PIIP 2024- Mikayla's Panama Blog

 May 26 Today we were all given a chance to relax/unwind. We were taken on a boat trip to tour various islands, and we were able to go snorkeling for a little while. At the first beach we visited, I was stung by something that looked like a jellyfish-- it stopped hurting after maybe thirty minutes, though. That beach was also full of hermit crabs, which was fun to see. We even got to swim over some coral and see the little striped fish that swam through it.  We stayed longer at the next beach, and had lunch there. It was all really nice, but my favorite part was on the way back home; we were able to see a pod of bottlenose dolphins! They were right next to us for a while. I did end up getting very sunburnt, which I wasn't happy about, but oh well. 

  May 25 Today we went into the Comarca. It has about 200,000 people in total, but we visiting with a much smaller part of that community. (It seemed like there were less than twenty people there.) We started out with introductions from everyone in the room. I tried my best to speak in Spanish even though I know very little. (Apparently my pronunciation is alright, at least.) They did their portion first; they spoke to us and showed us a dance that some of the younger folks put together. We were given a brief tour before it started to rain. After that, we went back to the central building to give our presentation! We had posters about ways to keep water from getting contaminated, and a few activities— including a microscope and that we left with them.   It was a really interesting experience. The people of the Comarca are in a tough position; the Panamanian government seems to work against them more than it ever does for them. They’ve had a lot of promises made to them, o...

  May 24 At breakfast, Edmundo caught a dart frog. He put it into a little container so we could all get a look at it. Apparently, they’ll only harm you if you ingest the toxins on your skin— so you can touch them and be fine, but you should wash your hands before putting them anywhere near your mouth or eyes. I really love amphibians; I’m hoping I’ll get to spot a cane toad before we leave. Today was our last field day. We were done taking samples pretty quickly, too; we were even back before lunch! A crew from Oteima university (which funds/runs Batipa) came to film, so we went out again to simulate another sample plot and explain what we’ve been doing. It was neat! Afterward, our day was mostly devoted to working on a presentation for Saturday. We’ll be going into the Comarca and giving them some information about water quality and treating dirty water. It was a little hectic, but we came up with something pretty interesting in the end. Today was full of animal sightings; someon...

May 23 Today we went to check out the wildlife corridor again. (We found a path to avoid the bees we ran into yesterday.) Before we went into the forest, we saw a troop of white-faced monkeys leaping through the branches. We  had less of a hike this time, which was really nice; it meant I wasn’t nearly as tired by the time we started working. Later on, Edmundo— one of our hosts— took us on a tour to see the mangroves. They’re really cool plants; they act as nurseries for young ocean animals. We saw a field full of butterflies, a hermit crab, and a school of juvenile fish. 

 May 22 Today we hiked the same trail as we did the last two days. We didn't need to go up as far, though for some reason it almost felt more difficult; it might've been because it felt hotter. We went up to one of the younger teak plantations in Batipa to take samples there. It was the same process as yesterday, though we were out in the heat. We did six samples up there before coming down the trail again. We were going to do an extra sample in the wildlife corridor after that, but it turned out that the area we'd chosen to work in was inhabited by... a bunch of bees. We didn't realize it until one got angry and stung me in the cheek. Our group must've done something to upset them, because we were suddenly surrounded by them-- so we ran out of the trees before anyone else could get stung. (Thankfully, I wasn't allergic.) Other than that, it wasn't too eventful. We came home and had dinner, then worked on our posters.

May 21 Today we had cereal and fruit for breakfast. It was my first time trying papaya, and I actually really liked it- it's a really striking, reddish-orange color. I'm normally a pretty picky eater, but I've had a lot of fun trying foods that are new to me. We can't exactly walk to the grocery store or to a restaurant from out here, which means we pretty much just eat whatever our hosts make! I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity to keep on enjoying new things.  Today was our first day doing work out in the field. My group is studying insect distribution in different parts of the preserve! We went up the same path that we took yesterday, though this time it almost felt harder. I think we were going at a bit of a faster pace, and we took less breaks. It meant that we got there quicker, but it also meant that I really  struggled to catch my breath. This trip has really made it hit home how non-athletic I am. (Hopefully by the end of it I'll be a little mo...