Panama...

Good bye GAP. We are here in Panama City and have just said good bye to the four girls we have been traveling with since Mexico City, as well as the rest of the group and our leader Micheal. Its hard to believe that we have crossed six boarders, visited seven countries, and have been traveling for two months. We have seen so much and meet so many people, yet it feels like we are just starting our travels after saying good bye to the group.
This past week has been slower but, we have seen and enjoyed each place we visited. From Bocas del Toro we traveled to Boquete where we stayed at a cozy hotel which had the feel of a hostel- communal kitchen, TV room, and balcony. The best thing about Boquete, and maybe our whole trip was our visits to a place called Paradise Gardens. A couple from England retired in Boquete and brought with them a few Macaws that they owned in England. Since moving to Panama, their home has turned into a rehabilitation house where threatened, poorly cared for and/or abused animals are taken in, cared for and then, if possible released back into their natural habitat. Paul and his wife Debbie showed us all the animals and told us the stories of how they ended up here. Some of the few animals they have or once had in there home are geoffroys, tamarins, kinkajou, margay, sloth, tucans, macaws, monkeys and much more. During our visit we were able to feed Niki the kinkajou a banana, pet the margay, scratch/pet and hold Precious the scarlet macaw, go inside the cage of the white faced monkeys and play with Billy and Montey, hold Tember the 3 month old sloth and talk with the birds. Our fist visit was great and we loved it so much we decided to go back the next day and it was just as a amazing. Its so great to see Paul and Debbie be so welcoming to what was unspokenly set out before them. Their plan was to retire, have a beautiful garden and butterfuly house, but instead they have spent the last three years creating Paradise Gardens. The have already helped so many animals, and are showing no signs of stopping! They truly love their life and are so thankful to be caring for the animals! The volunteers we met who help them really seemed to enjoy their work as well. One of the girls from our GAP tour is actually heading back to spend another week volunteering there. They are working on their website right now, but if anyone is looking for a great place to contribute to the environment and play with animals, we have their contact info! If time had elated Heather and I both would love to have stayed and volunteer but sadly we had to continue on.
From Boquete we traveled our last long day to a town called El Valle. El Valle is a town inside the crater of a volcano. Apparently millions of years ago the volcano erupted and created a crater lake. An earthquake happened and cracked the moutains and the water ran out and now people have been living here for a few hundred years. If living inside a crater isnt strange enough this town is surounded by mountains and the most famous mountain is the Sleeping Indian Girl. The legend goes that when colonizers came to El Valle there was a prince who fell in love with an indian girl. The prince went back to his father to ask if he could marry the girl. The king said no because he was obligated to merry someone of royalty. The indian girl did not like this decision, and then killed herself. According to legend, she now lays in the moutain side wating for her prince to return. Once her prince returns she will wake up and they will live happly ever after. This is just one version of the story there are many more but the outline of the indina girl dose layout on the moutian. During our time here we took a day excursion to a beach town called Pelmar where we learned how to surf and layed out on the beach. Micheal, our guide rented a surf board gave us a little lession and then took us out into the Pacific ocean and attempted to teach us to surf. After a few attempts, both Heather and I succefuly stood up on the board and it was great. Who knows, maybe we will take surf class while we are in Australia to better our skills. Either way, it was loads of fun and it was a great last day at the beach with everyone before our last stop, Panama City.
We started our trip in Mexico City and we are here in Panama City ending it. Panama city has been a great place to end the tour, an amazing city with a rich history. Before saying good bye to everyone Michael took us around town and showed us Casco Viejo, The Canal, and the View Piont. Panama has two down towns- "the new town" which is filled with modern sky rises, and "the old town" which is called Casco Viejo. Casco Viejo has become Panamas historical site where you see vintage buildings, churches, plazas and the first university. It was really interesting to see the contrast of old and new, and take in the impact the canal has had on this city, its people, and the surronding land. The next day we spent the morning at Miraflores Locks- one of the engineering wonders of the world. Toriann and I thought it looked a lot like the Ballard locks (other than it had a HUGE freight going through holding 5000 or so Japanese cars, haha). The Panama canal has been open for 94 years now, and has been hugely successful. It has shaped a large part of Panama Citys history, impacting the people to the politics. The US handed over control in 1999, with many fears about how the Panamanians would handle the switch. But the canal is more efficient than ever, and an expanded portion is currently being built.
So, we are now transitioning to being on our own, being without the group and a guide. We have a few more days in Panama City, staying with Torianns roommate from SPU, Rachel. She has been kind enough to let us stay in her apartment that she shares with 3 other girls! Tomorrow she is going to let us tag along to the community center where she tutors inner city children!
We hope all is well at home!
Much love, Heather and Toriann