I’ll get it out of the way up front. The Boquete Garden Inn is probably THE BEST little inn I’ve stayed at, ever. Understand, of course, that I am a fanatic for birds, gardens and flowers. So walking through the gate from the already near-paradise that is the town of Boquete into some place that [...]
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Twenty-One Beautiful Birds of Panama – Birdgasm!
Panama has more species of birds than the United States and Canada combined. I awoke on my first morning in Panama to the sound of all those birds of Panama. I up and stumbled out onto the balcony of my friend Maria Elena overlooking the Bridge of the Americas, grabbed a cup of the most [...]
Seeking Some Sassy Ceviche at the Fish Market in Panama City
Everyone was yelling. You notice all the shouting about the same time the fetid reek of salt, tin, ammonia and decay smacks you in the nose. “¡Permiso! ¡Permiso! ¡Cuidado!” A short man in a mustache and green apron pushed past me with a dolly overloaded with ice. His rubber boots splashed in a puddle, spraying [...]
The Church of the Black Christ – Portobelo, Panama
I don’t like it much when a vulture stares at me at the entrance to a church. I don’t like it much either when three crows are sitting, all consubstantially trinity-like, on the Catholic’s cross at the narthex. Yes, that’s right, the entrance to a Catholic church is called the narthex. And no, I’m not suspicious. ~ ~ [...]
The Sister Moon Eco-Lodge on Isla Grande, Panama
Ten minutes across some pretty rough waters from the Panamanian village of La Guaira, we found ourselves kindly deposited on the Caribbean island of Isla Grande. The boat pilot didn’t want to take on the larger waves near the reef to the northwest and so we had to walk the ten minutes along the rim [...]
La Media Luna, Panama
She said: “Ito and Roni are brothers. And since he was born…since Ito was very young…the Virgin comes to him. We call this ‘vidente‘. The Virgin used to talk to him in the trees. His madre thought he was sick with fever.” The road to the spring took off from the highway west and just [...]
Panama City at Sunrise – My Shot of the Day – January 28, 2013
This morning, my last in Panama City, Maria Elena and I hiked (well, ok…it is an easy 15 minute walk) up Cerro Ancon for a sunrise view of the city. Not a bad sight. Amazing to me is that, at night, this huge city is not lit up like you might think. So many of [...]
Edna’s UFO – My Shot of the Day – January 26, 2013
Below, where we looked at the black volcanic sand that covered the Barriles Panama village so long ago, Edna was telling a story about a UFO in the mountains near the volcano… “…we saw one just out there…one afternoon…all the family was together and coming climbing back up to the house for the night [...]
On the Quetzales Trail Panama
The Quetzales Trail Panama connects the town of Boquete to the town of Cerro Punta along the edge of the Baru Volcano, the highest mountain in Panama at 11,398 feet. The trail cuts through the cloud forest along the Talamanca mountain range. The trail rises from a deep valley through gigantic ancient oaks, magnolias and [...]
Miraflores Locks – My Shot of the Day – January 21, 2013
Miraflores is the name of one of the three locks that form part of the Panama Canal and the name of the small lake that separates these locks from the Pedro Miguel locks upstream. In the Miraflores locks, vessels are lifted (or lowered) 54 feet (16.5 m) in two stages, allowing them to transit to [...]
Spectacled Caiman – My Shot of the Day – January 18, 2013
Wildlife in Panama Plowing into the jungle near the Rio Obispo looking for birds, I immediatly saw a Crimson-bellied woodpecker, a sirystes and a type of trogon showing off a small butterfly he had taken. A green iguana crossed the path, far too fast for me to take a picture and I made a made [...]
Panama’s Atlantic Coast – My Shot of the Day – January 15, 2013
At the top of the island of Isla Grande Colon the French built a lighthouse in 1893. De Lesseps meant the lighthouse to be one of the guiding markers to help ships find the canal and his partner Gustave Eiffel designed the origional lamp for the structure. Now it is a rusting hulk full of [...]
Purchase Fine Art Prints and Books by Jim O’Donnell
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Twenty-One Beautiful Birds of Panama – Birdgasm!
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Spring Rainstorm Pictures – My Shot of the Day – April 1, 2013
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Seeking Some Sassy Ceviche at the Fish Market in Panama City
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Arabian Sea Sunset
