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| The Hispania house in Panama City |
Hola muchacha's and muchacho's! It's been 15 days since I've arrived in Panama and it's already been quite an adventure. A little background on the internship: the organization Kalu Yala is developing an "eco-village" that is encouraging sustainability and eco-tourism. It's a 30 year plan and we're only in year 3. The organization has 6 programs this summer: Business, Outreach, English Services, Outdoor Rec., Biology, and Design Build (ME!) - each consisting about about 5 people. Business interns stay in Panama City; Outreach and Spanish stay in San Miguel, a small town 1.5 hours NE of the city; and Biology, Outdoor Rec and Design-build stay in the valley, a 1.5 hour hike from San Miguel.
For the 2.5 months we are here, we go 10 days in the valley for work and then we get 5 days off to travel, blog, shower, and relax.
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| Panoramic view from the balcony |
Since I arrived later than almost all other interns, my first trip into the valley was the second or third for others. My first trip was certainly memorable - after being a good traveler and taking my Malaria medicine on a somewhat empty stomach, I definitely made an impression on the crew I was traveling with. Let's just say it wasn't a pleasant bus ride - but after emptying my tummy and transferring buses to the one pictured below, I was feeling much better.
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| The "chiva" that takes you into San Miguel - played techno the entire 45 mins. |
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| The San Miguel house |
The San Miguel house/crew is the middle ground between the city and the valley. It's a really small town where everything is super cheap! You can get a breakfast of chorizo, eggs, and a "doughy bread thing" for $1.50. They're called "Fondas" and are rectangular buildings where you walk up to a window and order food through a gated opening.
The hike into the valley is fantastic! It takes about 1.5 hours, but is beautiful.
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| View from the hike |
The Kalu Yala valley is fantastic. The property is an old cow pasture and sits between the Pacora River and Iguana River. It's absolutely gorgeous! Base-camp consists of tree posts set into the ground with tarps as the roof. It's large enough for all 18 of us to hang out under and houses a kitchen for our chef Johnny to cook with us. The day consists of breakfast, then building/hiking/cleaning/working, then lunch, little more work, volleyball at 5pm sharp, a dip/shower in the river, a fantastic dinner, then games/drinking, and then bed. Honestly, I really can't complain!
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| My first view of base-camp. After 5 days away, it still stands with minor repairs. |
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| Our hang out under the tarps. |
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| Rain coming off the tarps during a Panamanian rainstorm! So much water. |
As part of the design build crew, we are working on two projects this summer. The first is a 10'x20' structure that is going to house a kitchen, common area, and bathrooms. The structure will be raised about 5 feet off the ground. The other thing to be built will be a water tower. The water will be brought in from a tributary off the Iguana River. In the mean time while we wait for lumber, the crew is busy making base-camp comfortable to live in. We've built two tables, a bench, shelves, etc. I helped with this twig shelf as well as made my own bench...
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| The bench I made for my tent to keep the clothes off the floor |
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| A shelving unit Alex and I built for tools |
I haven't encountered any snakes yet (thankfully) but I have been bitten by nasty red ants and a few mosquitoes. I did see an iguana (or a cameleon). He ran away pretty quick after we cut down a palm tree. But everyday is full of beautiful scenery.
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| Cool tree growing on the side of the Pacora River. |
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