing our Harry Potter plastic ponchos—the guy at the desk laughs at us, and haul luggage to our room wearing the same and using the umbrellas they provide.
Finca Lerida has a bar, restaurant, café—all sell locally made gifts of jewelry, coffee, cosmetics, and cute mugs and other stuff with hummingbirds and toucans. Our room has a private porch with a couple of padded chairs that looks over the garden—we immediately get four lifers. Then we check to see if the bar is open, yes, restaurant open, yes, and pick up a trail map at the office. We delay our tour possibly in case it is still raining in the morning. The man at the office helps us identify the tanager. The lighting is awfully weird tonight due to the rain and all the birds wet and low light.
They open the bar for us and we try to bird but finally it is too late. Then we try dinner at the restaurant. I have the pork chop and Bob the River Trout with cashews. Fresh made bread is a win. The meal tasty. The rum cake with strawberries and oregano and ice cream is wonderful. Our room is chilly, the rain mostly stopped but the wind is blowing quite fiercely even knocking the greenhouse roof over the coffee machinery off. There’s a spare blanket, robe and slippers, full screen tv, and the internet is accessible from our room. Pretty nifty.
Birds: Great-tailed Grackle, Clay-colored Thrush, Cattle Egret, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Blue-gray Tanager, Panama Flycatcher, Smooth-billed Ani, Fork-tailed Flycatcherx3, Variable Seedeater, Rufous Collared Sparrow, White-naped Brush-Finch, Violet Sabrewing (hummingbird), Green Violetear (hummingbird), Flame Collared Tanager, and Yellow-headed Caracara
Posted at 08:10 PM in Spanish, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife, Writing Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: airplane flight, Bird, birding, birdwatching, Boquete, David, Finca Lerida, Panama
Today was a laundry day—everything we have is dirty. We wake up late, have breakfast, shower and head to Panama City. Bob skips any side trip. Instead we go to Amador Causeway and try the Buffalo Steak House. It’s okay—my fish comes with tasty stir fry but no garlic. Even the garlic bread has little garlic. Bob’s Brochette’s of filet, chicken and prawns is cooked just done, the meat tender, and he eats it with the grilled onion and is happy. We skip dessert until later.
We find that we can check in early by an hour and immediately set to work sorting laundry. Bob finishes all the loads while I work on this week’s essay—it doesn’t fit the assignment. I expect they will shoot me, just kidding.
(Gorgeous trees and views along the Amador causeway offer shelter from the intense heat, protection from the rain, introduction to unusual trees, and places to rest, fun.)
After the laundry is finished I cheat with peanut butter cookies, Bob with chocolate chip and then go for a walk up the waterfront and back. I write some more (mostly planning i.e. seeing how many word on how many scenes and adding scenes).
Then Bob is ready for drinks—I cheat and have the Ultimate Mud Slide, Bob is defeated by the bar being out of limon, so he settles for gin with a jigger of margarita juice.
Easy day, quick night to go to bed, we have a flight in the morning.
Birds: Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, Little Blue Heron, Great Kiskadee, Rock Pigeon
Posted at 06:04 PM in Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife, Writing Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Amador causeway, birding, margarita, panama, panama city, Ultimate mud slide
Today was a transition day, move out of one hotel, move into the next. We wake late (8:30) and head for breakfast. On our return, I shower while Bob futzes with the bags. We check out fairly early and decided to just head to Colon area and try out the famed Achiote Road that a birder we ran into told us was the hot spot of the San Lorenzo National Park. We quickly found the right road and then saw a lavanderia which we are getting close to being desperate to have, but decided to wait for our next stop at the Country Inn and Suites.
After filling gasoline and buying water at McDonald’s we soon found a sign pointing to the Melia Panama Canal, our hotel for the next two nights. They kindly let us check in, so we dumped our bags and went to lunch. Meals at the Melia are all buffet—breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have a small candy, snack and gift shop. I had garlic Sea Bass, noodles, vegetables and salad, Bob the same, except he ate the mussels off my SeaBass and had the three cheese chicken. We were amused by the people who quietly accepted their Atlas beer—Bob told them it wasn’t real beer and could he please have a Panama or Sabal or Heineken—they caved. The servers made sure the label of the other beer drinkers wasn’t visible to us.
Then we were off down the road, past the Gatun Locks which look delightedly stair stepped and complete with several large container ships enclosed. On past the Gatun Locks (the traffic waits on either side for their turn to go on the one lane drawbridge. The dam was impressive even though the water wasn’t being allowed out. Then the road passed alongside Gatun Lake which is eerily turquoise and sets well above the seashore seen across the road. Achiote Road may be a good birding road, but there is precious few places to pull off and most of these we found trashed and or burned out. At the turnoff onto Achiote Road, the roadside was onfire. Most people continued past since only the dried out vegetation seems to burn. It doesn’t take long to get to Achiote Road and once there you find the Toucan Center which seems to be a campground/place to get a guide and someone’s private home. We skipped it and continued on to Pina which is the small seaside town at the end of the Achiote Road. Round trip took about 3 hours and we only stopped to id a few birds. The area from Achiote to Pina is private farmland, low grazing fields for cattle with rivers running through separated by native treed areas. The stench of smoke was overpowering and even miles away, I still smell it on me.
One the way back we got to witness some local culture. Ladies had set up a roadside stand selling drinks and sandwiches. Stopped at Gatun Locks, the men on their way home, one by one caved to the temptation and went over and bought sandwiches, which they immediately began to devour. Also, the small Mitsibuishi truck (front seat with two men, back hole with a couple more, and tailbed with two benches made from wood planks housed another five men. After one of the buses (not the one with a line of shark fins down the top) crossed the Gatun Locks, the driver pulled over and a mother was allowed to place her son at trees edge to empty his bladder, then all drove away. The doorman at the Melia wanted to know why the Toucan was yelling his head off, it took him awhile to translate my English “he’s saying hey ladies, look at me, I got the fruit” before he smiled. Many of the people we are running into are speaking Spanish as a second language.
(The Panamanian buses known as the Red Devils for their wild ways and fun decorations were due to be replaced in just 15 days, however, even the Taxis drivers--like this one-- have caught on to the fun of making their home away from home fun to visit.)
We returned to the hotel to find a Toucan yelling his head off, and for drinks—Bob bought snacks, just in case he got hungry. I’m still eating less than normal, hopefully it will take a pound or two off before I return home. Tonight we plan to swim in the glorious pools that are open 24 hours a day, no restrictions. The hotel itself is almost deserted except during lunch when the buffet attracted busloads of people.
We got drinks and now Bob amused himself watching a young lady remove her bra and put on her swimsuit top without revealing anything. Her babies were then encased in floating swim suits, one, the youngest was held with his toes touching and he immediately took up kicking. Once both were in floating swim suits, they also got to have a floating ring. The eldest cries if mom pays attention to the younger or leaves him alone. The Melia property is surrounded on about 270 degrees by river/lake.
Birds:
Blue-Crowned Motmot, Summer Tanager, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Magnificent Frigatebird, Cattle Egret, Woodstork, Smooth-billed Ani, Little Blue Heron, Great Egret, Great-tailed Grackle, Crimson-backed Tanager, Panama Flycatcher, Thick-billed Seed Finch, Yellow-headed Caracara, Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan, Palm Tanager, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Blue-Gray Tanager, S. Roughwinged Swallows
Posted at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Spring Reading List Offers Poetry, Culture, Sex, Science Fiction and Essays - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Posted at 07:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Bob and I wake up late and have private time after a good breakfast. Sated, Bob allows me to do my grammar homework and post it early, since I am unsure how much access I will have to the computer. Once I get that done, we head toward the pipeline trail, that has become the Discovery Center of the Soberania National Forest and requires a $20 per person admission fee, $30 if you arrive in the morning. The receptionist promises us $10 toward a purchase in their gift store. While they haggle through what is allowed, I start birding. Another couple arrives and so do the birds.
Suddenly we are surrounded with too many birds to identify at once. Bob and I are quite content to stay, but the staff pushes us out, telling us you get the guide for free for an hour at the viewing tower. The guide cheats and takes us to a nearby trail, where again we are surrounded by birds of many species. Bob is slow to find the birds because he has the longer distance narrower field of view glasses. I eventually find them all for him to identify, but I expect we drive the other couple nuts.
The guide takes off, telling us her shift is through. No problem, she managed to get us out into the forest. We take a path that leads us the long way to the viewing tower. We reach it with not much time before the Center closes and locks the gate. We climb up, up, up, three levels, almost four when the winds blow up. Trees around us are blowing back and forth 5 feet or more. Bob gets nervous and sits down because he feels the tower shaking. I’m relieved to not have to go all the way to the top—I get really nervous at heights. Luckily, Bob doesn’t take offense when I say I can’t stand anyone behind me on the tower. We squeak down, but manage to get pictures of several orchids, but alas, no birds or monkeys. We did get many new varieties, and on the back trail we manage to find three Crimson-crested Woodpeckers spiraling around their home for long enough for Bob to get pictures including one with the identifying face patch. We pick up our gift at the gift store then head back to our hotel, stopping outside the gate several places to identify more birds and then again at the lake across from the STRI center where we get Rufescent Tiger Heron.
With still time to bird, Bob took me over to the waterfront restaurant and marina where he thought we’d find good birding. Turns out he was right. We birded along the shore, finding the lizard and turtles before heading uphill where we found the sewage processing facility. On our return, we ran into another birder who suggested we look for monkeys near the forest and the old American housing facility and to try out Achiote Road near Colon. Everyone tells us to stay out of Colon.
Bob and I had drinks in the bar, while watching CNN. Then we continued over to the specialty restauarant at the Gamboa Rainforest Hotel where for a set price of $35 we were given an appetizer, meal, and postre (dessert). I had palm hearts covered with creamy vineagrette, beef with fresh vegetables, and mashed potatoes and strawberry ice cream, brownies in a caramelized basket. I couldn’t finish the potatoes and beef but I still ate the postre.
Then we did our bird lists and crashed.
Birds: White-necked Jacobin hummingbird, Chestnut-Mandibled Toucan, Purple-throated Fruit Crow, Broadbilled Motmot, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Crimson-backed Tanager, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Piratoc Flycatcher, Flame-rumped Tanager, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, Red-crowned Ant Tanager, Dot-winged Antwren, Golden-collared Manakin, Dusky Antbird, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Fasciated Antshrike, Common Moorhen, Rufescent Tiger Heron, White-tipped Pigeon, Great Blue Heron, Yellow-headed Caracara, S. Roughwinged Swallow, Social Flycatcher, Panama Flycatcher
Mammals : Basilisk Lizard, Agouti, same as Florida Turtle, (Panamanian) Western Night Monkey
Posted at 11:14 AM in Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
{EAV:158f3d5f5b233f78}
Our morning started with a rushed attempt to get a bottle of water while the manager played “it’s in the honor bar, give me a credit card, or try the not yet open breakfast café.” I did get one, snagged some corn flakes but never ate them, then found the trolley ride to the STRI pier. Turns out it was just down the road and we could have driven easier and parked there with no trouble. We were met by Bob’s contact Jennifer, introduced to our guide Ian, and met our fellow birders, Katherine from Texas and Giles, the French ambassador’s office. Giles took the day off to get to see STRI since it is so hard to get scheduled for the visit.
Barro Colorado is the hilltop of a mountain on the edge of where the Panama Canal was planned and turned into an island when they flooded the region. All of the local inhabitants had been moved before the flooding. Animals swim between the islands. We boarded the ferry—due for servicing and a smaller boat scheduled to replace it for a while which will make seats very limited. The STRI employees live either on the island, in the surrounding area, or commute from Panama City.
Our hotel, the Gamboa Rainforest Lodge is a 250 person, two pool place, with four restaurants, a bar, gift shop and huge grounds along the Chagres River. It is located next to former Gamboa—the area the US personnel lived in while they managed the Panama Canal and now, refurbished and available for purchase or rent or something. Most of the former quarters make a ghost town. In Gamboa, STRI has a greenhouse they are building that houses nursery plants.
After a 45-minute boat ride along the Panama Canal, spent bypassing commercial freighters at times and reading literature about STRI research projects, we pull into the research center which has housing, laboratories, and a lunch room and gift shop. We taped up our legs and set off on a 4.5 hour hike.
Although we saw wildlife, the primary focus was on Panamanian trees and some of the technology used in monitoring the forest. Lianas are a questionable part that climbs trees, blocks out their sunlight leading to their eventual collapse, and transporting large quantities of water from deep tap root system. Most of the trees have very shallow roots systems and studies are finding out if they are being held up by the lianas as much as holding the lianas.
The hike, which seemed to be primarily uphill was intensified by the lack of air movement and general heat. We saw part of the animal tracking system tower, funnels attached to bottles sitting around measuring the rainfall and collecting samples because they want to see who is generating calcium i.e. they know the figs do so quite a bit. They’ve measured the water flow up a tree and sap flow, I think if different. They’ve placed nets to collect fruit samples. One tree had a metal ruler that widened with the tree so that its growth was easily measured. We were shown various fruits, some edible, some like the wild cashew edible to animals but bitter to people, a tree that produces a flower and fruit like a yam, a tree that produces a gummy substance like rubber. One tree has thorns at the bottom with no discernible purpose or genetic advantage.
Birds:
Mangrove Swallow, Social Flycatcher, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Great Tinamou, Spotted Antbird, Variable Seedeater, Blue-crowned Motmot, Blue-gray Tanager, Crimson-backed Tanager, Flame-rumped Tanager
Mammals: x Nose Bat, x bat, American Crocodile, Basilisk Lizard, Poison Dart Frog, Howler Monkey, Agouti
Kapok Tree, Leaf cutter Trashpile had Spotted Antbird
Posted at 11:05 AM in Science, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Barro Colorado, birdwatching, Chagres River, global warming, howler monkey, Panama, Panama Canal, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Top Ecolodge Travel Destinations in Panama Sample Different Habitats | Trifter
Panama is a wonderful country to find wildlife–stays at Ecolodges help visitors make the most of their experiences. Try these top Ecolodges on your first visit, read why.
Posted at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
If you’re visiting Panama City, Panama for the first time, try Buccaneers Restaurant on the Amador Causeway.
Read more: http://trifter.com/caribbean-latin-america/panama/review-of-buccaneers-restaurante-amador-causeway-panama-city/#ixzz1qZ875q5j
Posted at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Slow up for breakfast at 7:30. Then I worked on my grammar lesson until I couldn’t sit any longer, my cold makes my back ache. After lunch, Bob and I wandered the property, visiting many of the little nooks and crannies and finding the Toucans fun to watch.
Then we went on our tour. The guide took us up a back road along the edge of the crater where we picked up whichever bird happened to be in the area. When we returned, I took pictures of some of the many pleasant surprises on the property. Bob learned a bit about the Aristide family that owns the property and when the children quit using it, they turned it into a really excellent little resort. We had drinks then joined a new couple from Toronto and the New York couple for dinner and shared stories about whatever.
Birds:
Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Aricari, Violet-crowned Wood Nymph, Clay-colored Thrush, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Common Tody Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Garden Emerald Hummingbird, Long-billed Starthroat, Black-chested Jay, Lineated Woodpecker, Rufous and White Wren, Rufous-breasted Wren, Rufous-crowned Warbler, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-winged Becard, Bat Falcon, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Tennessee Warbler, Blue-crowned MotMot now called a Whooping Motmot, Thick-billed Euphonia, Cattle Egret
Posted at 09:48 PM in Science, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Birdwatching, Canopy Lodge, Ecolodge, El Valle, Nature, Panama
We wake, watch the birds at the feeder and rush down for breakfast at 7:30. Then we while away time writing and with my grammar class assignment. Bob showers and fights the cold water—I skip. We make it to the church in time for the 9:00 service. The music is provided by a band of guitars, drummer and acoustics, the singer sounded very pleasant. The service was entirely in Spanish. I could tell where we were based on our service at home but couldn’t understand much. I understood the priest’s sermon related to our chosen paths in life. I’m not really used to God being called Senor, but it is nice. The church was opened on the sides and back to let in the winds. The church grounds were planted with flowers and quite attractive. We realized too late we could have picked up the words to the service at the front door; we came in the side door.
After mass, we waited in line at their very popular banos, then found the youngsters buying ice cream bars and flavored ice cones instead of our more typical donuts.
Afterwards we parked across from the market and wandered through. There was a huge section devoted to plants for sale, another for vegetables for purchase, and a final section filled with artisan crafts. I bought a dolphin bracelet and a woven medallion.
At lunch, we shared our table from the two guides from the large group of I think New Zealanders who were here birding and had a nice chat. They let us talk primarily. After lunch, with an offering of chicken, vegetables and rice served in a soup, we passed time typing up our notes and writing. The afternoon was spent on our free guided tour –it was a real delight. We went to a side road and the guide called in a Tody Motmot. Then we moved down the road and wandered up and down spotting birds. The guide was very helpful, often putting the bird we were identifying in his scope for a closer look.
Dense forest found near Canopy Lodge, El Valle, Panama
Dinner found us sharing our table with a young couple from New York.
Birds:
Clay-colored Thrush, Chestnut-headed Oropendula, Blue-gray Tanager, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Palm Tanager, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Crimson-backed Tanager, Great-tailed Grackle, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Lesser Goldfinch (f), Cocoa Woodcreeper, Tody Motmot, Long-billed Starthroat, Squirrel Cuckoo, Orange-chinned Parakeet, S. Roughwinged Swallow, Turkey Vulture, Gray-capped Flycatcher, Western Wood Pewee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Streaked Saltator, Rufous-capped Warbler
Posted at 10:50 AM in Photography, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Birdwatching, Birdwatching guide, Canopy Lodge, El Valle, Panama
I'm feeling mean because someone took away my toy, so I am not going to build the spaceship. I could have told them about the sound of particles 6 years ago, think about that. What if I die before telling them how to build the spaceship ... this is why I love science fiction. You have all the power in your hands.
Posted at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The story Patrick M. Garry tells is a story of how curiosity on the part of a group of young teens leads them to meddle in someone’s life with tragic results. This premise is well-rooted in life especially in political campaigns. The staging for the story has a small hometown appeal well-suited for the action.
Posted at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Today was a slow day, wake up, take a swim, eat lunch, then fetch the car at the airport. Turns out that the Hertz people only show up when scheduled so we had to wait fifteen minutes. During that time, the sweet lady from the tourism department offered us directions on how to get out of town and onto the C1 Panamerican Highway. She also told us how to get from Canopy Lodge, bypassing Panama City by taking the Puente Centenial instead of going into town. That sounded good. When we picked up the car, though, I found say a sign for Puente Centenial and directed Bob that way instead of following the buses to the Puente Americana. A quick U-turn provided the fix. The drive to El Valle was simple, only thing to watch for was a liquor store for Bob and the turn-off to El Valle.
We showed up and tried the internet, but found it only worked in the lounge area. Meanwhile, I found myself unable to hear anything. I’ve been joining Bob for drinks because lime in water is a sure safe way to have a drink without sugar. The gin acts like cough medicine and helps my achy muscles.
Canopy Lodge is a small place with very zen furnishings. Our room overlooks the bird feeders so we get to see plenty of action. Guides lead trips from the lodge—we received a free trip and will pay for one today. The meals are provided by the staff buffet style and dinner includes some really good wine.
Posted at 02:11 PM in Gardening, Photography, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Canopy Lodge, Ecolodge, El Valle, Panama, Panama City, Vacation
A review of Curses and Wishes by Carl Adamshick :: The Compulsive Reader :: A Haven for Book Lovers
Regardless of topic, from war, oyster bars, junk yards, to fluency, the reader never finds a word out of place, over frilly phrases or rigid format. Instead, the poet offers clear language, with specificity of detail and style that meets the needs of the poem.
Posted at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Magdalena Ball's new book "Black Cow" is out.
Posted at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I woke, got dressed and on my way to the pier, I spotted a coati walking up the river. I passed on and sat on the benches on the beach beneath the canopy. Bob soon joined me and we both noticed how the crab walk marks entirely covered the sand, crisscrossing and crossing many times. I was amazed how busy the little creatures were and how much territory they covered in just one night.
Soon, all our luggage was loaded on board and we headed off to El Morro (the snout?) which is a volcanic rock island broken off from the main coastline and which hosts many birding colonies. We didn’t see many birds home for the morning—I assume most were off finding breakfast. We first spotted a Bare-throated Tiger heron, then spotted Magnificent Frigatebirds, some with the red balloon just beginning to show their interest in mating. Around the other side of El Morro, a few blue-footed boobies had just taken up residence. Then we were off on the two hour passage back to El Quimbo, where we picked up the bus after waiting an hour. On the passage, I learned that Punta Patino had been a logging camp that was turned into a nature conservancy and logging banned. Punta Patino is a huge area, we were in just a small at the tip of a cone-shaped wedge of land set aside as protection.
The ride by bus back to Panama City has us all betting on our arrival time. Rachel and Dave kept up nonstop chatter about their visits to many people they knew in many parts of the world, with others interspersing their comments every now and then. I added a few tales with Bob supplying the words I couldn’t remember. We stopped once and tried to buy cachuatches but no one new what they were. We settled for potato chips and peanut M&Ms and Bob had a beer. When we climbed into the bus after using the bano, we found that Juan had pulled rank inside, talked to a manager and managed to buy Minas which is the local name for peanuts.
The Country Inn and Suites Panama Canal looked very safe and quite wonderful and I felt entirely miserable and ready for a steak. We went immediately to dinner and for once, I joined Bob in having several gins—I was never more ready to crash in my entire life. I took more pseudophed and Tylenol and by ten o’clock was dead to the world until morning.
Birds:
Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Smoothed-billed Ani, Laughing Gull, Blue-footed Booby, Sandwich Tern, Royal Tern, Snowy Egret, White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, Neotropical Cormorant, Little Blue Heron, Black Vulture.
Birds:
Clay-colored Thrush, Chestnut-headed Oropendula, Blue-gray Tanager, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Palm Tanager, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Crimson-backed Tanager, Great-tailed Grackle, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Lesser Goldfinch (f), Cocoa Woodcreeper, Tody Motmot, Long-billed Starthroat, Squirrel Cuckoo, Orange-chinned Parakeet, S. Roughwinged Swallow, Turkey Vulture, Gray-capped Flycatcher, Western Wood Pewee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Streaked Saltator, Rufous-capped Warbler, Yellow-backed Oriole
Insect: Praying Mantis--two leaves connected? One to look up when I get home.
Posted at 10:08 PM in Science, Spanish, Thoughts, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Birdwatching, crabs, nature, Panama, Punta Patino, Spanish
Today was a good day despite missing out on the Harpy Eagle. We woke up late, dressed, ate breakfast leisurely, donned out gear and started out on a slow stroll.
During breakfast, the man of the house cleaned the upstairs, sweeping it thoroughly. When he reached a spot on the floorboards, I heard a clunk and went to look. There was a gecko on the floor—brown and black speckled with cool little buttons on his feet. He climbed up the screen and up headed toward the ceiling and on our return he was just plain gone.
We first checked out the cabins, then the orchards, then the marshes, picking up thirty+ birds, 7-8 which were lifers. Before we took the long walk up the cliff, we rested by the beach to cool off.
Mangrove swamp at Punta Patino
Gyorgy, the cook, corrects Bob’s Spanish upon his request.
Then we went to chicken and rice and pineapple for lunch. Afterwards, the plan was going to be that I would write and Bob shower and write in his journal. Then a beach walk. Discovering his bird book missing, Bob woke me in the hammock and said no more writing, I need my bird book (he was actually going to go off without me). So I got into my swimsuit and said let’s do the beach hike. We walked straight down and found it on the bench where we had left it.
So then we took an hour and a half walk up the coast and back, spotting a few seabirds including a collared plover (potential lifer). The sand is black and slips below your feet if in the water and sticks and clings like weights if up the shore. Too far up the shore, the sand is burning hot from the sun. We sat and watched beach critters—probable crab of some sort, spiral out of their hole and leave tracks in the sand. Other crabs and jumped out of their hole as fast as can be, then spying us, zipped back. The shore was much different from last night when all sorts of hermit crabs littered the shore, all safely protected from predators, supposedly. Instead of the hermit crabs in their snail shells, today we had holes with dirt flung out in a scattering of balls. One species, thin and black felt secure without snail shells but hustled away from us.
On our return, we arrived just in time to see the property’s pet jaguarondi climb down a tree and dash away. What a beautiful black kitty he is, not that I would challenge his claws. Although only about 4’ long (not counting head and tail, and 3’ tall), he seemed more interested in departure then taking on the local dog.
The only bad part of the day will be the return of the crew and the fact I had to take two pseudophed for a clogged nose, and worse, the gunk is sitting at the back of my throat so I worry that I am getting what the woman and her daughter who were coughing and taking medicine at the airport had. I am praying it is allergies from the profusion of blooms, but thinking probably not from the slow way my mind and body are reacting.
Birds spotted: Osprey, Willet, Collared Plover, Common Black Hawk, Northern Waterthrush, Blue-gray Tanager, Solitary Sandpiper, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Palm Tanager, Lance-tailed Manakin, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Lesser Nighthawk, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, Brown Pelican, Buff-breasted Wren, White-tipped Dove, Western Slaty-Antshrike, Turkey Vulture, Streaked Flycatcher, Panama Flycatcher, Wood Stork, Humboldt’s Sapphire Hummingbird, Blue-throated Goldentail, Crested Oropendula, Great Kiskadee, Lesser Kiskadee, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, Magnificent Frigatebird
Mammals spotted: Variegated Squirrel, Gray-phase Jaguarundi, Red-tail squirrel
Lizards spotted: black monitor with a narrow neck, triangular face, and white stripe down his neck, gecko, Bob spotted a lizard with red head and black body, Caiman
Posted at 12:10 PM in Spanish, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: birding, birds, jaguarundi, lizards, mangrove swamp, Panama, Punta Patino, wildlife, writing
Woke up having forgot my patch; fell asleep trying to write, then tossed-and-turned, hopping twin beds, first Bob’s then mine with the air conditioner turned up. We figured we slept maybe 6 hours, after a 4 hour night, 4 hour night, 4 hour night. But 6 is better. Morning hike until lunch led us down through the woods, especially looking for Manakins. The guide was always well off in front talking with several of the people who really knew the birds of the area. I got irritated since the one’s up front hogged the front of the birding and then talked loudly and scared off the bird and wouldn’t allow anyone in for a view. If I spotted anything, they’d come crashing over pushing us out of the way. I hate competitive birding—it’s not good for the birds. The Anton Expedition Guide did point out a few birds with his laser pointer—this is a cool tool for telling people where to look. Deep in the forest, sometimes the only view was about a foot wide.
The Anton Expedition Guide then started up about how impossible it was to see the Harpy Eagle and then telling us how fast he planned to walk, up and down ten+ 300 foot hills, over ten miles to and from, and how there would be no waiting or taking pictures or taking a breather. He made me feel extremely unwelcome. We decided to skip the Harpy Eagle outing for the next day.
I couldn’t help feeling cheated by the whole place—they promised a beach side cabin, we’re up 300 ft through grounds that require protection against ticks—not exactly the walk out your cabin door to a stroll on the beach promised. Then they cancelled our night in Mogrebe and the outing to see the seabird colony (now rescheduled to make the day away from here longer).
Hard to believe anyone can be crabby with Trogon's following you around the property at Punta Patino.
So as usual, I am anti-social and took a nap which made me far less crabby. Later, Bob and I walked down to the beach and shed about 20 degrees of heat and found company with the crabs who are cute as can be.
Birding
Black-chested Jay, Black-and-White Warbler, White-whiskered Puffbird, Thick-billed Euphonia, Red-Throated Caracara, Linneated Woodpecker, Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher, Blacktailed Trogon, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Lesser Kiskadee, Panama Flycatcher, Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Turkey Vulture, Grey-cheeked Nunlet, Crested Oropendula, Orange-crowned Oriole, Red-capped Woodpecker, Wood Stork, Smooth-billed Ani, Palm Tanager, White Ibis, Brown Pelican, Black Vulture
Posted at 12:22 PM in Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Anton Expedition, birding, birds, Harpy Eagle, Panama, Punta Patino
Wake up at 4:00 was painful since even though we tried to go to bed early, we were both up at midnight. Bob gave me plenty of time to do my yoga exercises and finally my body seems to be settling outPacking was easily accomplished. Our pickup by Ancon expeditions was timely, our driver Eric was good-humored, helpful, and got us all the way to the boat with no problems. In our group is Juan, Issa, Carlos, Rachel, Dave and us. We’re a friendly bunch dedicated to birding.
Breakfast was a trial to me, I didn’t expect to have to order food and not really hungry then rejected the meal I ordered because I asked for tortilla and got corn cakes instead of the tortilla look alike which is more like fry bread and called olhabra by sound but maybe not spelled right. It is dough made of flour, salt, water and deep fried. I tried for agua but was offered unasked for coffee, then when asked again, received tea. Luckily, Bob order botille de agua, and that was delivered. Good thing because I finished it all. And my water bottle full, and some of Bob’s.
The drive through Darien was mostly agricultural land with many inspection stops. The cattle rangers have a breed obviously with some sort of mix with Brahmin beef. The fencing is done in a cool manner—live trees with barb wire stapled to them. Many places, even small towns, a show of firecrackers has declared this still to be Carnivale. Music is played from speakers to keep areas bopping.
The drive was almost interminable and I found myself catnapping occasionally since the scenery was mostly unchanging. The Panamanians build in odd places and don’t seem to have a planning grid which they use. Sometimes homes are built with squared off houses, mostly modern places, but many are build following the line of coast, gully or hillside. Hunks of gravel from the roadside get dug up, with no sign of ownership but there are commercial gravel pits. The homes have the Spanish style with wrought iron over doors and or windows, red tiled roofs or metal, and cement block construction in many places. In some town, one guy is in charge of being the housing goods distributor. Many people seem unsure which style home they like, some with three on the same property, one built with thatched roof, one build modern and cinderblock and one built with sheet metal roofs. Most people look like they prefer sleeping in hammocks out of doors and cooking on outside barbecues. The people have all been very friendly. Grocery stores are widely used. Garbage is trouble.
Our boat trip goes down a large mangrove-fronted river to the ocean then in and around a bunch of islands until we reach Punta Patino.
Deibyus is our guide here at Punta Patino.
Birds:
Yellow-crowned Euphonia, Osprey, Blue Gray Tanager, Broad-winged Hawk, Black-tailed Trogon, Band-rumped Swift, Keel-billed Toucan, Crested Oropendula, Chestnut-headed Oropendula, Lesser-swallow-tailed Swift, Prothonotary Warbler, Great Kiskadee, Spotted Sandpiper, Greyheaded Chachalaca, Cattle Egret, Yellow-headed Caracara, Great-tailed Grackle, Black Vulture, Smooth-billed Ani, Tropical Kingbird, Tropical Mockingbird, Turkey Vulture, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Egret, Brown Pelican, White Ibis, Red Crowned Woodpecker, Black-chested Jay
Chicken, goat, cow, dog, horse, and I saw many White Muscovy Domestic Ducks
Posted at 11:47 PM in Spanish, Thoughts, Travel, Wildlife, Writing Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Ancon Expeditions, Bird, Birding, Panama, Punta Patino
The excitement of the morning for Bob and I and many others,
including two boys in the swimming pool, was the appearance of a Yellow-Headed
Caracara, just hanging out near the pool. The tide was way out, with peep
pecking at the mud. We spied a bird similar to a Willet but didn’t go down to
identify it. The Yellow-Headed Caracara is stunning in flight with big eyes on
the wings and lots of stripes. His head is just bland. He tends to hang out in
the large tree near our hotel; I’m not sure of the tree type, it drips tons of
tiny yellow flowers with a red spot at center.
A google of Panama City restaurants found us the Mirafleur
Restaurant that is rated 5 stars. So we decided to make the Mirafleur lock our
destination for the morning, and planned to follow our visit to the Panama
canal with lunch. On the way to the canal, our taxi driver highly recommended
Buccaneers as a restaurant to dine at on the Amador causeway. And I wasn’t very
hungry. The Mirafleur lock has a place to view lock operations, a nice film about
the development of the locks, and several floors of exhibits about the locks
including the French effort to develop the canal without using heavy
construction machinery or railroads, followed by the American efforts, followed
by the incident leading up to the turn over of the Panama Canal by the United
State to Panama and the new construction of a third lane for large shipping
traffic and how they hope to reduce the use of water. Also in the exhibit were
plants and bugs and fish of the Panama rainforest. My favorite part of the
exhibits was the newsreels from the early construction showing the drainage of
mud, and many of the vehicles designed for the construction of the canal.
Finishing our visit to Mirafleur Lock, the restaurant was still not open and we
learned that they served a set menu for $32 a person.
Lunch then it was decided should take us to the Amador
Causeway to bird and shop afterwards. Our next taxi dumped us at the door of
Buccaneers. Lunch was heavenly—I ordered the Sea Bass with the almond and
mushroom sauté in olive oil the waiter recommended and talked Bob into the
Prawns marinated in anise, lemon and mango before covering it in a pastry and
deep frying. Served with rice for me, French fries for Bob and a shared dish of
broccoli which showed up covered in an olive oil, garlic and chopped onion
sauce. The Sea Bass, which I found out is the usual name for what the locals
call Corvina, is quite a good white fish, especially if prepared really well. I
will not hesitate to try Corvina again. The prawns were halfway to lobsters,
amusingly so.
After lunch I dragged Bob over to get a picture of downtown
Panama City from the marina and found one shop open (despite most places being
closed for Carnavale) and we both got well-needed Panama hats since the sun was
bright, hot and there were few clouds. The walk back was a walk with a few
pictures of downtown with a changing boat, bush or other feature in it. The
Smithsonian has an aquatic and archaeological exhibit and a new building in
construction but was closed on Monday. We may try to visit on one of our other
stops in between going to our next destination.
After our walk, we were both covered with salt, fetched
drinks and sat on the pool deck, me doing grammar and Bob watching birds. I
fell asleep for a short nap. Now we’re having a snack before I hit the swimming
pool, shower and do the rest of my writing.
Birds identified:
Yellow-headed Caracara, Black Vulture, N. Roughwinged
Swallow, S. Roughwinged Swallow, Gull-billed Tern, Ruddy Turnstone, Tropical
Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Blue and Grey Tanager, Common Tody
Flycatcher, Pelican, Magnificent Frigatebird, Herring Gull
Hummingbird for the second day with no clear
identification—we keep seeing juveniles and femaies.
Posted at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
We’re up at 4:00 a.m. to dress, grab last minute supplies
and dash out the door when the taxi driver shows up. The taxi driver carts us
the 35-40 minute drive to the airport; we’ve allowed plenty of time, at least
1.5 hours to check in and clear security at Orlando Airport. Everything goes
well.
COPA Airlines is a pretty nice airline—check in is handled
well and our luggage tagged for the proper destination and status. The want our
bags offloaded quickly.
Security is lined up at least 40 people when we get there,
so it was good we were early. My carryon
bag gets pulled for a security check because of the load of electronics inside.
The guard asks me if I have anything dangerous in it and I tell him, only my
disk drive. That’s enough for him, after he takes a look through each section
and helps me fit my PC back inside.
Starbucks is bliss but I wait almost as long for my Venti
Passion Unsweetened Ice Tea that arrives sweetened. I sympathize because they
are mobbed and the girl has my right ice tea to me in less than a minute.
Onboard the airplane, I’ve brought my copy of Freese’s
Essays, a poetry book, a writing book and pen and then end up snoozing. After
midnight to 4 is just not enough sleep. I’m trying to be positive about
formatting my hard drive and having to reload all my photographs. Talk about
stupid. Talk about a system that didn’t give an error message. Hopefully
Microsoft will add a drive letter to their warning about deleting all the
files. Luckily for me, Seagate apparently has run into this problem before and
had my driver ready for download. So much for articles that day.
Meanwhile, my seatmate is an elderly woman born in Columbia
who is very pleasant and I feel like a turd for not having learned Spanish well
enough to understand her question. I have Bob answer. Meanwhile, my ear is
slowly being tuned again to Spanglish and saying what little I know and the video has Portugese subtitles. I've learned to say Bim instead of Bueno. Next quarter though I am signed up for real.
Panama is warmer that Florida and very pleasant. The area
from the airport to downtown is mixed housing complexes and grazing land and
forest. Many trees are in bloom and smelly heavenly, especially the frangipani
or plumeria. Downtown is surreal—buildings like spikes out of flat areas in
random spacing and curving to follow the shoreline. Some really unusual
architecture makes me peer around for others—I liked the twist building, for
instance.
Our hotel is pleasant. Feeling stiff and grumpy and not at
all well-traveled, we try to get a walk in and restart at least five times
before it’s a real walk; we’re birding and emptying out after lunch. After it
rains twice, and my sandals dry out, I finally feel almost human. We do find a
good batch of birds, especially following the first rain when we have so many
that Bob runs back to the room for a second bird book then has to create an
index for it since he brought only the pictures.
Spotted today: Great-tailed Grackle (tons), Brown Pelican,
Blue-Grey Tanager, Barred Antshrike (stunning, probably not a lifer but both
male and female that hang together, Crimson-backed Tanager?, Common Tody
FlyCatcher*, House Wren, Tropical Kingbird, Yellow Warbler, Great Kiskadee,
Baltimore Oriole, Magnificent Frigatebird
Three probable Plumbaceous Pigeons but they’re not in the
right area and no one else matches. Field notes: light grey head, red eye, red
bill and legs, reddish wash on throat to about mid-belly, mostly grayish and
nondescript with no other markings. Also probable Gull-billed Tern but we
didn’t get enough id points and it’s a lifer for us. Also a probable yellow-bellied
sapsucker—we’ve got his nest though, and also the hang out for the Common Tody
Flycatcher who either makes a nest like a weaver, reuses a weavers nest, or
just likes the bougainvillea.
After drinks with our feet up, we get a good swim, then head
for the bar to write and use the internet. We have it in our room too, but sans
Bob’s gin. After he finishes on the internet, he has a fine time watching the
endlessly cycling Hooters Girls at the Beach photo shoot ad, can’t imagine why.
Wrote this blog 837 words, read half of Freese’s book, wrote
654 word on golf, hope to draft my essay (my previous one works better for the
following week). Mea Culpa about unfinished book reviews, I've read most, just need to write them and couldn't bring many of them with me.
Tomorrow is grammar day again. I hope I get to see
assignment 2, soon.
Posted at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Bird Watching, Birds, COPA Airlines, flight, Hooters, Internet, Panama, Panama Trip, Travel, Trip, Writing
I am having a mini-vacation from writing. Today, a story popped into mind on the golf course and I typed in my new Notepad app. Problem is, I am not sure, yet, where my SD card goes and I found the file, but am not sure if there is any word processing package that imports the file. The SD chip problem will be resolved easily by looking at the phone documentation and I think, by removing the protective casing. The import problem though is not as easily resolved. The email app didn't offer the ability to attach a file so just emailing it to myself isn't a very good solution, although I could do lots of cuts and pastes which may or may not be quicker than retyping it.
The mini-vacation only lasts a few more days then I am back at school at UCLA Continuing Education taking a refresher on grammar of all things and memoir writing. I've been doing some articles in this mode--I've already sampled the class book which is very inspirational. My classes at UCF were a no-go this semester since I was going to be out of town and there weren't any available online classes. My writing mini-vacation has freed me from the write lots of articles mode to thinking about what articles I want to research and write. And to do other planning i.e. find my memoir outline and started articles that were in a notebook and get them online. And I found I had over thirty stories started and did some planning for the research needs to complete them. Most of the time, I get held up on a story because of the requirement to research then write an article, then go back to story writing. I think that if I just follow my own mode of working again that I will be more successful than flying off the cuff of my mind. I miss writing a new scene everyday and am held up by not knowing if I am accepted into any Master's degree program for writing and what will be expected. I guess I can write another dozen novel outlines since that is all I seem to be allowed to do to completion, lol, just kidding.
Posted at 01:55 AM in Thoughts, Writing Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I finally had my home owner's association approve my house paint colors and my garden design plan. We bought the first of the paint yesterday and I managed to paint a little bit. Today, I prepped one and a half side for painting tomorrow. The colors are pale turquoise, darker turquoise, and yellow -- macadamia on the Martha Stewart color palette. I only have a little bit of priming to do. The black paint will cover better with a primer I think, although so far, the Behr paint has been covering with a single coat. We chose the Behr paint because we were told it was thicker in consistency and might work better with a roller. We tried a different paint on the interior and it was thin, almost as if it were readied to use in a paint sprayer. I prefer not to use a paint sprayer because less goes into the air, less paint gets on surfaces where you don't want it, and it tends to cover better by getting into every crack. Also, there's less prep work involving masking tape.
Posted at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Photo Album
Posted at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
My mother-in-law isn't feeling very well, so we're visiting and hope we'll boost her spirits and we get to visit Ding Darling!
Posted at 02:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Three Outings in the Winter Springs Area of Florida Show Why Audubon is Fun - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Posted at 12:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A review of Ride the Jawbone by Jim Moore :: The Compulsive Reader :: A Haven for Book Lovers
Posted at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The Layoff Christmas: A Memoir - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com
Posted at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New Baja Tavern and Eats at the Port Canaveral Cove, Florida Offers a Good Deal Meal - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com
Posted at 08:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Since I moved to Florida, my blogs have been somewhat in disuse and now that I am back working on fiction, I figure I can do some more blogging. I often get asked what it is I do since no one really believes that anyone just sits and writes day in and day out. It's true I don't. Often I know what I want to write but the right words aren't there for me so I play games while I think, then write when the words are there. Many times I make a rough start, run out of words, play games until they come back, edit, play games until I know how to fix the piece, etc.
When I am problem solving I need to detach my brain from thinking about anything but the problem. Often I think about the problem without thinking about the problem by playing a game. It's a trick I learned while programming. I often would run into a difficulty, but if I just went to the bathroom, halfway there, the answer would come to me. Your back brain computes on problems like "what was the name of that guy we ate dinner with last week?" Things that you can't google. Instead your brain looks for all the hidden references and eventually comes up with the connection. I don't learn any more, either. I just learn where it is that has the information I need. Often in storing the connections I reach understanding about how the pieces fit together and so I remember it all in that fashion.
So in the past week, what I have been working on is planning mostly since I completed a large amount of work and needed to clarify what I thought I was working on and why and for whom.
I've been working on the last edits to my second novel. I had it edited during my move and I found that the editor introduced more errors into my novel than she fixed. Her premise was that it would work better as a young adult novel. Unfortunately, I wrote it as a novel about a community and for a slightly older audience even though I wanted it acceptable to young adults with permissive parents. Any one character didn't ever know what everyone was doing. The editor suggested deletion of important technology and setting. She did ask for a chronological story and the best I could do was two side by side chronologies, both going forward always from the beginning to the end. I did one whack at a fix and then my husband did a proofread and found a few typo'sthroughout here and there. The biggest change, though, that my husband found, was inconsistencies in my story dates and five chapters were out of order due to a number of reasons. How the story dates are presented has been an ongoing problem. I had them explicit, then made them implicit to work on an easier more flowing story, then made them explicit as a video collection, changed them to a news feed but both read more complicated so I am back to theoriginal explicit style and am finding the story reads without needing to look at the dates at all. Success, I guess.
I'm also working on short stories related to this second novel which may fit a number of calls for content so I've built a schedule for the rest of the month/year for that. These I've had to look for the research I did before and think about what the plot will be and how they should be built or revised. And did the research on some of the items.
I have four separate novels in work at the moment, and one short story collection outlined and another collection being built. One novel is a follow on to the first novel I wrote so I am writing short stories in that story line, especially with the hopes it will get published. One is a children's book that is made up of stories so I have 3 or 4 short stories in rough stages from that book and an outline I am following and an outer storyline begun. The other two started from the idea that I was going to build a trilogy and so I have been writing short stories for that, partly to copyright the characters and some of the technology. And as I take classes, instructors often ask for a certain type of scene or have an objective for writing. I try to fit those in with my the novels by having a topic list and an outline and a set of research materials for everything I am working on. Often these become a short story as I flesh them out. And because I am applying for an MFA program, I needed sample material that I assumed would be from what I planned to write so I built some of the work for those.
So my plan is to get the second novel out circulating to agents, publishers, and contests. And the short stories written to my schedule.
I also have three nonfiction books in work. My target was to just work the golf book this month but the wedding set me back two weeks. Oh, and do one sonnet a day since I am working on a collection of sonnets. I'm up to 8-10 and I need 20-25 but have another four in work at the moment and two I want to submit. I am also working on cleaning up my chapbooks as a potential book, and on two additional chapbooks, one on sffh poems, one on a reflective set of poems, one on teen trauma poems.
I've also worked on a number of articles behind the scenes. Typically, any time we travel, I get photos of where we stayed, where we went, and visit places that are on my target list for research. So my visit to Boston for my cousin's wedding produced much of that. I have an assignment at Yahoo on China articles and have researched quite a few topics that I find interesting but they don't happen to be the news of the moment--just interesting knowledge about the country in a variety of formats that need more facts to be ready. I also have worked some on taking some of my coursework at UCF and looked at altering them to be a article, doing some of the preliminary research. Plus I just started in at UCLA Extension on a class on writing articles for print publications--so I've been through Writer's Market looking at agents, conferences, and article types, read the 8+ chapters assigned for both weeks and looked through my available photographs. I have probably a dozen article in work, I just need time to flesh them out.
I also started painting my house. It is a color I don't really care for and is quite depressing to me. I like flowers and we're currently more like hedge. So we had the colors approved and I washed one side and began painting. My husband says we should hire it out and I think we may hire some of the work done. But I go crazy if I am forced to sit for endless hours and do nothing but write. So this is my outside work I get to do that isn't immobile. I want the house painted before I start a Masters degree because once I start I won't have time to do it. And I want some of this work that's been idling while I've been busy with classes at UCF to get completed so that I just package and submit until it gets accepted.
Posted at 03:53 AM in Life of a Writer, Thoughts, Writing Tips | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A review of Nemonymous Night by D F Lewis :: The Compulsive Reader :: A Haven for Book Lovers
Even upon ending, the reader unfamiliar with DF Lewis’ work isn’t sure whether one has reached an understanding of self or the dream or made it to reality again or whether they should perhaps start over and read once more. It is a very well wrought book that many fantasy lovers will enjoy for the statement it makes by unmaking.
Posted at 01:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Benefits of Bird Watching | Quazen
The benefits of bird watching go beyond personal enjoyment, here’s some of the best reasons why you should make birds a well understood friend.
Posted at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Should I Play The Mountain or Links Course at Lake Placid New York? | Sportales
If you only have time to play one course at Lake Placid, your choice may be difficult; here’s the scoop on the two local courses at Crown Plaza Lake Placid Resort in New York.
Posted at 08:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Recent Comments