WELCOME TO PANAMA

Hi there- long time no see! As is apparent, I’ve spent the last month working and travelling in Panama – and I say this a lot, but I may be a little bit in love. Adding new countries to the list of places covered by Stripy Tapir is always a bit of a thrill, but going through the photographs for this one was something quite special. The four weeks we were there took us from the national parks on the doorstep of Panama City to the cloud forest near the Costa Rican border, and finally to the paradise beaches of Isla Bastimentos. I’m not particularly sure anyone reads blog posts any more, but more for my own sake I wanted to sit down and write about each of the legs in their own post, as I want to try to capture as much of the magic of them as I can. First, though, here’s a little sampler of the wildlife that we saw, alongside some words written by past Ciara, who was sitting not in her house in Norfolk but in a treehouse in remote Chiriqui.

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It turns out that all I needed for the impetus to start writing my first blog post in the last 4 months was to be sat on the balcony of our treehouse in the cloud forest surrounded by canopy with no internet. The ambient sound consists of the nearby waterfall, the calls of the howler monkeys and the metallic screech of a three wattled bell bird. The air is cool and a welcome relief from the heat of Panama City, where I’ve just spent the last two weeks rapporteuring for the CITES CoP. Sitting here is such a contrast to those 10 days working long hours and barely leaving the conference centre. We have one more day before we travel to the Bocas del Toro archipelago in search of coconuts, coral reefs and Caribbean vibes, and I’m planning on soaking up as many sights and smells as possible- every towering Mexican cedar and every glint from the crests of the hummingbirds that whir past the main lodge.

Panama is such a revelation- it teems with wildlife, big and small, obscure and world-famous. There are toucans in the centre of Panama City and sloths just 10 minutes away from the glass high rises. Huge swathes of the country are still forested, holding jaguars, tapirs, and eagles and poison dart frogs – for me, the stuff of childhood dreams. I’m not entirely sure if the big centipede I shared my shower with this morning was also the stuff of childhood dreams – but such things come with the territory, and a little bit of adrenaline when you’re getting up early to catch the monkeys is always helpful. Anyhow, onwards and upwards. I’m hoping that tapping out these words will help me get over the writer’s block I’ve had with the blog these past few months – sometimes it feels difficult to translate these sorts of experiences into words, but I think the key to getting good at it is just to write something anyway. Off to put some layers on and go to dinner- hopefully speak again soon.