On Tuesday, we got up very early and drove a few hours to Altos de Campana, a mountainous region to the west.
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| Crazy strangler plant! |
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| Our team hard at work sampling insects |
Next up El Valle, which is a town in the crater of an extinct volcano. We camped there for the night and then drove to these beautiful gardens the next morning. We were also given a tour of the lab at their Amphibian Rescue Center and were able to see them up close!
Amphibians have seen a tremendous decline in Panama and other regions of Central America over the past couple of years because of the Chytrid Fungus. This fungus attacks the very fragile skin of amphibians. Years ago, there were 52 frog species in this region, now there are only 6. Unfortunately at the moment there is not recorded cure, but centers like these where species may eventually be reintroduced into the wild seems to be the only hope.
Grenouilles,tarentules,singes etc....au détour des chemins ....très peu pour moi! je préfère les voir en photo .
ReplyDeleteSois prudente,
Bisou
Sylvie
Nice! Super idee le blog. Ramenes-moi une des grenouilles la! :P. Bonne continuation continue de nous arroser de photos! Bisous, Q
ReplyDeleteMagnifique ce que tu fais et nous envoies Flaam. Ce genre de superbes reportages me rappelle quelqu'un et maintenant je comprends de qui il s'inspirait !!!!!!!!! Bises. Marc Mandel (ancien trekeur)
ReplyDeletethose are some AWESOME frogs right there!!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely pix and gab, Flaam. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteFrom dozens of frog species down to only 6 remaining, desperately fighting a bug! Thank you for working on sampling and research that might find the answer. Let's hope that there will be enough elsewhere to repopulate the locally extinct.
I was in Panama back in the Fall of 1955, as a cadet sailing around the world with la Jeanne d'Arc. Besides the motorized mules dragging us through the locks, I remember a US Marines Jungle Training Center and the "papa", the local mafia's fromage. I hope the latter two are both gone... or away from your trails. Be well!
Bertrand df
Thank you for reading Bertrand! Panama 1955.. things have changed a lot since then, I would say its time you come back for round 2!
DeleteThe US Army is definitely gone.. but in places like Isla Iguana and Fort Sherman you should not walk off of the path because there may still be unexploded shells buried in the ground! Fort Sherman was used as the US Army's jungle training area.. training for warfare in the tropics. and Isla Iguana was used as a bombing range during World War II.
Hello Flaam, Have you met any French frogs on your trip? With your command of the French language, you should be able to spot them!
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