This trip has a little bit of history, cuisine, nature, language, culture, and more. It also has opportunities for students to take risks that might be a bit beyond their comfort zone. For quite a few students, snorkeling was this opportunity! Students were able to travel to both oceans on this trip. Panama is unique. Not all countries allow you to take a few hours drive and travel coast to coast. We did it! We traveled to Portobelo (an old Spanish port town - 1500's) on the Caribbean Coast. Students were fitted for masks, flippers, and a snorkel. We then filled three boats and ventured to one of the largest reefs in Central America. There were clouds on all sides, but the weather blessed our area with nothing but sun and amazing underwater views. We had a lesson on how-to snorkel/water safety, and then the kids were let loose! Students saw several different types of fish and coral! There are much better pictures of fish...but I am waiting on a couple students to send me these images. For now, enjoy my video and images of the coral!
After snorkeling for about an hour and a half, we had an opportunity to visit a private island. Students cracked coconuts, raced hermit crabs, built sand castles, discovered jellyfish and how to cure the stings, and just relaxed at the beach. It was a beautiful day and everyone had a blast!
Meet Turbo... the final champion of the Hermit Crab Challenge. When Turbo was part of the race, there was little challenge from others. Congratulations to Mark Davis and Wesley Combs for taking top places in the races!
These were the castles that competed in the castle competition. You have:
#1 - Swirly Shell #2 House of Hermits and #3 - Fortress.
After our snorkeling and private island adventure, we returned to the snorkeling center for a dip in the freshwater pool and a Panamanian lunch!
Wesley found a new friend! Check out his shoulder!
After snorkeling and lunch we drove into the old Spanish town of Portobelo. Our first stop was the Iglesia de San Felipe. This church was built in 1814 and is a Roman Catholic Church. The church is home to the Black Christ. You can see Him in the images below. The Black Christ was found in the Harbor of Portobelo. It is said that he was depicted with dark skin to make the religion more appealing to the people who lived in Panama upon the Spaniards arrival. Every year on October 21st there is a festival held in Portobelo to honor the Black Christ. People come from all over Panama in pilgrimage.
In Portobelo students also learned some interesting things about Spanish architecture. This building is built more sound than others because coral is used in the building process.
You can see this in the images below.
Our last stop in Portobelo was the Spanish fortress. Columbus, Henry Morgan, Francis Drake and more all have history in this "beautiful port". Students learned how location of both land and water can determine the effectiveness of an area. They also learned that money and discovery can drive so many decisions.
After exploring the fort, we returned to the hotel for a very pleasant surprise. The hotel had made an error on one of the evening meals (wrong dinner plan) and they made our students a sundae bar to make up for the error. To be honest, I don't even think the students knew that the error was made, but they sure enjoyed the ice cream. I also enjoyed all the meals we had. I appreciate the hotel going out of their way to make things right, even though all of the food was delicious. Hotels and tour companies are amazing entities to work with and they want to make sure all experiences are great ones!
After a quick pep talk and reflection on the day, we all got dressed up and headed to our final dinner! Don't they all look dapper?!
We ate at a beautiful Italian restaurant with delicious food. If you are wondering why we ate Italian food, Panama is the melting pot of Central America. Due to discovery, travel and trade, amongst other reasons, Panama is very culturally diverse. We were able to experience this through visiting different parts of the country, meeting people from various regions, and tasting cuisine from said cultures.
When we returned from dinner the pool was closed, but we ended the evening with friends, new and old, by playing Head's Up 7-Up and 4 Corners. Leaving tomorrow will be hard...lasting friendships have been formed and a lot of fun had.
Happy evening!
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