Life In Bocas del Toro, Panama

Waiting for the water taxi to Isla Colon with expressions that reflect 3 solid days of travel…	The water taxi looks safe and normal, right? Looks are deceiving. The town of Almirante is in the background.
The approach to the town of Bocas. It has a lovely, colorful water front. The water is clear and you can see lots of starfish and other fish. Restaurants and hotels are built out over the water.	The view from our kitchen window. The houses are on stilts because the sea water comes up with the tide. There’s a mangrove forest in the background.
Our house: we live in the upstairs part. The neighborhood salsa beats start at about 7 a.m. and end at about 9 p.m. The neighborhood kids (including Ray and Clara) play baseball daily in a small clearing just to the left of the house. They use a rag ball and stick and always seem to get along and have a good time.	It turns out that the inside of our house is quite photogenic. The living room is to the left and the kitchen is behind the low wood wall. We are waiting for permission to repaint the kitchen white.
Homeschooling in the kitchen. We are almost finished with Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” and are about to start reading, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. Favorite lessons are Spanish (we make it almost all games) and science. They have really, really enjoyed researching reef ecology and then going to see what they researched when they snorkel or go to Smithsonian’s touch tank. And, yes, Chuck …. math is covered daily and with enthusiasm. (HA, HA!)	A refreshing coconut is only a steep climb above. The green coconuts are harvested as soon as they have enough water inside.
Ray, Clara, Owen and Evan at the beach near Big Creek. By bike it is a 20 minute ride to this beach which is generally calm and warm.	We went on a sailing catamaran to look for dolphins and to snorkel at two different reefs. The shallow reef was colorful with many species of coral, sponges, starfish and urchins. The deeper reef had enormous brain coral and large fish such as parrotfish, angle fish and red snapper.
The water was tranquil and the distances sailed were great enough to provide time to relax and enjoy the beauty and ambiance of the sea.	There were dolphins in Dolphin Bay. We spotted two pairs at different locations within the Bay. The dolphins moved with the pace and rhythm that permeates the region.
John found two Four Eyed Gray Opossums abandoned at the Research Station. We’ve been raising them and plan to release them into the wild before we leave in March. The opossums are cuter then the picture depicts. They are doing very well on the formula that Karen concocted and they seem to be growing.	Plinio, the Deputy Scientific Coordinator of the Research Station, and I spent a day monitoring water quality in the area. The Research Station participates in a Caribbean wide initiative to track changes in water chemistry, temperature, salinity and turbidity. Plinio explained how clearing even modest areas of land results in sufficient siltation to kill the more sensitive corals.