After breakfast we began our adventure to Valle de Anton to explore a pineapple farm, a nature walk and experience a folklore dinner, we started out by crossing the Bridge of Las America. After the canal was instituted, The American continents became disconnected from one another. The bridge of Las Americas was used to connect them again while still allowing boats through the canal. Today was not our day to visit the canal, but the trip along the bridge allowed us an aerial view. The canal has a Panamax (weight allowed) of 8,000 containers. The ships are huge! We also learned that although the Panamax is 8,000 containers and that is double what it was before the canal was before it was expanded, there are ships in the world today that can carry up to 16,000 containers!
We obtained all of this information, while stuck in traffic, on the way to the pineapple farm. Some of my favorite memories on these trips come from random questions asked while on a bus!
After a short stint in traffic we made it to the pineapple farm. The farm is located about an hour and a half from our hotel. Kids were able to see how the pineapple is grown from the seed to the cup. We learned that there are certain requirements that a pineapple must meet in order to exported, including sugar content and weight. The green pineapples are sweeter and ready to be eaten and they turn yellow when old and rotting. We were able to taste more pineapple than we could have ever dreamed of eating, planted seeds that would take a year to grow, and picked pineapples that were ready to be eaten! The views from the pineapple farm also reminded us that we are not in Kansas anymore (see below). The kids also came up with a new tongue twister for everyone:
People purposefully poking people planting pineapples in Panama.
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After our ride on the safari truck we headed to have lunch. We stopped at a la Planeta Pizza! The kids were thrilled! It was brick oven Italian pizza, so it was extremely good!
Following lunch, we visited the Piedra Pintada or the painted rock. In the Valle de Anton there is a rock with petragraphs from hundreds of years ago. Students visited this rock and hiked through the rainforest as they stimulated their senses with sights and sounds! The rainforest waterfalls were a big hit!
We topped off the day's activities with a folklore lesson on the dance and music cultures of Panama. Many of my students were asked to dance and wear traditional clothing. They showed off awesome moves and great attitudes! I love that these kids are willing to try anything without hesitation! They are not afraid to look ridiculous, sound ridiculous or be ridiculous. This translates to: THEY ARE GETTING THE MOST OF THEIR EXPERIENCE AND LEARNING A TON!
After our folklore entertainment, students stopped by a market and made a couple of souvenir purchases while practicing Spanish with locals. Last, we began the 2 hour bus ride back to Panama City. The ride was full of chatter about the day, showing off our singing skills and making friends with students from the other school traveling with us from Atlanta. The group from Atlanta consists of 3 4th and 5th graders from a private school. These kids have an opportunity to travel with their school yearly and it begins in 3rd grade. They are little balls of energy that have some great stories to tell!
Funny Quotes from Today:
I've never actually seen a chicken cross the road until now.
Have you heard that song by VanHalen?
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the pineapple farm.
I love Bieber!
Thank you for reading. Stay tuned for more posts from Panama. Also feel free to share the blog link with anyone who you think may find it interesting!
Heather Potter - Student Travel Group Leader
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