The Man and the Rooster

Snapshot of a man petting his rooster at the English Pier in Panama City, Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Read Full Post »

The Collective Names of Animals

I don’t recall that our English teachers emphasized the different names of groups of animals during their classes.  Either I dozed during those tedious lessons, or they were never given to us.  I just can’t recall.  As I read books, magazines, newspapers and watched movies and videos, I picked some of them.  However, there are some groups of animals, I didn’t have the faintest clue existed.

Some of the most common ones I had no problems with are:

1. A school of fish.
2. A herd of cattle.
3. A flock of birds.
4. A swarm of bees.
5. A litter of cats

However, I had no idea the following terms existed in the English language.  But that’s nothing new, English as you all know, has been a tough cookie for me since I was six.

Are you familiar with the names of the following groups of animals?

1. A shrewdness of apes.
2. A sloth or sleuth of bears.
3. A tower of giraffes.
4. A band of gorillas.
5. A bloat of hippopotamuses.
6. A wake of buzzards.
7. A gulp of cormorants.
8. A sedge of cranes.
9. A bask of crocodiles.
10. A shoal of bass.

And the list goes on and on for mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.  A dear friend recently sent me a link which includes a lengthy list of these unusual terms which I thought you could use as a reference website.  If you like to write in English, sooner or later, this site could be your deus-ex-machina.

And now you know the rest of the story of my experiences with the English language.  Good Day.

Read Full Post »

The Tropical Rainforest of the Panama Canal

In order for the Panama Canal to operate it needs water; lots of it.  That’s where the tropical rainforest of the area adjacent to the international waterway comes in.

The Panama Canal rainforests are some of the most accessible nature-rich rainforests in the world. With over 50,000 acres of pristine rainforest, this natural gem hosts an incredible 105 species of mammals, 525 species of birds and 124 species of reptiles and amphibians.

Having such a nature-rich area so close to the metropolitan capital is feature unique to Panama. The Panama Canal, just 30 minutes away from Panama City, requires a vast rainforest watershed to feed water to its lock system which uses millions of gallons each day. For this reason the Canal Zone has had to actively preserve its circumvent natural resources, making for plentiful green areas.

Below are a couple of pictures of the tropical rainforest which can be appreciated from the balconies of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort Hotel located in the town of Gamboa in the former Canal Zone.  Enjoy nature at its best.

Snapshot of a hill covered with tropical trees which can be seen from the balconies of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort Hotel in the town of Gamboa in Panama City, Panama. This is part of the rainforest that provides water to the Panama Canal. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

View of the tropical rainforest which serves as habitat for a rich population of caymans, crocodiles, iguanas, and several hundred bird species. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Read Full Post »

Photograph of the Day: Swimming Lessons

(Credit: Pixdaus.com)

Read Full Post »

Genuine Gems at a Handicraft Market in Panama

Last week I visited the Handicraft Market at May 5th Plaza to take a Canadian tourist who was interested in buying small Christmas gifts for his friends and relatives back home.   Even though I have been to this place many times, before there are always new products in display.  The creative imagination of our artisans has no bounds.  This time it was no exception.  I saw the most colorful and unique products I’ve seen in a very long time.  These products were marketed by Luis A. Pitty and his family.

Luis comes from the proud Province of Chiriquí which borders with Costa Rica to the North-West.  That’s also my beloved province where I was born 63 years ago.  After a friendly chat about our common province, he showed the tourist his best items.  My eyes were wide open at his colorful collection of souvenirs any tourist would buy without hesitation.

These specific souvenirs caught my eyeballs like a magnet.  There were other articles as well, but it would have taken all day to capture them with my Birthday camera.  I concentrated on what I thought were the most exotic and unique.

This is what I saw and photographed last week at Pitty’s  place at the Mercado de Artesanías in Panama City, Panama.  Here we go.

Photograph of Luis A. Pitty together with his daughters, Liliana and Tatiana. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

Photograph of a whole wall covered with Carnival masks. If I ever see somebody wearing one of these masks at night, I would certainly piss in my pants. They're scary. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

A closer view of colorful masks worn during Carnival in Panama. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

Photograph of two miniature iguanas carved on a special seed known as "tagua" by Darien Indians. The detail of this miniature work is unbelievable. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

A miniature iguana carved on "tagua" by the Province of Darien Indians. The iguana was painted with small needles. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

There were many more miniatures like this with images of cougars, snakes, tapirs, and other tropical animals from the rainforests of Darien.  These jungles are so dense, that it’s almost impossible to penetrate them.  Even the rays of the sun have a difficult time filtering through the leaves of the gigantic trees.  The Province of Darien borders with Colombia to the South-East.

And now you know what you can find in an artisan market in Panama.  Luis and his family will be more than glad to help you  out making a good buying decision.  Good Day.

Read Full Post »

Photograph of the Day: Colorful Birds

(Credit: Reencarnation Cristalero @Pixdaus.com)

Read Full Post »

An Urban Safari in Panama City, Panama

In Panama, November 28 is a national holiday.  The country proudly celebrates its independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of Simon Bolivar.  It is the last independence holiday of November.  Then the country gets ready for Mother’s Day, Christmas Day and our course, New Year’s Day.  A lot of social action lies ahead.

Since there were no parades scheduled in Panama City, my wife and I decided to visit a popular mall located on the outskirts of the city—Albrook Mall. The place is huge, fully covered, and air-conditioned.  There are so many things in there, it’s almost impossible to decide on what to buy, unless you have it explicitly written on a piece of paper.  That is what we did.  My wife wanted to buy a new pair of sneakers for her daily early morning walkabouts.  She was crazy for a  pair of New Balance rubber shoes.  So that was exactly what we wrote on a white sheet of paper—New Balance tennis shoes.

Our beloved grandnephews—Abdiel and Carol— jumped into the bandwagon.  We called the trip, the Safari Mall Trip because the mall was full of wild animals.  The owners of the mall–very cleverly—identified the structure with wild animals which matched a certain color.  That would help the shoppers to easily identify and find the shops they were looking for.   For example, if you were looking a Mac Store to buy an iPhone, you would look for the Penguin Corridor identified with the color yellow.  The number is PA-P12.  At the entrance of the mall, you can request at the Information Center,  the Albrook Mall Store Guide to avoid getting lost.

The supposed purpose of the trip was to shoot fourteen wild animals at the mall.  The kids would be the  guides and I would be the hunter with my loaded Birthday camera.  My job was to shoot all 14 wild animals.  My wife’s mission was to buy her shoes, but that’s another story for another day.  

Below are images of several wild games we were able to find and shoot with my Canon PowerShot A720 IS camera.  Relax, take a deep breath,  and enjoy.  Here we go.

Abdiel and Carol pose with two zebras at the entrance of Albrook Mall. The zebras are all dressed up in Christmas colors. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

This is the second game of the day---a very tall giraffe in the middle of the aisle. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

An enormous dinosaur from Jurassic Park, so tall that my wife and Abdiel are barely visible. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Carol is about to be eaten by a Christmas hippo. Abdiel and my wife Aura watches close by. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

A splendid capture of an African elephant. It looks almost real, except for the size of course. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Photograph of papa and mama kangaroo. They look so cute in their pink pigmentation. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

I was strongly attracted to these dolphins swimming together with other fishes and turtles. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

My wife Aura isn't afraid of this gigantic King Kong. He looks menacing if you ask me. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

A beautiful family of Arctic penguins lovingly embraced by Abdiel and Carol. Even penguins feel cold, notice their scarfs. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

In this picture with a panda bear, Carol is beginning to feel the weight of walking several miles all over the mall hunting for wild games. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Wow! This Bengal tiger really looks threatening. These feet are meant for running. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Abdiel is acting awkwardly after having this powerful rhino behind his back. He looks as big and powerful as a Sherman tank. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

During our urban safari, Abdiel and Carol meet the King of the Jungle. Carol poses like a Carnival Queen under the wild beast. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

On our final capture, Abdiel's batteries are almost dead, while Carol has renewed her energies. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

After a safari that started at 10:00 a.m. and ended 04:30 p.m., we accomplished our mission.  With the assistance of my savvy young guides I was able to shoot fourteen wild animals.  Tired and dragging our feet, we headed home with a big smile on our faces.  We had a perfect hunting score.

Oh, one more thing…my wife got her walking shoes.  She was also smiling on our way home.   That makes four smiling faces heading back home.    Ain’t that nice?  Good Day.

Read Full Post »

Photograph of the Day: Turtle and Goldfishes

(Credit: dzonas77 @Pixdaus.com)

Read Full Post »

Mom, Mom The Circus is Coming!

In most children’s lives the most important day, one they will never forget,  was their first visit to a circus.  In small rural towns, the circus parade announcing the coming of a circus, was the event of the day in the vicinity.  Everybody came out to the dirt road to see the spectacular parade of clowns, acrobats, elephants, camels, horses, and what have you.

Unfortunately, where I lived—in a banana plantation in Bocas del Toro—there were no circus parades.  There were no circuses.  Period.  My first encounter with a circus was at age 33.  I have to confess, I wasn’t impressed.  Of course I wasn’t a kid then.

Recently, a Mexican circus came to town and  made camp a few blocks from our house.  Everyday I drive my wife to work, I see several cars parked outside the circus with parents taking their kids to watch the circus animals.  There are camels, elephants, horses, llamas, burros and zebras.  You should see the eyes of the kids on the other side of the fence—big as a silver dollar.

I had to take the advantage of this visit and capture the scene with my Birthday digital camera.  This is what the nestlings saw at the other side of the fence.  Here we go.

Entrance of the Mexican circus which recently visited Panama City, Panama. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

This is the ticket booth where you buy the tickets. It's swarmed with parents and kids during the weekends. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Below are the admittance prices:

1. Bleachers:  $10.00
2. Stalls:  $15.00
3. Balconies:  $20.00
4. Children between two and eight years pay $2.00 each no matter where they seat.

From Monday thru Friday there’s only one show at 7:30 p.m.  On Saturdays:  Two shows at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.   On Sundays there are three shows:  3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m.

Photograph of a small circus worker taking a break during the morning. There is evidence he likes to drink Coca Cola. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

A veteran elephant takes his daily break before the show starts during the evenings. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

Photograph of a couple of Arabian camels who turned their backs on us. Poor manners. (Smile) (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

A hungry zebra scratches the ground in search of a patch of hay or grass. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)

I can image the struggle going on in many Panama homes between broke parents and their children trying to collect a couple of elusive dollars to take their kids to the circus.  The persistence of children is legendary.   Good Day.

Read Full Post »

Photograph of the Day: Delicacy and Strength

(Credit: Tony McGuiness @Pixdaus.com)

Read Full Post »