Retired Nomads: November 2 to 30

Hope everyone in the States had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Greg and I celebrated our 23^rd anniversary (together 28) on the 22^nd. We spent a few days at the Gamboa Rain Forest Resort. We got up early and went straight to the Canopy Tower. After parking our car we headed to the trails just a short distance away. We came across a swarm of Army Ants which had quite a bird population around the area. We saw LOTS of Woodcreepers, Antbirds, Woodpeckers and loud Howler Monkeys. About 2 hours went by before we moved on to the tower trails. There was a huge group of teens there with leaders , but they kept them in small groups and they were pretty well behaved. We had just made it to the lake when it started to rain, but not too much. We make it to the tower and waited for the rain to stop. It passed quickly and we stopped at the visitor’s center and watched the humming birds for a while and walked back to the car where we had our picnic lunch. After lunch we walked on Pipeline road for a while. It was a muddy mess in spots, but we powered through. We saw a lot of birds and even a “new” woodpecker. It was hot and sticky and it started to rain again. So, we left to go check into the hotel and when the rain stopped we walked around the grounds for a while before showering and heading to dinner. We had signed up for the “night safari”, but we canceled before dinner since once we got all cleaned up the thought of spraying ourselves with insect repellent again seemed too much bother.

lobby of the hotel

pool view

our balcony

view from the balcony

view of the balcony

Capybaras

"my" cat is still there

Historic Gamboa Town

people lived here when building the canal

Capuchin Monkey

Capuchin

Capuchin Monkey

Capuchins

Howler Monkey

Howler

flowers along the trails

beautiful dragonfly

Morpho Butterfly

Bicolored Antbird

Spotted Antbird

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Northern-barred Woodcreeper

Spotted Antbird

Southern Bentbill

Plain-brown Woodcreeper

Blue Dacnis

Chestnut-backed Antbird

Sapphire-throated Hummingbird

White-necked Jacobin (male)

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

White-tailed Trogon

Cinnamon Woodpecker

Blue-black Grosbeak

Orange-chinned Parakeet

Blue-crowned Motmot

Flame-rumped Tanager

Western Slatey Antshrike

Cinnamon Woodpecker

Yellow-rumped Cacique

The next morning we had a nice breakfast before heading out to Pipeline Road again. In contrast to yesterday, with the flurry of birds seen, this was a slow day. It was a Sunday and it was slightly congested with people riding bikes and groups of birders. The mud was way worse after yesterdays’ rain. So, we decided to turn around and go back to the Canopy Tower trails. We ran into a swarm of Army Ants, but these ones were vicious. They climbed on our pants and shoes and with their pinchers were very hard to remove. I pulled one off my pants and it latched onto my index finger and I could not pull it off. Amazing how strong it was. I finally got it ripped out and it left a long cut on my index finger. To get them off our shoes we had to scrape them off with the other shoe. Yikes! We made it to the lake and after a short time it started to rain. This time it was pretty steady and just kept getting worse. We headed to the Tower again, but it was a downpour and we were drenched to the bone by the time we got there and it didn’t seem like it was going to stop anytime soon…..and it didn’t. It was well past lunch when we slogged our way back to the car. There wasn’t time to go back and clean up and make lunch so we finished some cheese and crackers from yesterdays ‘ picnic and since the sun came out we continued to bird. (after ringing out our socks…lol) We came across a great area with lots birds. 3 or 4 toucans flew in, we saw Manakins, Caciques, ………more. We didn’t plan to hike on Pipeline, but wanted to take the short walk to the entrance. Not many birds, but this great Lizard. Common Basilisk (aka Jesus Christ Lizard). It’s the largest one we have seen.

entrance to Pipeline Road

Jesus Christ Lizard

Spotted Antbird

Slaty Trogon

White-whiskered Puffbird (male)

White-whiskered Puffbird (female)

House Wren

Blue-capped Manalin

lunch on the way home in Albrook Mall

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Jill & Don’s at the Pink Towers again this year. Sharon, Jill & Don really do a wonderful job making it feel like one big family. Very nice spending it under the huge bohio and poolside. There were about 70 or 80 people there and the workers kept bringing in additional chairs and tables. Jill reported there were officially 81 of us this year! There was soooo much food. There were a couple large turkeys and a couple hams and 3 and 4 types of stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casseroles, and many 1 of a kind dishes. Appetizers and desserts galore. It’s interesting how many different ways there are to make the same dish. We had a great weather day with no rain. Great company and the pool was nice to cool off in after gorging ourselves. Like last year I made my yummy carrot cake and another dessert that I had never made before. Like last year, the carrot cake turned out great, but the other one not so much. I tried a banana bread cake that had cream cheese and coconut layers which sounded good, but was soooo dry. I deleted that from my online “recipe box”. Next year I’ll have to make something chocolate and the carrot cake which is always a hit. Judy made a wonderful apple pie (only in squares on a huge pan) that I couldn’t get enough of and as we were leaving Bruce put 4 nice pieces in our pan to take home. YUM!

Whacky group in the pool

we're in the back behind Don & friends

we're talking with Louise

Pool area

We drove to Sora’ for my haircut with Nancy. She and Paul have a lovely B&B named Sunrise Sunset with a wonderful view. She cut Greg’s hair as well. She really does a nice job and we are thrilled to have found her. Their grounds are beautiful and here is a photo of an adorable hummingbird nest with 2 babies. Here is a picture of the back of their place from the gardens below. Just a wonderful couple! Here is a link to their website: http://www.sunrisesunsetgh.com/

view of their B&B from their grounds below

I'm on the patio getting my hair cut

2 baby hummingbirds with mouths open

head of 1 and beak of the other

giant African Violets

We got our flu shots earlier than expected. They were supposed to arrive in January, but we got the email to come in already. Wow, something taking less time than expected in Latin America! While we were there we got the Script for the Malarone. The doctor doubted we could get it in Panama, but said to try one of the hospital pharmacies in the city. If not we will send it to our Cigna international rep to have it filled.**** Update on the Malarone. The hospital pharmacy didn’t have it. Our Cigna rep said they don’t cover it since it’s preventative (they will pay to treat us if we are infected…). We will pay for it if it’s not covered so not sure why they won’t fill it for us. So, now we will try the online route. We could use the mail order pharmacy through our insurance, but they need a U.S. script. The international rep that won’t help us can use a foreign script. So, now we will try the online route. (like a Canadian pharmacy) Every place has Doxy and we could take that, but I’m sun sensitive to it (as in blisters). Greg is trying it as a test. Only about 3% of the people are affected with the sensitivity. It’s also way cheaper than Malarone which will cost about $1,000 for both of us for both trips we need it for. ****further update on the meds. Greg tested Doxy and did fine and I ordered through a pharmacy in Canada with our scripts and hopefully they will arrive. (and not just charge our credit card…lol) Then, I will test it for a few days before taking it right before the Amazon trip.

It is nice to go to a doctor and not have to fill out a million forms just to get a flu shot or see the doctor. For anything that is not a controlled drug, you don’t even need a script here. You just walk into the pharmacy and ask for it. If you have a script you hand it to them and when they are done, they give it back to you to use as often as you need it. They also do not use pill bottles. Most everything is in a blister pack and they will dispense even 1 pill if needed. (many can’t afford to buy them all at once so they just cut off the amount needed on the cardboard or blister pack and charge for 1 pill)

Since Black Friday fell on one of Panama’s Independence Days (the one from Spain) they moved the holiday to Monday so the stores can be open for Black Friday and for people to still have the long weekend. We thought the November holidays were actually pretty quiet in our neighborhood. A few fireworks one night.

I’ve got the Christmas tree up and it’s such a treat to “remember” all the travel ornaments and the wonderful people that shared the tours in the particular place. It’s the last year we will have the opportunity to have a tree up while we still live in Panama. Next December we will be in Antarctica and the year after that we will be back in the States preparing for another World Cruise. So, this year I will need to pack the ornaments really well for shipping back to the States.

Our bird count is around 271 birds….. We have noticed that the Blue-crowned Motmot nest on our trail has been cleaned out a couple of times and have seen the adults around it. They normally come get it ready and return in a month or so to actually use it.

Here are some random pics from our daily walks: