Author:

Heather Renz, Teacher Argonaut

Title:

An Ocelot Close Encounter

After eating breakfast we took the boat from Gamboa down the Panama Canal to BCI (an hour trip) for an orientation. Early in the morning, we got news that an ocelot had been captured in a trap and all of the student and teacher Argos were excited to take a hike to go see it while we had the rare opportunity. We went up to see the ocelot in groups of four to relieve the animal's stress as it was sedated so Roland could attach a radio tracking collar to its neck. Roland Kays told us it was a one-year old adult female, named Estrella. He asked us if we would like to pet it, which I excitedly did. I noticed that the beautiful spotted animal's front feet were huge and its fur felt so soft. It was so awesome!

We carried luggage to the student and teacher Argo rooms and on the way, saw a troop of about six red spider monkeys playing overhead. We stopped and watched them swinging through the trees and playing together on the roof of a nearby building. The leaf cutter ants had their organized production line with their leaves waving in the air like sails across our path to the dorms so we stepped carefully over their trail.

Later that night our rover team headed off in search of the kinkajous in hopes we would be able to spot them feeding on the nectar of the flowers high overhead. We drove down Pipeline Road, which parallels the Panama Canal, very near the Gamboa Resort on a horribly rutted road. It was a bumpy ride down the crude road carved deep into the darkness of the rainforest. It was great to watch the honey colored solitary kinkajou visit each flower, taking turns at each one and then give the flowers time to produce more nectar before making his rounds and feeding again. An opossum showed up and challenged the kinkajou for the nectar and finally the kinkajou gave up and found a new spot to feed.

While we were there in the dark forest with our headlamps on and camera lights on, as you can imagine, we attracted many bugs. Roland taught us how to use our headlamps to spot the "eye shine" of rainforest mammals and spiders, too. We saw several tarantulas and many other spiders beside the road. Student Argo Abbey became our spider spotter, locating them all along the trail back to the truck. We had a pesky coatamundi trying to get into our van to eat the sack lunch we left on the seats. On the way back to our hotel we saw the world's largest rodent, the capybara, in the swamp near the road. That was a bonus to our incredible evening in the rainforest of Panama.

Author:

Heather Renz, Teacher Argonaut

Title:

High Over the Treetops

I was able to take a break from the filming on the site and watch the live broadcast on the TV monitor which runs continuously during the day in the dining hall. I can tell you this...it is no easy task filming the JASON XV broadcasts in the rainforest! I have a new appreciation for all of the people behind the scenes who make this possible so that whole experience come to life so students and teachers around the world can be here in Panama and experience the rainforest along with us. I also have a new appreciation for the scientists and researchers who spend hours collecting data and help us learn new things. Their work is so important and I think many do not understand their dedication and passion for their work and its importance to humankind. All in all, I thought Day One of "going live" was a tremendous success. I hope those of you who were able to watch it felt the same.

During our quick lunch break between filming episodes in the field, a troop of red spider monkeys decided to entertain us by swinging through the trees high overhead. We ate and watched with cameras poised, hoping to capture the moment on digital cameras to share this incredible experience with people back home. We have learned from experience that sometimes the monkeys throw things at you, so whenever we heard branches and saw dipteryx fruits crashing to the ground, we dashed for cover under the branches and covered our heads. Today no one was hurt, but just yesterday, our host researcher Mike Kaspari, got beaned with a dipteryx fruit on the back of the head and he told us it hurt a lot. I will certainly miss these entertaining shows put on by our rainforest friends when I return home to the snowy landscapes of Central Oregon.

We took a ride in the only gondola in Panama at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, high up through the rainforest canopy to a mountaintop where we saw a beautiful view of Culebra Cut and the Panama Canal. Along the path at the top, a mother green hummingbird momentarily left her nest so we could peek into her nest and see two the tiny white eggs she was so carefully guarding. Upon our return from the top, we made a quick stop at the freshwater fish exhibit house which showed us some caimans and crocodiles up close as well as many species of fish. The butterfly house was filled with brilliant blue Morpho butterflies and I was excited to have an orange colored butterfly rest on my hand for a few moments.

We took a one-hour taxi ride into town where we shopped for treasures to take home along Avenida Central. Our team was thrilled to purchase nice shirts and jeans for $1.99 and $2.99 each, among many other bargains.

All year, my fourth graders back home in Redmond, Oregon have been writing letters to a class of Panamanian students at an English speaking school in Panama City. After their teacher, Anita, and I exchanged descriptions of ourselves on the cell phone, we embraced and smiled profusely as we met each other for the first time. It was such a special occasion and we were thrilled and honored to have her escort us to the best places to shop and eat in the city.

Our taxi ride back to the hotel took us down the road which paralleled the Panama Canal, past the Pedro Miguel Locks, back to Gamboa. We all had fun conversing with the driver practicing our Spanish skills. It was another incredible experience in this beautiful country of Panama and this trip of a lifetime.