I had such an exhilarating day, full of first time
experiences! This morning I woke up around 5:30, ate a breakfast full of carbs
(pancakes for me, please!) and conquered my first mountain! The mountain is
called the Sleeping Indian Girl, and I hiked the entire thing! Since I have
never seen an actual mountain before, let alone hiked one, I really didn’t know
what to expect. The hike was full of
many challenges including steep inclines, rocky paths, and enormous
cliffs. It was pretty tricky at times to
scale up the rocky mountain walls, and even coming down in some places I had to
sit and “crab walk” down. I played the
guessing game many times, choosing which rock would be the most stable to stand
on, when climbing up and going back down. The view from the peak of the
mountain was worth my entire trip to Panama, though! It was absolutely
gorgeous! I was able to see down into the valley, numerous other mountain
ranges, and even could see as far as the Pacific Ocean. Our tour guide was fantastic, and he even had
a pet monkey named Monica who accompanied us on the adventure! She was too
cute! The hike took about four hours total.
After hiking, we came back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat, then
went zip lining! I was super nervous because of how high up it was, and also
the harness really wasn’t that secure!! I’m so glad I did it though! It was
definitely a blast. I zip lined through
the rainforest, over a gigantic waterfall, and even saw a Tucan! After zip
lining, I went shopping in the Market, where local Panamanians bring their goods
to sell. They have everything from handcrafts to fruit! I always enjoy shopping
at the markets here; they have so many unique things! Lastly, I went to the
zoo. It was quite different than a zoo you would typically see in the United
States, but overall they had a variety of animals. The zoo housed hundreds of chickens, goats,
monkeys, exotic birds, turtles, alligators, ostriches, leopards, coyotes, and
even a sloth! The zoo is known for its frog exhibit, which houses the Golden
Frog. The guide told us that El Valle is
the only place in the world you can find the Golden Frog, and only in
captivity, because the rest of the Golden Frogs were killed off by a fungus in
North America. That is super crazy to
imagine! Overall, I had such an awesome day, and an adventurous one at that!
I’m going horseback riding in the morning, which should be a great time! Since
we leave tomorrow, I have been cramming in as many activities as possible! Here’s a sneak peak at some of the pictures
from today! (The wifi isn’t the best, so it takes forever to upload the
pictures, more to come soon though, I promise!)
XOXO, Jenny
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