We left our Bocas del Tora Jungle House at 9 am and boarded a water taxi back to Almirante where we recovered the rented car and headed south. Our flight “home” was at 6 pm from David. Even though we had spent 5 of the last 6 days together, we still had plenty of good conversation on the four-hour drive from Almirante. Gary’s home is England; he is accustomed to driving on the left side of the road. Even so, he had the rental car contract and did all the driving . . . on the right side. It was sometimes rough. We’d be sailing along then we’d unexpectedly encounter a section of road spotted with potholes. Always alert, Gary got us through with only occasional bumps bouncing us up to the car’s roof.
Despite the surprise bumps, the drive was very scenic with cloud shrouded hills, broad green valleys and pastures of cows or goats. As we were driving along, Gary suddenly brought the car to a halt. A pale brown glob was in the road. What we thought might be debris was in fact a sloth slowly, I mean slowly dragging himself across the road. A sloth! Jill and I got out of the car to take a look and take pictures. The creature appeared to have a nasty vine wrapped around one leg. I don’t know what gave me the courage but Jill and I knew one of us should free him. I reached down to untangle the mess. The sloth seemed to have no awareness that I touched him; he just kept dragging himself, one foot in front of the other. His eyes seemed to see nothing but the land on the other side of the road. The sloth was not entangled at all. He simply had picked up the rotted vine as he crept through the littered jungle floor. Dang! I touched a sloth. Like helping a box turtle cross a road, we watched for traffic in case we needed to stop cars so that he could safely reach the other side of the road. A sloth! We really could not believe our eyes.
We made it to the town of David with time for one last meal together before our flight. Jill and Gary leave Panama on Friday; they will spend night with us in Panama City before their flight the next morning. Stan asked me to cook a Southern dinner for them. Of course I will. How about a pot of beans with kielbasa, boiled cabbage, crispy okra and cornbread—oh and a thin slice of red onion. sliced tomato and spicy green peppers? I do hope they like it. Regardless, I know Stan and I will happily dig in.
The sloth is one of my favorite animals. I wish I had experienced that wonderful moment!
Betty, it was an absolutely unreal experience for us! We could not believe it. I actually touched it trying to remove what we though might be an entanglement.
Wow, are they really slow?? Those nails could use a manicure!
Mary, a sloth is truly that slow! It merely crept across the road. We were afraid a car might hit it. Yeah, and those claws, wow! But that’s what they use to hang in the trees. Although they do move during the day, most of their activity takes place at night to eat, mate or find a new home. Miss you, girl!