CRIKEY! i'm entering my steve irwin era (5/18/25)
here's the summary of how our morning in David and our first day at Batipa went :
if you haven't caught on by now, we don't spend very much time in one place. today, we were leaving to batipa a little before noon. I ate breakfast at the hotel early. I got pancakes with a side of fruit and orange juice. the best way that I could describe the pancakes were crumby and dry. they weren't bad, just different. I don't think I would get them again tho. once i was done eating i went back to my room to pack my things.
Batipa is about an hour away from where we were staying and it is secluded in the forest near the ocean. so we got to go to a supermarket before we left David to get snacks, or any other items we forgot or needed to buy. The money they use here is american but there is times when you receive change that isn't american. that was a little tricky to learn but nothing too hard, cash is recommended since they often don't have change it feels like.
the supermarket was just like ours just with different brands. im a hot cheeto girl and am sad to report that i have not found any. not any like the ones we have back home anyway. I am happy to report that redbull were easy to find thankfully. i also saw that they had an elite combination, chips and soda, sold together👏 the US needs to hop on that train ASAP! hahaha. they also sell 2.5 liter bottled sodas which was mind blowing to see, they looked HUGE! it was very fun to just walk around and see what they had. outside the market there were also local vendors selling fruit and vegetables which was cool to see.
I had a little time to explore the part of David that was nearby while we waited for others to finish their shopping. across the street there was a park which i checked out with valeria. we walked over to a section that was filled with umbrellas being hung over what i assume to be an area where they hold concert or public events since there was a stage, it was so awesome.
in the center of the park there were local people selling items. i bought a bracelet that was handmade from one of the ladies there for dos balboas, that's two dollars if you don't know 😌. I also found another woman selling friendship bracelets, i don't think these were handmade, but they were so cute and fun to look at. I got a little sad because i started thinking about my best friend again HAHAHA so dramatic, i know. the park was surrounded by a lot of greenery that made it so pretty.
on our walk back to the hotel we saw a beautiful church. it reminded me of mexican talavera pottery. as we were crossing the street we heard a lot of commotion. music and noise coming from down the road, cars honking. this felt familiar. i see balloons on a car, i tell myself "theres no way, this cant be happening". "IT'S A PARADE!!!!! 👹👹👹👹" i yelled before i could even stop myself, grinning and jumping in excitement. going to parades is one of my favorite things to do back home, anywhere and anytime, if i can go to a parade i will. I was on cloud nine. the locals threw candy and waved, many of them were wearing costumes as well which was so funny to see.
once we got back to the hotel we loaded up the vans and headed to batipa! the car ride didn't feel as long as it was. we ate some snacks and goofed around with our mentors Juan and Denise. on the way there I was amazed at all the beautiful scenery, everything was so green, and I got to see a waterfall! unfortunately the water in panama is not the best so seeing how polluted and trash filled it is made me sad but also made me appreciate what I have back home.
we reached the gates of batipa and stepped out to see the bridge that they built over the highway for the monkeys. They use it so they can cross safely since many have lost their lives trying to get across the road. I learned that since it was built the amount of casualties has diminished.
we hopped back into our vans and continued on our journey to the point of the property that we would be staying at. very quickly I was able to see an increase in flora and fauna activity. the plants are humungous, the trees are huge, there are butterflies and birds flying everywhere, we also saw their cattle! at one point all the vans came to a stop and our windows got rolled down. the howler monkeys were going crazy, this was the first time I heard them. some people were able to see them but i got stuck in the middle seat so it wasn't possible. i'm sure I will eventually run into them though.
While i was walking around and checking out the property Dr. Alberto spotted a gecko and called me over to show me, i was geeking. I had previously been poking his brain about all the animals that we could see here so i'm glad he remembered. A few hours after this, I spotted a spiny tailed iguana too! One of the reasons I wanted to participate in this program was to see different reptiles and amphibians so I was so happy that on my first day I had already seen some. Dr. Alberto is the one leading the group that is studying the animals in the area. His group was my top choice but I wasn't placed in it unfortunately.
after this i unpacked my things in my room. in the early evening we had a short introduction circle as well and then got with our groups to formulate a plan for our research and familiarize ourselves with the equipment we would be using.
late into the night Jari, Juan, and I went to the dock to fish with Junior. Junior is one of the people that works at batipa. His mom is one of the Gloria's. The Gloria's are the ladys who cook our food, do our laundry, and clean up for us. they're the best. anyways, sorry for the lore. We had so much fun out there with junior, I even learned how to fish. Celestino, who is the president of the Ngöbe tribe that we are collaborating with also joined us, he is soooo funny! He brought a flashlight that was comically so bright. we've nicknamed it "la poderosa". His flashlight was so bright that we had him pointing it at a random boat in the ocean and it reached them😂😂😂😂. He also wanted to start telling scary stories but i stopped him and then him and jari started making fun of me. This night Junior caught one fish. and that pretty much sums up our day! im really excited for all that's going to happen the rest of this week. see you on the next one!
photo dump! :
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