SpanishPanama

I give Spanish Panama high marks. I learned a lot, found the teacher friendly and competent. and the environment suitable for learning. The school administration and staff were uniformly friendly, flexible and helpful. Most students take individual lessons (one-on-one) and that may be the way to go. The first day, I was in a class with other students who had little or no exposure to Spanish study. While I can use almost any review, this was not particularly challenging. The second day, we changed to smaller classes

School Days

I wake up to the sound of the city and morning bird cackles. Breakfast is routinely served at 8 a.m. Eggs scrambled with ham, toast, a plate of fruit and coffee. We sit on the apartment veranda overlooking the city and in between the high rises, we can see the canal towers in the distance near the mountains. We walk about ten minutes down the hill to the school, take class for two hours, take a one hour break for lunch at one of the local restaurants and return for two more hours of class. Usually the first session is difficult with lessons in grammar and verb conjugation. The afternoon drifts into conversation and learning new words.

Pipeline Road

 I went to Panama Rainforest at Pipeline Road, a discovery center and tower that just opened in January. The Audubon Society counted the most species of birds during a 24-hour period here. We arrived in the dark and had some difficulty finding the place and getting past the entrance fence. In the dark, various animals scurried in front of the taxi headlights while a constant din of animals and monkeys filled the air. I kept saying, "Asi es un jungle." The taxi driver said, "No, es un Congo."

Panama Vieja

 Panama City has two "old towns." The first, Panama Vieja, was ransacked by the English pirate, Sir Henry Morgan in the sixteenth century. There are some ruins that are being restored.

They also have a gallery of local crafts and a fruit stand. I ate the best pineapple of my life at the fruit stand, a smallish size fruit, skinned and sliced as I watched and placed in a plastic bag.

the Canal

I visited the Mira Flores Locks of the Panama Canal, located about 10 kilometers outside the City. It is indeed impressive to see monster, "PanaMax" size ships entering the locks with roughly a meter of clearance on either side. There are several locks that raise the ships to canal and then lake level. Then they make their way to the Caribbean side and through another series of locks. It takes only minutes for the large basins to fill, "in less time than it takes to fill your bathtub," and the enormous ship goes up about a meter a minute.

tropical

To say Panama is tropical is redundant, but it is tropical. Luckily, there is a breeze from the Pacific Ocean. It is hot and humid here. But, I at the best pineapple I have ever eaten. The water is good to drink. The city is lively with about 1.5 million people, half the 3 million citizens of the country.

weigh-in

My luggage weighed in at 48 pounds with 30 in my backpack and 18 in my knapsack. My knapsack is almost all photographic equipment and there is probably another 5 to 6 pounds in the backpack. So, my weight is about evenly divided between clothing and photos equipment.

I want to get photos of wildlife, specially birds in the wild. This means my 8-inch, 300mm telephoto plus a 1.7x teleconverter. This also means, I nee a tripod and ballhead. The combined magnification will be about 765mm. The ballhead features panoramic capabilities, so I can snap photos like my good friend, Larry.

map, Panama

The Pacific Ocean is to the south and the Caribbean Sea to the north.

Smithsonian

We went by taxi to the Punta Calebra Nature Center associated with the Smithsonian. It is located at the entrance to the Panama Canal. For many years, it was in military use and had not been developed; it is now a refuge for marine life and dry forest. We saw large iguanas, osprey and frigates. We visited the aquarium. From the point, we could see ships waiting for their turn to enter the canal.

Nearby, we saw a panoramic view of the Panama City skyline and large yachts in the harbor.

Panamanian attractions

The biggest attractions of Central America are climate, ability to practice Spanish, multiplicity of countries, natural wonders and interesting cultures. I hope to see a lot.

• the Panama Canal (of course)


• coffee plantations in Chiriqui Highlands


• Bocas del Toro seashore and coral reef


• birds along Pipeline Road

on arrival

We arrived in Panama City late at night and stayed at an airport hotel, El Hotel Riande Aeropuerto. In the morning, one of the teachers from the school took us to our home-stay. We are staying in a large apartment in downtown Panama City; it has three bedrooms, two baths, a living room, a dining room and two verandas. Our hostess is an 84-year-old woman from Valencia, Spain. She has lived in Argentine and Peru, as well as Panama. Her Spanish is very good. She is interesting and patient. She volunteers at the Hospital in the Canal Zone.

map Central America

Here is a map of Central America showing the six countries I hope to visit.