Saturday, June 7, 2014

May 19 to June 7

It seems I have been having a harder time keeping up this blog lately. (and people still ask what we do all day) I’ll get back to the Safari planning process one of these days…..

Greg and I had just been talking about a lady (Susan) that we met at Picasso when we first moved here and the last we saw her was on the whale watching trip that we did. She was going to go home and sell everything and prepare for the move. She literally just got in that day and was at Picasso that night.  She’s staying here at the Bay as well. Welcome!
We went to a Playa Community dinner at Candela. About 35 people were there and the food was pretty good. It was a 3 course meal with a choice of pulpo ceviche (octopus) or buffalo wings for a starter; the main was a choice of Garlic Prawns or seafood stew and the dessert was flan. It came with a glass of sangria. Susan came with us to meet more people. The sense of community here is a very good thing! If one wanted to, you could be busy every night.
The highlight of our walks at the Sendero Eisenmann has been getting to see the Lance-tailed Manakin cooperative courtship dance. For 2 days in a row we were fortunate enough to witness it several times. The male Lance-tailed Manakin has an interesting breeding display, unusual in that it is cooperative rather than competitive. The first time we heard the call they make while performing their dance. We followed the noise and they were pretty close to the trail so we got to watch as the 2 males Two males perch next to each other on a bare branch and jump up and down alternately, sometimes giving short flights. It’s hard not to giggle in awe of their performance. Interesting that we still have not ever seen a female.

The Lance-tailed Manakin has a number of calls, including a Toe-LEE-do, a curry-ho, and a frog-like buzzing croak given by displaying males. What we hear most is the ping and wrah sounds (or waah sounds). Hearing the breeding call was very interesting.

Here are some photos from our walks:

 cool bug
 Anhinga
 Anhinga
 Anhinga
 Motmot
 cocoon
 Lance-tailed Manakin
 I think this tree needs to give up drinking.....

 fishermen and pelicans
 caterpillars
 
 

 another cool bug
 can't get enough of these Manakins
 Roadside Hawk

 Streaked Flycatcher
part of the Sendero Eisenmann

Greg has been having some dental work done. He lost part of a filling and had it repaired. Then, one morning while out hiking I felt like something was stuck on my tooth and then realized that part of the tooth was missing and that was the roughness I was feeling. So, I visited the dentist this week and found out that since the tooth is part of a bridge (my oldest one), they can’t fill it since the materials won’t bond. So, I need to think about replacing the bridge or looking into veeners to fix the issue. Of course it’s one in the top front. I have a cleaning scheduled in the next couple of weeks so will discuss all the options and make a decision. Right now it doesn’t pose any issues other than cosmetic and it’s not too bad.

We continue with Jasmine for our weekly Spanish lesson and still doing the Chat Club at Picasso’s on Wednesdays. She also has a chat for “advanced” people at 2:00 which we are going to as well before the Chat Club starts at 3:00. I’m not advanced, but I go sit in since it’s helpful for Greg. I may pick up some things here and there. Happy Hour starts at 5:00 so, it’s a long day/night there. Quite a few people come for the chat.

Sunday we got up early to drive to the city for our one night stay at the Intercontinental Playa Bonita all inclusive resort. We went back to the Parque Nacional (a rain forest about in the middle of the city). We hiked several of the trails and had some great wildlife sightings. Before we even got to the trail we saw two people intently photographing something. When we turned to check it out there was an American Kestrel very close to us. We watched it fly, but seemed to stay close. It wasn’t until we got home and really looked at the photos that we realized it was 2 different Kestrels, one might be an immature one.

 Kestrel
 Kestrel
 adult Kestrel
 Straight-billed Woodcreeper
 Mono Titi
 Mono Titi
 Mono Titi
 Squirrel Cuckoo
 Blue-crowned Motmot
 pond at the park
 huge trees cut up


interesting tree trunk
 
We heard lots of birds and saw quite a few. At the top near the lookout we found a whole family of “Mono Titi” monkeys (Geoffroy's Tamarin) including a mother with a small baby. I saw some movement in a tree and thought it was a monkey and I got really close and out flies a Keel-billed Toucan! We saw quite a few other birds on our hike down.

After that we went to the Albrook Mall for a late lunch at Leños & Carbón.

We also were in search of a travel agency located there where we were told they speak English. We couldn’t find it on the directory and walking the huge mall in hopes that it was there somewhere isn’t an option. (it really is a huge mall) However, there was a COPA kiosk there and we were able to book our flights to Manaus (for the Amazon trip) and they applied the pensionado discount (25%). However to book our Africa flights we will need a travel agent as it won’t be flying on COPA. However, when we got the confirmation email we noticed that there was a “t” missing from my first name. We weren’t able to change it online due to security reasons and were told we need to present at the airport in person and there would be a $50 charge. (to fix their error!?!) Often times the ticket counter forgoes that charge especially if they understand that it was probably just a typo on that agents’ part. She read us the info and we agreed it was correct, but we didn’t see the hard copy. If we have to pay of course we will, they may or may not make it an issue when we try to board for the flight but we don’t want to risk being denied boarding and miss the flight. Hopefully, we can find an English speaking travel agent to book our flights to Africa (to apply our discount). Or we book directly online and then go to KLM at the airport and they can adjust it.
We checked into the hotel and walked the grounds and hung out by the pool for a while before getting ready for dinner. We hadn’t realized that school was out for a week and the place was packed with families with lots of children. The restaurant was so loud it was incredible. Food was OK, but not WOW. While we were eating there was quite a lightening show going on outside. Loud thunder boomers. Finally, it starts pouring rain. All night long the thunder and rain serenaded us. We had planned to kayak in the morning, but liquid sunshine persisted. We had about an hour when it stopped and we took another walk around the grounds before packing up and checking out and having lunch.
 view of the Westin Hotel next door
 lobby
 iguana sunning by the pool
 we were on the 3rd floor
 pretty view with ships in the background waiting to transit canal


 adults only pool area

 
On the grounds were a pair of Lapwings with 3 babies. They seemed to be living on the putting green. We also found a pair of Oyster Catchers with a chick as well. We also saw a couple of young Saffron finches as we were leaving.
 immature Saffron Finch
 female Lapwing with all 3 chicks under her wings it was taken with an iPhone, so not a great photo





 American Oystercatcher
 American Oystercatcher chick

 
For the same $$$ we prefer the Gamboa Rain Forest Resort with its proximity to world renown (to birders) Pipeline Road and the Tower with its hiking trails. Beautiful views even though it lacks the beach of Playa Bonita. We live on the beach so that isn’t as big a draw for us. It was nice to watch all the ships waiting for their turn to transit the canal. (container ships and car carriers for the most part)
 paddle boarder with ships in the background
 our room

view of the beach beside the hotel
I have added a few more albums to Picasa and added some to Sendero Eisenmann if you want larger pictures to see. Remember that if you want to see older albums you just have to choose the show more or albums and the rest will appear.
We have officially been here 1 year! Whoo Hoo! My how time flies!! Still loving it!
Until next time…..

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