So far, this second course in parasitology has been more exploring and less "class" per say. These are the adventures from the last several days.
Tuesday:
Tuesday, we headed off to the causeway to collect snails in the Pacific Ocean. Mark Torchin, an aquatic invasive species expert from STRI gave us a lecture on the organisms he works on to start off the morning. Then, we headed for the tide pools. The place was called Punta Culebra, and we were interested in the snails inhabiting the tide pools dotted all across the rocky shore. After collecting a class-wide 100 snails, we were done with field work and allowed to explore the shoreline. I took my first steps in the Pacific Ocean (that I can remember). Scratch that one off the bucket list!
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| The beach, Pacific Ocean |
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| Old supports for a quarantine house (malaria and yellow fever) |
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| Brittle star |
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| Punta Culebra |
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| Ships waiting their turn to enter the Canal |
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| Where I took my first steps |
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| Surgeonfish at the marine center on Punta Culebra |
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| Remora |
After looking at the fish and playing with the sea urchins in the touch pool, we had lunch and then venture off to the causeway for ice cream and souvenir shopping. Then it was back to the bus to drive over to Tupper, the main campus of STRI. Professor Graham was giving a lecture on her work with nematodes and sheep in Scotland. It was pretty cool to see our professor lecturing to all the important scientists at STRI. It was also rather interesting to see what these scientists looked and dressed like. Lots of people in grungy/hippy-like field clothes, scientists with dreads, guys with long hair, Birkenstock wearers, and the like. Ah, Panama. And to top it off, after the talk, everyone went out into the courtyard to get a beer together. If this is representative of a more widespread attitude, science in the tropics seems like a pretty sweet deal. Just saying.
We went into the city for dinner that evening, ending up on Calle Uruguay. It was a cute American/Panamanaina/Italian fusion restaurant. I, sheepishly, had a cheeseburger. I didn't think I'd miss American cuisine, but boy, that burger was divine. We entertained ourselves over our delicious food playing would you rathers. A favorite of mine was Lukas' "Would you rather eat a tub of mayonnaise, or put it down your pants?" Thinks about that one...
Once we got back to Gamboa, we dissected our snails, looking once again for trematode parasites. It was a long day out and a long evening in lab, but still fun and full of learning.
Wednesday:
Wednesday, we packed up early for a drive out to the Caribbean coast. I slept most of the way, but I did wake up when Victor, one of our (very very crazy) TAs, pointed out to us the location where all the shady black market deals go down. Apparently, this shipping yard outside Colon is a hub where people from all over the world flock for tax free, no questions asked, waiting-for-you-on-the-other-side-of-customs-at-the-airport goods. We're talking anything from electronics to hard drugs. Let me just say that I have no interest in experiencing that bit of Panama.
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| Containers at the black market site |
We arrived at the Caribbean site, a marine station affiliated with STRI. For a quick stretch of the legs, Victor took us for a stroll on a path through a black mangrove forest. And by stroll, I mean ropes course over a very rickety and broken platformed path, requiring both balance and agility. There were nails coming up, boards sliding away under your feet, and people falling on all sides. Often the path was so impassible we had to walk in the trees instead. A big round of applause to Victor...But it was actually kinda fun.
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| Framed by a quadrat |
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| Yeah, we walked across that rickety footpath/death trap |
Once we emerged from the mangrove forest, everyone alive, it was time for more snail collecting. Good times. Especially when hermit crabs have an affinity for the shell of the snail species you're looking for. Those little buggers are fast. We collected snails in the red mangroves, on the edge of the mangroves, and 2 meters past the last roots in the open water. Found more snails as we got further from the trees, which was interesting. When we finished with this marine site, we headed to Playa Alongosta for a freshwater site, and then some swimming. The freshwater site was hardly fresh. It was yellowish-brown, stinky, dirty, and full of trash. A perfect environment for parasites, it would seem. The swim in the ocean was much appreciated after having my arm elbow deep in putrid water.
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| Panamanian beach, Caribbean side |
Back to the lab for more snail analysis, parasite identification, and microscopy. Another long day, but again, fun and story-filled.
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| lab table ready for dissecting snails |
Today, we took yet another long bus ride, this time to the west towards Lake Bayano. The second largest lake in Panama, it was created when the Bayano river was damed in 1976. You can still see the skeletal remains of large trees that were flooded in the lake formation.
When we arrived at the lake, we had to gain permission from the town's chief to be allowed access to the waters. Apparently, this area is run a a sovereign nation, and goes by different rules than the rest of Panama. Once granted clearance, we hopped onto two boats to be ferried to the opposite shore of the lake. I of course managed to get on the boat with engine problems. After the engine stalled three times in the middle of the lake and eventually refused to start entirely, we had to turn back to get an entirely new motor, which still stalled about 4 times over the course of reaching our destination. What could have been a 30 minute boat ride turned into about and hour and fifteen.
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The boats we took to get to wherever we were today |
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| The manmade lake flooded a forest, leaving behind only skeletons |
I don't actually know where we were when we got off the boat, but I do know that a few Peace Corp members lived in the tiny lakeside community. If anything, it was charming and beautiful.
We walked inland along a small river for a bit, until we came upon the beginnings of massive rock formations. We had arrived at the bat cave.
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| The style of house in the tiny community where we landed |
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| The start of the river leading into the cave |
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| Entering the cave |
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| We had a friend with us |
Because I didn't bring my camera, I have no pictures of just how breathtakingly beautiful, enormous, and awesome this natural formation is, but I'll do my best to describe it.
Essentially, the mouth was like a canyon, with the river on the bottom and rock walls on each side raising up towards the rainforest above. As we ventured further down the river, the rock walls began to join, eventually meeting to create a tunnel into a deep, watery blackness. Everyone stripped down to shorts and sports bras, and pulled out the headlamps. Then, we went in. The water was freezing cold, and at first it was very difficult to see. I was basically blindly shuffling through the first pool, the water slowly getting deeper until I was wading up to my neck. Once past this first pool, we scrambled over rocks and onto a small strip of sand in the pitch darkness. Then we looked up. Thousands of bats flew from the cave ceiling, a swarm of leathery wings beating above us. They swooped and dived in and out of our beams of light. Then we turned off the lights and just listened. Behind the dripping of water down the rocks, you could head tiny high-pitched squeaks and the woosh of wings. It was wonderfully eerie, knowing that though you couldn't see them, these creatures were flying all around. Absolutely magical.
After our moment with the bats, we pressed forward through the cave. We continued to clamor over rocks and through dark pools. Sometimes the ceiling would open to reveal a gap of green light, where moss would be growing in the soft glow. Other times, it would get darker than before, and I'd blindly feel for the next rock or log in my way. Small catfish lazily followed us in the pools, the bats fluttered overhead, frogs hopped from the rock in the sunnier areas, and the occasional Princetonian would epically trip over a rock and fall into the water. At the other end of the cave, it once again opened out into an open-air pool surrounded by the rock walls and bathed in sunlight.
The only thing I could keep thinking was that nature is truly something amazing. This cave had been formed over thousands of years, carved out by the river and the rain. This was a work of completely natural forces, and now we were lucky enough to experience the amazing ecosystem supported inside. The cave was barely touched by humans, pristine and naturally beautiful, and we were only here because our hair-brained TA knew where to find it. And, this was class. Once again, only in Panama.
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