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The original plan called for a rainforest tour today but it was a lot more expensive than we expected and (after the Quetzal Trail, etc.) we were a little 'rainforested-out' if that's possible. So we went in the total opposite direction and visited a dry-forest (yes that's really a thing). We took a taxi from our hostel to the mouth of the Amador Causeway, which is a long breakwater constructed with earth excavated for the canal. It connects a couple of nearby islands and keeps silt from moving in on the canal entrance. The taxi cost an extra dollar because I had an idiot moment and mixed up my numbers in Spanish. D'oh! Next time we visit Latin America I'm going to freshen up a little bit with some Pimsleur. We walked along the sunny Causeway for about half an hour. It was hot and humid but there was always a stiff breeze and the views were wonderful. About two thirds of the way across we stopped at a Smithsonian Research Institute stationed on one of the islands. There were nature trails, an exhibit on Panamanian frogs, and touch tanks with sea turtles and starfish. We didn't see anything to write home about until we started walking on the little trails that criss-crossed the island. I went really slow and kept a sharp eye out, but even so I just barely noticed two sloths hanging on a long, tall tree. I just about jumped up and down when I realized those two blobs of gray were actually sloths, I was so excited. About four hundred pictures later we started walking again and came across at least a dozen huge iguanas perched in the trees above. One was particularly massive and sat on the ground, munching on leaves while we crept closer and closer to it. It wasn't all that afraid of us and by time I was three feet away I realized that it if it charged at me I would collapse to the ground and/or scream like a girl, so I backed off. I got a gruff look and then the mammoth lizard slowly sauntered away like a boss. Godzilla -1, Jonathan -0. Further down the trail we came across another three sloths. Now it was just ridiculous and I was feeling like a little kid. To top it off, at the the very end of the trail another two could be seen just above our heads. The most movement I saw was one *ahem* scratching himself, and that was it. All the others were motionless and I totally get why they've got a reputation for laziness. Brittany read that they climb down about once a week to poop and expressed some disappointment at our poor timing. If they only reason they move is to do that then I'm just fine with them sitting still on a branch! From the edge of the forest we could see at least 30 massive ships patiently waiting in line to get through the canal. I think there were even more but they eventually faded into a haze in the distance. It's too bad we didn't get to see one go through! I guess we have a reason to come back. A little further down the causeway we got some cheap pizza and watched some cruise ship tenders ferry passengers from two massive ships to the dock. If all I saw of Panama was the junky dock and fake-tiki restaurants around it I'd leave with a very poor impression. Cruises are always tempting because they're so stinking cheap but you just have to give up too much. Every time I start looking at them online I have to remind myself to "snap out of it". We've only been twice but nothing beats staying some place for a while and getting to know the country. Joe was absolutely determined to take a taxi back to town instead of walking the half hour, so we backed up quite a bit of traffic while he talked the taxi driver down on a one lane road. Blaring horns from behind and an unflappable Joe got us a good price and we headed straight for the fish market. The grand plan was to buy slabs of fresh fish and cook it up for dinner, but for some reason we have yet to figure out 95% of the market was closed up. There was one guy with some snapper left so we watched him cut us some big filets (for a whopping $2.75 a pound) and then hoofed it back to the hostel in a sweltering heat. With the fish safely in the fridge we took our now obligatory naps, picked up some rice and beans at a nearby market, and cooked at home. I'm going to savor tonight, even though I'm sleeping in a rickety old bunk bed with a terribly uncomfortable mattress. It still beats half-sleeping in an airport for hours on end, which is what we'll be doing tomorrow. Man it's gonna be rough but I knew that going in. It'll be about 26 hours form the time we check out of the hostel to the time we pull into our driveway. Ugh. We're going to kill most of the afternoon at a giant mall and maybe the movie theater. Unfortunately the only movie playing in English is Cinderella, so fingers crossed for a surprise ending! If you can't see it on the screen, I'm rolling my eyes. How many thousands of times can they redo that movie??? Still better than sitting at the food court I guess. And maybe they'll have a mysterious new popcorn flavor like Prague did :) I doubt I'll write anything tomorrow (unless I spot some sloths on the tarmac). Panama has been a surprising country. Nothing was what I expected it to be, and most of the time that was a very good thing. I think I would revisit Peru or Guatemala before I came back here, but I'd still love to do the sailboat thing from Panama to Colombia. We had a lot of highlights on this trip but our beach day in Chiriqui tops them all (closely followed by the sloths). If you've only got a week in Panama, head to Boquete! I think I could live there and, who knows, maybe we'll go there to visit Kim and Joe!
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Joe Barber This guy reminded me of Jose Arias