Ziplining in Portabelo

In December, 2012, we went ziplining in the jungle close to Portabelo. Later that afternoon, although no pictures were taken, we took a small boat trip to Isla Grande in the Caribbean, only an additional 20 minute drive from our zipline adventure. Not bad for a typical weekend.

La Yeguada Camping Trip

These photos capture a few moments from our camping trip to La Yeguada in November, 2012. This lake was at between 3,000 to 4,000 ft elevation. We even saw pine trees and slept with long-sleeves and pants. It was awesome.

Pipeline Road with Friends

We often head to Pipeline Road for a quick day trip to escape the craziness of the city and enter the jungle. Here are a few photos from November and December, 2012. Ashley and Austin join us every time.

El Valle

From November 2-4, we went with a group of new teachers to El Valle, a small town in the hills in central Panama. The three hour drive was worth the cool breeze all three days. We went hiking, swam in waterfalls, and watched a patriotic parade.

Halloween

We had a (very) small costume party, the theme to which was Panamals, or Panamanian animals. Austin was a parakeet, Ashley was a stray dog, Carolyn was a tarantula, Laura was the toucan, Andrew was one of our dive masters, and I was a whale shark, not a smurf zombie. In preparation for Halloween, Carolyn and I, with the much needed help of Austin and Ashley, made an enormous paper-mache crow (pictured with Nick).

 Carolyn

Nick (and the crow)

 Laura

 Ashley digging in a bag

 Austin and Ashley

Andrew

Movember

Movember! Sponsor me through the month of November (Movember) to keep a moustache all month long. All donations are used to support men's health.

Christo Negro Procession at Portobello

Annually on October 21st, Portobello holds a festival to celebrate the city's patron saint, Christo Negro (Black Christ). Those whose prayers have been answered by Christo Negro make a pilgrimage to Portobelo on a walk that can be up to 40 kilometers. Nearly all wear purple robes, some carry effigies of Christo Negro, and a few even complete the final leg of the journey on their hands and knees. For extra penance, pilgrims may ask a companion to pour burning hot purple wax on their naked backs as they crawl to the church. Here are some photos of the pilgrimage and Portobelo. Unfortunately the trip was cut a bit short due to a very unusual hostel experience.

Apparently, this effigie did not want to leave Portobelo on a ship back in the 17th century. Every time a ship tried to take him away, a storm began. According to myth, he was possibly thrown overboard in the Caribbean by some very scared crew. Once overboard, he floated back to Portobelo.

 Welcome, Pilgrims

 Extra penance.

 Just because it's a pilgrimage does not mean it is without beer.

 The amazing diablo rojos along the way.

 From left, Ashley, Austin, and Carolyn.

Though the boy was not happy about it, the mother excitedly forced her son to pose for a photograph. After all, she did shave Black Christ's face into his head. 

Canadian Thanksgiving

The weekend of October 6-7, we were adopted by our Canadian co-workers to take part in their Thanksgiving celebration. We enjoyed a big house with its secluded beach and lagoon. After turkey dinner, we swam surrounded by bioluminescence. It wasn't too bad for a Saturday.

The Tarantula

About a week ago on our way to school, Austin had to swerve to avoid squishing a big tarantula (which we could see from the car). It was huge!!

Scuba Diving with Whale Sharks

Near the island of Coiba in Panama, we went scuba diving and came upon two whale sharks, a mama (25+ feet) and a baby (12-15 feet). Though the video is short, they were swimming around us for quite a while. This was the coolest experience in the entire world.

Click on this link to Scuba Coiba's facebook page (where anyone can view) that has the video. If you listen closely, you can hear the humpback whales in the background. Though we didn't see them under water, we were able to see a few on the boat ride back to Santa Catalina on the coast. The picture below was taken on the same dive and shows Carolyn in the front of the pack.

I thought I'd add some photos of the neat hostel we stayed at in Santa Catalina during the scuba trip to Coiba as well as Coiba itself.

Here is the Island of Coiba, a nature reserve.  

The scuba crew.

On Saturday, we had a Progressive Brunch to become acquainted with all the new teachers' new digs. We started out at our apartment with sourdough pancakes (I started a new sourdough batch and found some overpriced cast-iron pans), then to Emma and Andrew's apartment, and last to Rhonda's place. Priscilla enjoyed the company...

Austin and Emma

 Carolyn and Andrew Alfano

 Carolyn and I

 Priscilla, really liking the new plants

 Austin and Ashley

 Me, the cast iron, and the sourdough. Very excited.