Is It Just Me, or Do Sloths Look Like They're Doing Tai Chi?

In case you didn't know, I keep a very important list. It is entitled "Cool Animals I Want to See in the Wild." This list has dictated entire travel itineraries. It has taken me to some rather out of the way places. And sometimes, when I get to move something from the want-to-see list to the have-seen list, it makes me dissolve into a giddy five year-old. Yup, I'm a nerd for animals. (And animal facts: The world's longest flight of a chicken was 13 seconds.)

So today was a very exciting day, because I got to move a bunch of creatures off the list. I went with a company called Ancon Expeditions on their Panama Canal Rainforest Boat Adventure. In other words, I went about 40 minutes outside the city and got on a boat to look for wildlife. Awesome, awesome wildlife. Of course, I also discovered today how hard it is to take a good picture from a boat with the telephoto zoomed out all the way. Still, here are some of the highlights:

The Rufescent Tiger Heron

The Ringed Kingfisher
Panama is home to 972 species of birds, so there were a ton of them.

Osprey, eating unidentifiable meat

Capuchin Monkey
This was taken after he jumped on our boat to get that fruit. Yes, once again, I came within two feet of a monkey.

I think this is a Striated Heron, but I'm honestly not sure.

Iguana

Howler Monkey, with attached baby howler

Three-toed Sloth!

Disheveled after one of those sudden downpours that happen here all the time. We all got soaked.









So all in all a pretty great trip. I really wish I had more time to just be outside here. For one, because I'm still enjoying the fact that it's warm in February, but also because I'm dying to make a sub-list: "Cool Animals I Want to See in Panama." And I'm not leaving until I've seen everything :-).