It’s been a bit of a whirlwind with both groups intersecting, and there has been a rich, albeit brief exchange between the two groups. The Atenas group settled in for 2 days and stayed in fantastic cabins in the forest. We did hikes both days, started to delve deeper into forest ecology and gave room for some personal time to reflect and write in their journal. After dinner the last two evenings of our stay in the cabins, we had discussions that weaved the history of Panama, economics, agriculture, conservations issues, and ecology. 
Three Panamanians of different backgounds joined us and the discussion was rich dynamic. These discussions helped to provide a greater context for the agriculture piece they did today.
In the morning, after packing up and getting down from the cabins, they meet up with sister and brother Ana and Luis Sanchez who lead two locally-based NGO groups here in Guadalupe, AMIPILA (Amigos del Parque Internacional la Amistad) and FUNDICCEP (Fundacion para el desarrollo integral comunitario y conservacion de los ecosistemas de Panama). 
We worked side by side with them and others in their experimental and demonstration fields.
After a hearty and healthy lunch consisting of freshly picked produce, prepared with much help form our students, we learned more about their organization and the challenges that farmers face in the region as well as the impact that farming has on the environment.
At 4 pm most students set off for 1 night homestay. Those that remained went to Finca Dracula which is botanical garden and greenhouse area, largely dedicated to growing orchids. We will all meet again tomorrow at noon for further programming and, a little, free time.