Panama 2022 - Week 2

Day 8 - 29th September 2022

I was too tired to write this last night before bed as I usually do, so I'm catching up on the 30th. In all honesty, I can’t remember much of interest yesterday so this isn't the most exciting entry. The days sort of blur here as it’s a constant routine of wake up, breakfast, forest, afternoon, dinner, relax, bed.

The forest walk was relatively short, but we’ve nailed down the methods for El’s project now. Back at the base I submitted the manuscript proofs I mentioned yesterday and then we ‘planted’ Jacaranda seeds to try and work out the best way of germinating them. Currently, we’re testing out wet tissue on a petri dish, covered and uncovered, on bare soil covered with clingfilm and shaded.

Day 9 - 30th September 2022

Deet is a horrible substance to spray all over your body. However, it does a job and is necessary for the tick and chigger-infested forest. When it’s first applied, it warms the patch of skin, momentarily creating an unpleasant feeling of heat. It is, of course, vitally important to wash your hands after applying it, especially before going to the toilet. A deeply unpleasant start to the day.

We split into two groups today, intending to visit as many Jacaranda trees and collect as many seed pods as possible. I went with Paddy on a long hike to one of the peninsulas on the other side of the island, about 10km in total. I have never been so exhausted in my life. The combined heat and humidity act together to sap the strength faster than anything I’ve experienced before, with the possible exception of hiking at altitude. With altitude your brain is struggling for oxygen and slow to put thoughts together, so you move in something of a daze. In the tropics oxygen levels aren’t the issue so you’re able to think the whole time, it just happens that the overriding thought is, oh god please let this end. With both, though, it’s a case of acclimatising to the conditions, something which I have failed to fully do yet. Despite the fatigue, we had a successful day, collecting seeds from 12 trees. We found out later that the others had only managed five trees so we felt smug. Tired, but smug.

Day 10 - 1st October 2022

We have been on the island for one week. As it was a Saturday we had the day off to do whatever we wanted, but, having said that, there’s not a lot you can do when you’re stuck on a small island so I spent the day either birdwatching or counting seeds in the lab. Patrick and Sofia went back into the forest, but El and I decided a rest day was needed. We ended up watching Chicken Run in the lab while we worked. I spent a very enjoyable 20 minutes looking out of my room into the forest edge, seeing a number of new species as well as another Motmot. The strangest part of the day was when four vultures (two Turkey, two Black) perched themselves in the trees just outside the lab. Up close they are as impressive as they are ugly. The assumption was that something had died or was about to die in the bushes below the trees, but there’s always a nagging thought at the back of your mind when you're surrounded by vultures. Do they know something I don’t?

Day 11 - 2nd October 2022

Today tested me physically more than I have been tested in a long time. Or at least, since two days ago. I was awoken by the rain, which persisted all through breakfast until just before we left for the forest. Then, as all the rain that had just fallen evaporated into the air, the weather changed from cool and wet to hot and unbearably humid. The humidity levels fluctuated throughout the remainder of the day, but the temperature just rose and rose.

I went with Paddy to the lighthouse at the end of the Miller peninsula. All the trails on the island are named after important biologists, most of whom visited or worked on the island at some point. From the lighthouse we saw a huge, heavily laden cargo boat make its way through the section of the canal which passes through the lake we find ourselves in.

On our way to the next peninsula, we came across a Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) – a small, tree-climbing anteater. This highlight was followed by a long, hot walk that pushed me to my limit. Once we stumbled back into camp I just sat in the canteen for a couple of hours, not wanting to move. Gradually we recovered, slowly cooling down and rehydrating, whilst we waited for others to get back. They’d had a longer (but flatter) route than us today and had also felt the heat. I went for a cold shower, which just about brought me back to life and the rest of the afternoon/evening passed in the usual fashion.

Day 12 - 3rd October 2022

The streak is over. For the first time on the trip we failed to see a new species of animal. We did get a brief glimpse of a pigeon, but were unable to ID it properly. It might have been a new species, or it might have been one of the other two, almost identical pigeon species we’ve so far also been unable to identify.

Today was another rest day, spent in the lab sorting seeds. I did go for a short walk with my binoculars, but there wasn’t much around. Other than needing to recover from yesterday, I was very glad we weren’t in the forest today as it was hot. It’s always hot here, but today was even hotter than usual.

A large group of STRI staff from Gamboa came to BCI today to show some visiting NASA scientists around. They’ll be giving a seminar tomorrow on the mainland which we’ll be attending - a rare, off-island excursion.

The only real incident of the day was a scorpion on the stairs up to El’s room. At about the size and thickness of a 50-pence coin, it was small enough to fit in the gap between our doors and the floor. We all went to bed a little more cautiously.

Day 13 – 4th October 2022

The Panama Canal, at this time of year, is as calm and flat as a duck pond for the most part. There are exceptions, like when a storm rolls in, but typically the water could be used for the Oxbridge boat race without too many complaints. The largest waves are caused by the wake from boats, some of which could tip out anyone foolish enough to actually row on the lake into the crocodile infested water. It’s not the enormous super-tankers that cause the biggest waves, but the little shoe-shaped tug boats that shift a disproportionately large amount of water as they barrel down the canal.

We travelled in the water taxi across the calm waters to the mainland today to attend the remote sensing talk by NASA. STRI have been hosting a workshop all week in Gamboa and BCI residents were invited for the day.

We arrived at the dock in Gamboa and went birdwatching along Pipeline Road for a couple of hours as we had time to kill. The road itself was built during the Second World War and is now a bird watchers' paradise with over 300 species recorded along its length. We did see some excellent birds including a Collared Aracari, but the highlight was an unbelievable view of a Three-toed Sloth. Usually, they can be seen fairly regularly, but always up and stationary in the canopy and are easily mistaken for a hairy ant nest. This one was low down, close to the ground and moving - Harpy Eagle food. It’s possible we’d caught it as it was making a rare trip to the ground to defecate. We took some photos and left it on its way back up to the canopy. On the subject of Harpy Eagles, Sofia told us that there was an attempted breeding and release programme in the area but it failed because, and these are her words, “one of them went crazy”. Apparently, it started associating people with backpacks with food and would attack tourists coming on birdwatching tours.

At 1pm we arrived at the STRI labs in Gamboa for a tour of the facilities. It reminded me of CEH (UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology), but with better views out of the lab windows as the site backs onto the forest rather than a carpark, and there are aviaries and butterfly houses in the grounds. Another noticeable difference to CEH was that the security guards had guns.

After the building tour, Sofia gave us a walking tour of Gamboa, including a visit to the fancy hotel and holiday resort. We may visit the restaurant there as a treat at some point.

Our final activity in Gamboa was the talk itself at 4pm. We felt slightly out of place, having been out all day in field kit, probably smelling quite bad, whilst everyone else in the workshop was in smart casual clothes and had been in air conditioned rooms all day.

We were driven back to the dock by Helene, another important STRI scientist, and a friend and collaborator of Sofia’s. We enjoyed the fast boat ride back to the island as the sunset, admiring the skill of our captain whenever he had to deal with another ship's wake. The tactic appears to be to floor it parallel to the ship for as long as possible and then, just as the wave is about to hit, cut the engines and turn into the wave to hit it head-on, rocking the boat up and down, rather than side to side.

A large flock of swallows flew alongside the boat briefly, whilst Magnificent Frigate birds perched on the large buoys that marked the safe channel for the ships. We arrived back on BCI at 6:25, just in time for dinner at half past. It had been a great day.

Day 14 – 5th October 2022

Two weeks since departure, eight weeks to go. We’re all in a good routine now and things seem to be going well. Paddy and I went on another long walk in search of trees today. We headed down the Wetmore trail, a notorious route that the other residents say they avoid wherever possible. It wasn’t completely horrendous, but it was fairly awful. Fortunately, it was slightly cooler than usual today, so it was easier going despite the worse terrain, balancing out the effort required. The trail system on BCI is extensive and covers large parts of the island, including stretching out along the spines of the long peninsulas on the edge of the island. Someone, presumably someone quite important in ecology*, said that a rainforest without a trail system is like a house without doors. I can sort of see what they mean. Sort of.

*A quick Google was no help in finding the source.