Puma

The Summit Zoo in Panama just got a new puma.  It lays in the sun, and stretches the day away.  It's like a 250lb version of Lulu.

Beach house weekend!

from left:  Laura, Anna, Eduardo, Mariah, Rob, Kim, Austin, Ashley, Nick, Carolyn

In less than a week, many good friends leave Panama forever, so to have some last good times together, we rented a beach house in the middle of nowhere. Great food (since my departing friends are all gourmands), lots of relaxing, and lots of laughs.

Winkels

Every place has a different word for "corner store." In NY, they are bodegas.  In Panama, they are Chinos.  In Suriname, they are Winkels.

Something about the name Stanley's Winkel made me giggle for 5 minutes straight.

Ecuador III- Otovalo Animal Market

Friends who used to live in Ecuador had recommended a trip to the Otovalo animal market. My thoughts?

It was EARLY (we arrived at 5:50am)

It was FASCINATING.

It was REAL- people weighing guinea pigs to eat for dinner that night, and milking cows to test them out. No disinfected version of reality that we give to kids in the US- this was real.

Adorable piglets, all huddled together for warmth. They probably had a few more years of life to fatten up before they ended up as Easter dinner.

Nora was dying to see a llama in real life.  Jen and I thought that this adorable papoose baby with a llama was the cutest thing ever.

Trade began way before the sun went up.

This little piggie would not go gently into that good night.

I love travelling.  In Panama, I have seen a pick-up with 2 Brahmin cows.  In Nicaragua, I saw a pick-up with 20 teenagers crammed in the back.  And in Ecuador, a pick-up full of pigs on their way to market.

Ecuador II- Incan ceramics

Ecuador had some great museums.  One was dedicated to pre-Columbian artifacts, including a great collection of ceramics.  One indigenous group from the northern Andes made a bunch of vessels honoring animals.  I found these really funny.

Here is a molerat (I think).

 A dancing monkey.

A really pissed-off devil guinea pig.

Ecudaor I

Oh alititude... on the first day in Quito, we had to catch our breath after walking up a hill = photo opp

Nora, Laura, and Jen on top of the mountain

obligatory gorgeous Spanish colonial church

we couldn't stop drinking the juices in Ecuador- so good and so fresh!

Hot Springs, in the mountains, on a 60 degree day = wonderfully relaxing

taxis in Ecuador were sooooo cheap.  That meter says 56c.  Not $56, no, 56c.  

Aarons in Panama

Jan and Rich Aaron have been good friends of my parents for many years.  We have spent many a Thanksgiving and Easter together.  When they came down to Panama for a two week adventure, it was great to see them.  We saw some great animals at both the Smithsonian Museum and the Summit Zoo.

Dinner at my favorite French restaurant

A huge iguana, about 7ft long from tip to tail

graceful stingrays smiling at us

a 28 year old turtlbe guarding nurse shark babies

a gorgeous puma putting on a show for all of the zoo visitors