Panama Trip 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
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Posted by: Blythe Everett
On Friday, January 29th, fourteen students accompanied faculty members Laurie Doss and Mike Augusta and alumnus Sean Graesser '08 to Panama for our annual science and community service trip into the rainforest.
This year's participants are Mike Esposito '11, Connor Bachmann '11, Jeanna Bracchitta '10, Brian D'Iorio '10, Joseph Goldin ‘12, Bryan Moya ‘12, Raymond Tinglin ‘12, Manuael Mier Y Teran Bracho ‘10, Blaise Marti ‘11, Lucas O'Malley ‘11, Chase Yarnell ‘11, Guillermo Fierro ‘11, Joslin Taber ‘12 and Mike Guo ‘11.
Read updates from Ms. Doss and see pictures of the group's adventures here, as emails arrive over the next week or so!
Sunday, January 31: The group managed to arrive in Panama safely on Saturday. Transporting all of the field equipment in addition to our own personal belongings made navigating through check-in and security much more interesting. Fortunately, one bag left in the boarding area by a student did not result in the shut-down of the Newark Airport! Imagine Ms. Doss's surprise when she was on the plane and the flight attendant announced over the loudspeaker, "Would a representative from Marvelwood School please come and pick up the abandoned luggage with the Marvelwood name tag which was left at the gate!” The moral of the story….it pays to let the gate attendant know before boarding that you are traveling with a group, and to clearly identify your luggage with name tags!
Today we toured part of Gatun Lake and the Panama Canal to learn about the dredging of the canal and to search for monkeys. We were rewarded with spotting of howler monkeys and three-toed sloths. Upon returning to the dock, a three-toed sloth had come down from its tree to perform its weekly defecation, and we were treated with close-up views of this species of sloth as it was returning to its tree.
In the afternoon we visited Miraflores Locks to watch the ships go through the locks and to visit the canal museum.
 
 
Later, we packed field equipment and our items for Cocobolo. After dinner we attended a lecture by Dr. David R. Abernathy from Warren Wilson College. The college received a "$100,000 research grant funded by the Panamanian Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion (SENACYT). The grant will be used by the college and the organization Conservation through Research, Education and Action (CREA) to research and implement a geographic information system (GIS) and wireless sensor network on the 1,000-acre Cocobolo Nature Reserve in Panama” (from the Warren Wilson website). Dr. Abernathy discussed their project as well as the valuable biodiversity data the Marvelwood research teams are contributing to their project for CREA, and showed us the GPS points of organisms we have collected over the past three years in Cocobolo Nature Reserve. This data, in conjuction with data obtained from the sensors (e.g. temperature, humidity, etc…) will be used to develop eco-niche models to predict where certain species can be found not only in Cocobolo, but in the Manomi Watershed and other areas of Panama.
Now it is off to bed to dream about our journey up the Chargras River to visit with the Embera Indians before heading to Cocobolo Nature Reserve on Tuesday morning.
Monday, February 1: Today we visited the Embera Drua village. Students had fun playing with the kids in the village. They also enjoyed meeting the founder of the village and the Medicine Man! The Medicine Man took us on a tour of his plant pharmacy and explained the medicinal uses of each plant. He has over 1,000 different plants that he uses to treat various ailments. The boat ride was a little tricky due to the low water levels in the river. Overall, the kids had a great time.
We will be out of communication for the next six days. Wish us luck!
February 10th: Well, we all survived the rainforest! A few students struggled at the higher elevation in the primary forest, and both Blaise and Brian D'Iorio experienced the intense pain of the dreaded Bullet Ant! You can bet that in the future they will heed Ms. Doss's advice and not put their hands in leaf litter or on logs without first clearing the area with their feet!
We experienced a nice mix of rain and sun each day. This year we worked the longest field days ever (8 to 9 hours a day depending on which group students were in for the day).
Our time in the village went well, and we played softball for two hours in the intense heat and mid-day sun! Jeanna was the tattoo queen and went through over 100 animal tattoos as she tattooed all of the children in the village multiple times!
The birding group captured eight bird species which we had never documented before in Cocobolo. The insects were crazy, and it was not even the height of the insect season (they say this is April when the rainy season begins). All I know is that it is a little intimidating when you are sitting at the table and a beetle the size of a golf ball hits you while eating dinner! Lucas said, "Oh My God, what is that?! It's HUGE!" about a thousand times!
On the last day in the rainforest, students enjoyed harvesting sugar cane and making their own sugar can juice using a press at Joel's farm.
Overall, despite the large size of the group, the returning students reported that this was the best trip yet. The students said they didn't want to leave, and it looks like the medicine man may have granted their wish! Due to the snow storm on the east coast, we are stuck in Panama City for several days. Thus, we will have a few added excursions to the local zoo and Captain Morgan's pirate ruins!
February 10th: Enjoy the photos from our trip to Summit Gardens (a local zoo) and to some ruins in old Panama City.
February 12th: Hi Everyone,
What does one do with 13 kids when you are stranded for multiple days in Panama? Arrange a last minute trip to the Gamboa Resort, of course! Even though the resort was 30 minutes away, we managed to convince the resort to send one of their shuttle buses to a Holiday Inn that was a 20-minute walk from where we are staying. We trekked to the Inn during the intense mid-day heat. Once at the resort, we took an aerial tram ride through the forest canopy then scaled a tower to get a magnificent view of the Chargras River and Panama Canal. We then toured a butterfly garden, orchid garden, aquarium and serpentarium, where the kids were able to see many of the snakes they almost stepped on in the rainforest!
Tomorrow will be a day of rest, reflection, packing and homework before we attempt our mega-journey back to the states. We are blessed to be leaving Sunday, given the fact that we ran into some people from Atlanta who are stranded until Tuesday! The challenge for tomorrow will be to find a working ATM, as the two we have been using are out of order (probably due to the fact that many people are withdrawing money for Carnivale!).
February 14th: The group finally makes it home! Laurie's co-chaperone, Mike Augusta, summed up the experience for all:
Cocobolo is a spectacular and unique environmental opportunity that you should all visit and support. There is no doubt that our students participated (and have been participating) in a project they will never forget, but maybe more importantly is the fact that the inventories of birds, insects and macroinvertebrates are real data that could have an impact in the environmental community, and ideally on the government of Panama.
The goodwill that Laurie has engendered through her long term commitment to the area was palpable in the Mamoni River Valley; our students, the good people of CREA and Panama Verde, and the locals in the river valley have developed real bonds. The softball game at La Zahina and the subsequent cool-down in the Mamoni with all the youth of the village was a day for the ages.
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