Panama Day 2: Into the woods.

We didn't have to travel far from Panama City to hit the rainforests. Soberania is just outside the city, while Metropolitan Park is WITHIN Panama City. Every major world capital should have a rainforest within its borders.

The rainforest is THE place to go to get bitten by every creature ever made with 6 or more legs. When red itchy bumps covering the whole body is the new fashion trend, you'll thank me.

My rainforest pics suck and don't do it justice. Scenery shots are bad because everything is green and it's hard to distinguish what's so cool about it. And it's hard to capture all the little things that make a rainforest such a treasure - the rivers of leaf-cutter ants hard at work; the flourescent butterflies that flutter around; the shit-your-pants sound of a gang of agitated howler monkeys nearby; the feverish sunstroke, diarrhea, and dehydration; your willingness to strangle a harpy eagle to death for a shower and air conditioning. It's those little magical things that make the rainforest so special and yet so difficult to document.



I think it was in Metropolitan that I almost literally ran into this sloth, who has since become my Animal Spirit Guide. He was just a foot or two away from me.





I don't know what's in Slothy McSlotherson's gaping hole. I'm hoping it's candy.



Slaty-tailed trogon? Black-tailed trogon? Is it even a trogon?? Help!



Thick-billed Euphonia, perhaps? In any case, I named him Chirpy O'Houlihan.



A rare picture of a hummingbird taking it easy. He sat there looking pensive for awhile. I named him Freddie and pretended he was worried about his stocks portfolio.



We saw around 150 different birds throughout Panama: honeycreepers, woodcreepers, tanagers, parrots, parakeets, manakins, wrens, motmots, grosbeaks, antbirds, woodpeckers, puffbirds, kingfishers, hawks, kites, frigatebirds, egrets, jacobins, herons, doves, hawks, boobies (heh heh), flycatchers, hummingbirds, vultures, toucans, and the omnipresent kiskadee.

It would've been awesome if I enjoyed bird-watching.