The travel from Panama City went very smoothly (which is not always the case in Central America). The Air Panama flight left on time and arrived slightly early. We moved quickly from the airport in Bocas del Toro to waiting water taxis for about a 1/2 hour ride to the field station dock. We were settled in well before dark.
For the morning of day (Day 1) we become accustomed to snorkeling in the calm waters and sandy beaches of Starfish Beach. We also saw large stands of soft coral. We then went by boat to “Pete’s Reef.” This is a hard coral patch and fringing reef area adjacent to mangroves and it is very close to the field station. We returned for lunch to the field station. After lunch we compiled a list of the reef creatures we
had seen and had a discussion of some of them. Soon after we did an orientation hike into the rainforest behind the station; then we had supper. Discussion after supper and then Spanish wiht Izzy! A pretty full day.
Day 2: The group split into 2 groups: One group went to another part of the island by
boat and foot to cave. (The whole island is an uplifted reef and thus completed made of calcium carbonate rich rock.)
There were many things to see on the way, and all that went enjoyed the bats, crickets and whip scorpions, and as well as the rock formations.The other group went snorkeling off of Lime point. This is a higher impact reef, in that there is significantly more wave action than at Pete’s reef. Both groups meet for lunch at the beachside Yarisnori Restaurant, which was delightful. The students got a little R&R and swim time by the restaurant and have returned to field station to start on project ideas and to work with Izzy on Spanish. Yarisnori is our best internet option for now, and I will be getting into a boat soon to join them.
All seem happy and engaged. Thank you to Caroline for the previous blog entry. We”ll keep you updated as feasible
Steve
For somme Photos of this time click the following link:
http://www.cswoffcampus.net/zenphoto/index.php?album=2013+Photos%2FPamama+Feb+14-17
Click on the link below to see where we have been this morning:
http://gps.motionx.com/maps/c44e1698022f5e18c3ab35c235346710