2011 Off-campus group in Cerro Punta, Panama
All is well and we’ll be on our way home tomorrow. It’s been a long time since we’ve had any extended access to internet. When I glance through the topics of the long list of unread emails, I realize it’s been as much as luxury as liability to not have email access for our time at Boca del Drago and at Cerro Punta. Nevertheless, I was sad to not be able to give daily updates and photos to those interested.
It’s been a very rich experiance for all of us as students have interwoven investigative science, natural history, ecology, animal behavior, culture, climate change, land use, economics, Spanish language, and group living. We’ve been supported along the way by many persons. Dr. Peter Lahanas was with us every day at ITEC and he had many ongoing discussions with students. Carlos Fonseca, who lives in nearby Volcán joined us full time in Cerro Punta. While Carlos has great knowledge of the local flora and fauna, and he facilitated our visits with local farmers, he also plays the guitar and sings very well. He was spot on with his slightly over the top rendition of “El Guerrero” (The Warrior) dedicated to Juan at his half birthday party. Other guides, farmers, biologists have been very helpful as well.
It’s too much at this point to try and recap all we did. We can say that, overall, the student projects at ITEC were the best we’ve ever seen. They pushed through statistics and full writeups. Students took advantage of opportunities to stretch and try new things. They were tired at times, but it was they that were doing the pushing, either to finish something well or try to squeeze in a new experience. There is much more that could be said about ITEC but time does not permit it now.
At Cerro Punta (Los Quetzales) we tried to relax the schedule a bit, and still students worked hard on individual initiatives such as mapping out puma tracks, photographing humming birds, writing, poetry, camouflage in the cloud forest, photographing up in the canopy with using a ground based rope system, writing a song, dress designs inspired by cloud forest flora, learning to cook, birding and bird lists, drawing epiphytes, photographing orchids, dance, and specific survival techniques for the cloud forest.
We also took daily hikes, visited local farms, examined land use practices, compared the forests that we have seen in Costa Rica and Panama, and discussed climate change. It’s been a busy but rewarding month. There will be more time later for some final comments about the course. It’s time to finish up some course loose ends and to pack for our long travel day.
Breakfast will be ready at 6 am. We hope to be off to David tomorrow for a 10:30 flight to San San Jose, Costa Rica. There we will have to clear customs and then recheck our bags for US Airways flight thorough Charlotte, NC to Boston. See “Itineraries” for details. As we are now digitally connected to the world, we should be able to give you some brief updates (probably through email). I expect to see some of you in Boston.