wildlife-watching in Laguna de Apoyo

Whilst the Laguna de Apoyo has been designated a nature reserve, that hasn't stopped people building houses there, cutting down trees, burning rubbish, etc, so I didn't really expect to see much wildlife there.  & it's true that I didn't see any of the more exciting stuff like armadillos, ocelots, skunks, etc that are supposed to still exist there.  However the howler monkeys were everywhere, seemingly unconcerned by the presence of humans, so I was able to take quite a few photos of them (and moan to myself when they woke me around 5am every day with their roars).

There were some sizeable tarantulas around the area.  They would come out of their holes from around 6pm onwards.  We saw a few scorpions too.  & plenty of birds, including some very attractive species (the photograph below shows a white-throated magpie jay, which is very common there although difficult to photograph as they will not sit still for more than a couple of seconds).

& whilst not specifically looking for them, we came across six snakes, of four different species.  Here I am holding a scorpion-hunting snake.

a weekend on the coast

A long weekend on the Pacific coast to relax and hopefully catch some sun had to be postponed in June when I was asked to take on an additional assignment in Egypt, but finally I was on the boat crossing the water to this secluded little lodge in Chiriqui province, my work left behind for a few days.

The lodge (they call themselves a resort, but to me that term implies something much more luxurious) is simple, and quite rustic, but perfectly comfortable.  No air conditioning, wifi only if you ask for the office to be made available to you, and a reliance on solar power means that electricity-guzzling appliances such as hairdryers cannot be used.  The lodge has ten guest rooms in five well-spaced cottages, but for the first couple of days I was the only guest.  So I had all three beaches and all 67 hectares of forest to myself...

Except that I was sharing it with the resident wildlife - the iguanas, white-tailed deer, howler monkeys, vine snakes, hog-nosed vipers, hermit crabs, numerous butterflies, black hawk-eagles, a group of four extremely noisy house wrens, flocks of equally noisy red-lored parrots, and, unfortunately, rather a lot of mosquitoes.  Of course there is other wildlife too that I didn't manage to see - that apparently includes white-faced capuchin monkeys, anteaters, and boa constrictors, amongst others.

I spent a fair amount of time swimming in the sea, and more time swinging in hammocks reading my book, although the rain limited my time sunbathing.  I slept like a log, with the sound of the waves crashing onto a nearby beach sending me to sleep in a way that I wish the traffic noise at home did.  I also ate extremely well, as the owner previously ran several restaurants and bars in the US and could rustle up a mean stuffed courgette followed by pear poached in cream, rum and cinnamon.  Despite all the walking and swimming I suspect I have come home a pound or two heavier.  Certainly, if you can tolerate the mosquitoes, Panama does have some beautiful corners.