Botanicals

Stan and I have toured many botanical garden parks in our travels.  It’s one of our favorite outings in each location.  We have been in Panama nearly three months so far and we just this week  found Parque Municipal Summit.  It’s a 30-minute ride out of town and sits on the edge of Soberania National Park.   We think it’s been closed due to Covid and may have just recently reopened.  On our long, 45-minute walk this week from trailhead to the bus stop, we passed it and noticed that it is now open.

It is interesting that although dry season has been in effect only about two weeks, the grounds showed evidence of dryness. Plantings of philodendrons and other tender plans were beginning to look thirsty.   Fields of grass were still green and did not look parched – but they probably will soon. There were no familiar puddles on the paths.  I think we managed to visit the gardens at just the right time.  The gardens are laid out in paved trails through groves of gigantic tropical palms and bamboo.   There were trees of many varieties and lots of plants still in bloom.  Plantings were well tended and many species where labeled with names and origin.  Like so many things in Panama, the park was initially created in the 20’s during construction of the Panama Canal.  It was formed as an Experimental Farm Summit where scientists studied and conducted tests to see if plants from other parts of the world could live here.  According to Wiki, “It was through this experimental farm that teak was introduced to the American continent.”  

The park sits on 600 acres and in addition to the gardens, it hosts a zoo that houses a variety of animals, most of which are native to Panama.  We saw a jaguar, a puma, and a tapir that was as big as a boar hog.  There were several types of monkeys. Monkeys are so fascinating!  I could watch them for hours as the climb, investigate and interact with each other.  As we stood watching, the cage of monkeys became rattled and upset.  They shrieked and jumped; some ran from side to side.  A squirrel had sneaked into their caged habitat.   I’m sure that if the squirrel had been able, he would have put his hands on his ears.  They made quite a racket.  Those monkeys did not like having their space invaded one bit!  They ran that guy off in short order.  Squirrel, note to self:  that was a definite no-no!!!

Summit Park’s collection of tropical birds was fantastic.  Finally we got to see a family of Toucans.  We’ve had no luck in finding one or hearing one in the wild during all of our hikes.  It is the elder birds that have very colorful beaks; the young ones’ beaks are pastel.  They do not screech like many other tropical birds.  They grunt and sound a little like frogs.  We watched them eat.   They pick up a berry or a piece of fruit, toss it up and catch it – which makes sense.  How else could they get a bite of something with their beautiful but undeniably cumbersome beak?

The highlight of the day was seeing a mature Harpy Eagle.  It’s Panama’s national bird.  These are not small birds.  About the size of a turkey, a mature eagle’s wingspan is wider than Stan’s out stretched arms.  They have a ruffled cape just around its neck that can be flared our like a lace collar. Now that we know exactly what these birds look like, it confirms our suspicion that the three big birds we saw milling about in the shade under a tree a couple of months ago were in fact Harpy Eagles.

Naturally, but of course, we met an English-speaking couple while we were there.  Sandie is from Seattle originally but has lived here fulltime for 14 years.  She has an apartment in the city not far from us and another on the beach.  Jim has lived here in the past and returns every year still but also has a home in Canada where he stays every summer operating his campground for tourists.  We told him we’d see him there next summer as we make our trip through his country!  It’s always nice to meet a local.  They gave us tips on good restaurants and other things we might do.  They also gave us a ride home!  We exchanged numbers and promised to gather for drinks or dinner before we leave here on February 28.

The park was a treat.  It was nice to be out and about on a Saturday afternoon with no special mission.  We took our own sandwiches for lunch but calorie-splurged on creamy ice cream treats in passion fruit flavor as we strolled around the paths.  The day was completely civilized.

One more note.  After church today we stopped at an outdoor market, Plaza Verde.  It’s on the walk from the bus to our apartment.  We are really getting into this tropical fruit thing.  We love the pineapple, mango and papaya but today we bought naranja (oranges) 6 for $1, a maracuya (passion fruit) for $.27, a banana for $.10 and lemones (to us they are limes . . . there are no yellow lemons here, only limones) for 6 for $1.  If purchased in a grocery store, the price would be 5 times as much and not nearly as delicious. 

Quite array of tropical fruit is grown locally:   bananas, mangoes, papaya, pineapple, passion fruit, melons, plantains, avocados, guava, and guanaba (we have not tried one of these yet but I ‘m not leaving here until we do.)   With the recent arrival of summer here, we’ll now have the very best selection of wonderful fruit.  Of all their fruits only bananas and pineapple are grown for exports.  I was surprised to learn that shrimp and fancy coffee are important exports for Panama as well. 

I’ve read that Panamanians are not big fruit eaters, but I can vouch that they are huge drinkers of fruit juice.  A piece of fresh fruit is rarely seen on plates even as a garnish, but meals often include for no extra cost a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, pineapple or watermelon juice or the juice of the maracuya fruit. 

In addition, push carts are positioned all over town offering fruit juice in Igloo coolers.   And everybody buys some.  Cars merely pull along the curb and exchange coins for a cup of cold, just pressed or squeezed juice and then merge back into traffic and go on their way.

Another anomaly is the fruit trucks that drive the neighborhoods each morning.  These vendadores ambulantes are easily recognized in that they use a loudspeaker to announce their arrival and promote their stock for the day.  Although I’ve never been on the street early enough to flag one down, I am told that neighborhoods know  when to expect the trucks and as they hear the loudspeakers, people run out of their homes with change in hand to buy their fresh produce for the day.  Every morning Stan and I hear a truck go by our  apartment building.  The noisy announcements remind me of the days long ago when political candidates drove through town in cars with mounted loud speakers blasting out their political promises to potential voters.  When we hear the truck go by our building each day, Stan always says to me, there goes your boyfriend.

At breakfast I sliced one of the oranges we bought yesterday.  I lined the plate with soft boiled eggs, slices of orange, papaya and pineapple and a slice of bacon.  My plate had a slice of avocado too.  I should have taken a photo.  It was so colorful.  Boy, were we surprised when we tried to eat the orange slices.  They were bright orange, had only a few seeds and just burst with flavorful sweet juice.  Those were some tough little babies though. The section membranes were like thin leather.  No wonder everyone drinks orange juice!

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