Happy Thanksgiving!

Where do I start?

I will start by saying happy thanksgiving!

I will transcribe events as they happened in order beginning with last night. Last night we went to a bar on the water, essentially a large dock. It was pretty fun with very cheap drinks and beautiful views. The most notable thing is there was a roof you could jump off into the water. It was heaps of fun, and we did backflips into the water.

We woke up early this morning, had free pancakes and coffee, then boarded a boat for a $20 tour. The tour started by taking us to an area frequently frequented by dolphins that like to eat the jellyfish in the water there. We saw about 10 dolphins including 2 that loved the boats wake when the boat drove in circles. They kept leaping out of the water, playing like little kids on the wave.

After the dolphins we went snorkeling for about an hour and saw a lot of great sealife. There were many colorful fish, urchins, fantastic soft corral, starfish, and even some seaslugs. After diving and haphazardly deciding that I am going to become a marine biologist when I return to the states, we had an excellent seafood lunch. I had a giant portion of calamari and loved every bite.

We departed the island and pulled up on a seemingly obscure shore. So many of the small islands are so thick with mangroves it is not possible to do anything. They are a jail of twisted roots and branches with nobody entering or exiting. The shore we pulled up to had an interesting inlet with a variety of large trees. There we saw nearly 7 three-toed sloths chilling in the branches. One the boat pulled up close to, and the sloth moved away very slooooooowly. Sloths are sooo unique, and can not survive a life on the ground. The muscles they have are only fit for moving about the jungle canopy or swimming. If they find themselves on the ground they are too weak to support themselves. Fascinating!

After seeing the sloths we went to a pristine carribean beach with large waves crashing on shore. About an hour was spent body-surfing, with another hour devoted to checking out things around the island. We saw waves crashing on rocks, loads of cutter-ants transporting leaves, many lizards, and two poison-dart frogs, all in their natural environment.

Poison dart frogs! I could barely believe it, the two we saw were red and about the size of a nickel. If any of you knew me when I was a kid you would know I have a collection of frog things including books, shirts, and about 100+ plastic frogs. Literally obsessed with them, and i still remember some of the scientific names of the frogs. Phylobates terribilis for instance is the msot poisonous in the world. Needless to keep going on, but worth saying I was SO PUMPED.

After leaving the island we went snorkeling again at a different place and saw a lot of great fish. Every time I find myself looking at underwater life I see new things, it is truly the last great frontier.

We ended the night with an excellent Thanksgiving dinner prepared by the collaboration of two hostels. The very cheap meal included everything you would find on a plate in the states and truly was a taste of home. It was an incredible experience to share it in Panama with so many others.