2019/04 Panama trip - Semaphore Hill |
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Sunday April 28th
The day began at 6.30 am up on the platform. The kitchen staff had put out some bananas and the tamarins came by for their breakfast. This toucan was the flashiest bird to come visit us up on the platform.
I think this was the morning that my right eye went bad. My eyes had improved a little although they felt dry and scratchy as usual, but now my right eye’s white had gone blood red. It looked awful to others but I felt no difference so I resolved to leave it alone to heal.
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Canopy Tower fauna (5.14) |
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This was our shortest trip of the tour, just a walk with Igua down Semaphore Hill with Ed and Margaret and Chris. For once the birds seemed to be in limited supply but we had our first good view of an agouti, a large rodent, which tiptoed down to the edge of the road and then raced across it into the undergrowth.
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Leafcutter ants (0.16) |
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Agouti (0.40) |
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There were also flowers and strange fruits to keep us interested. 
The guides know less about the shrubs and trees, not surprising as there are thousands of native tree species plus plenty that have been imported from Africa and South America. Jacarandas are popular here as garden trees just like they are in Australia, but they come from Argentina.
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Semaphore Hill walk (2.32) |
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Igua took us down through the forest to a tree with a cavity and there, spending its days in the cavity, was a night monkey. Its face is partly hidden by a leaf but the picture’s the best I could do perched precariously on the hillside.
A couple of hours’ walking downhill and looking up at the treetops had done a fair amount of damage to my back. Chris looked to be in worse shape than me; high in enthusiasm but low on stamina. We were both happy to see the truck which came down to collect us.