Panama Family Adventure

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Panama Family Adventure By Hernan Arauz, Master Naturalist Guide May 1, 2000

	Ready to board at 10 AM from Sea-Tac airport to arrive at 10 PM Panama City.

Join our Panama Family Adventure as Brighton School explores the jungles, cloud forests and Caribbean cayes with naturalist guide, Hernan Arauz, to discover the New World of Panama.

Accompanied by Panama's foremost Master Naturalist Guide, Hernan Arauz, and his 9 year old daughter, we traverse the Isthmus of Panama. Crossing the Panama Canal, explore the Smithsonian Research Institute's protected rain forests of Barro Colorado, fly to the highland cloud forests of Chiriqui, then cross the continental divide and descend into the world of the Caribbean at Bocas del Toro.

"High Expectations."

Taking inventory of the kid's expectations on our flight into Central America, I am confident Panama will rate. Tarek Kutay (9) looks forward to hiking in the jungle. Patrick McMahon (8) hopes to find a pool with a rope swing (or maybe a jungle vine), while Leah Fleginheimer (9), looks forward to the hotel with all the water around it (that's Bocas del Toro). Her sister, Etana (12), can't wait to hear some pop music in Spanish. Crissa Nelson (12) anticipates lots of wildlife, and her classmate, Kim Jones (12), just wants to see the rain forest (that'll be easy, Kim). Ellie McMahon (6) expects to see "the butterflies in cages." I'm not sure about the cages, but Hernan asked us to bring light blue handkerchiefs to attract the luminescent Morpho butterflies of the rain forest.We hail from Brighton Elementary, Lynnwood, WA, nine parents with nine kids.

The formation of this trip started when our guide extraordinaire, Hernan Arauz, visited our school last Fall to share the wonders of the rain forests of Panama. Jungle fever set in. It quickly spread through the school into the highest level of administration; the whole kindergarten class was confounded when Chanelle told her classmates that she was going on Spring Break with Principal Nelson. One of our 3rd Grade teachers, Cindy Fleginheimer, is also in our group.

Seattle is just about as far away from Latin America as you can get on the continental 48, and yet our travel to Panama was a breeze. We departed on American Airlines at the relaxing hour of 10:30 AM and arrived Panama at 10 PM (2 hours time difference during Daylight Savings). The kids got their pick of seats together on the plane from Dallas to Panama City which was about half full-something you don't find on a flight to Costa Rica this time of year. And that is the real attraction of Panama: compared to other Central American destinations, it has more accessible rain forest, more indigenous cultures, more protected land base, and more miles of beaches. The only thing it has less of are tourists!

We thought the day was mostly uneventful until we arrived to the Cesar Park Hotel to meet the Astrof family which had flown in earlier on United Airlines through Los Angeles. The kids went swimming, and within an hour of checking in, Chanelle slipped and cut the back of her head. After we checked in , it was directly to the pediatric hospital emergency room for 4 stitches. It was a full service hospital-and the best part-there was no wait. Little Chanelle didn't miss a beat and was in bed by 1:30 AM ready to catch the bus the next morning to hike through the rain forest.