We found a Subaru dealer in Panama City and got the Outback serviced. We have driven nearly 9,000 miles and with a little bit of luck (and the blessings of Sister Barbara of the Sisters of Mercy in Colon who was picking up her Subaru) this should get us home. We spent the afternoon at the Metropolitan Park, a little slice of rain forest right in the middle of Panama City. The birding was pretty good and we saw our first Geoffroy's tamarind, a tiny monkey found only in Panama.
Our Nature Conservancy contact, George Hanily, invited us to attend the final hurs of a symposium on the effects of mining in Panama. Of course the presentations were in Spanish but George and his right-hand lady, Mayte, filled us in on the issues and what projects TNC is involved in. The issues for TNC Panama are the same ones facing conservationists in Africa and throughout the world; too many people with too little resources on too little land. It is good to know that many groups are working together to try to make a difference.
One of the groups, Ava Fauna, has set up the panama Rainforest Discovery Center at Soberania NP with a series of trails and a bird viewing tower that rises forty meters above the forest floor. Before we even reached the tower we saw several coatis, a troop of howler monkeys and a bunch of white faced capuchin monkeys leaping from tree to tree. The steel tower was constructed entirely by hand in order to leave the smallest possible footprint. From our perch we watched as toucans soared above the forest and songbirds flitted in the canopy. Along the lake we saw crocodiles, hawks, trogons, orioles, jacans, toucans and a sungrebe, another new bird for us. The center has been open for only a week and it is a great way to introduce the public to the preserve.
