Day 5
Door: Robin Schuijlenburg
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Robin
23 April 2015 | Panama, Panama-stad
Today was our first real working day. At 7.45 am we got in the car, and Anna brought us to Gamboa. Over there we met Rigoberto, and, after waiting half an hour since he wasn't done eating yet, we made our way to the container with the frogs.
Oh, I probably forgot to mention two days ago that the whole reason for the amphibian research is because there's a deadly fungus named Chytrid, which has already spread from Mexico to Panama and is now making its way down to South America, threatening already endangered species of frogs.
Anyhow, Rogi explained us some things, and gave us our first assignments. Brendan had to clean the frog tanks by spraying them from the inside, and I had to feed the tadpoles (the food is on plastic slides, and I had to put them in the tanks). After we were done, Brendan had the measure the properties of the tadpole water (pH level, conductivity, nitrate level, etc) and I had to prepare food for the tadpoles for the next day (I had to mix some algae powder with water and put it on the plastic slides).
Afterwards we had lunch, and one and a half hours later (Panamanians love their breaks apparently) we had to clean some more frog tanks. When we were done doing that, we had to prepare little buckets for the fruit flies to live in (the fruit flies are used as food for the fogs).
When it was 2.45 pm, we had to leave, since the bus only drives every two hours and the 5 pm bus can be more than 2 hours too late because of traffic jams.
The busride itself was a whole new experience for us. Unlike the Netherlands, in Panama there are no organized bus organizations like U-OV or Connexxion (well, except for Metrobus, but they only drive in the city). Instead, busdrivers buy or rent their own busses (because of that most busses are really old, half broken school busses), plan out a route they think makes them the most money, and just drive that route, hoping to get many passengers. Another difference with the Netherlands is the price: our ride (20 km) only costed us $0.65 per person.
After a half an hour ride with lots of Spanish music in the background, we arrived at our bus stop, and we walked back to our house. There, we watched some movies, and went to bed early, after having dinner of course.
Oh, I probably forgot to mention two days ago that the whole reason for the amphibian research is because there's a deadly fungus named Chytrid, which has already spread from Mexico to Panama and is now making its way down to South America, threatening already endangered species of frogs.
Anyhow, Rogi explained us some things, and gave us our first assignments. Brendan had to clean the frog tanks by spraying them from the inside, and I had to feed the tadpoles (the food is on plastic slides, and I had to put them in the tanks). After we were done, Brendan had the measure the properties of the tadpole water (pH level, conductivity, nitrate level, etc) and I had to prepare food for the tadpoles for the next day (I had to mix some algae powder with water and put it on the plastic slides).
Afterwards we had lunch, and one and a half hours later (Panamanians love their breaks apparently) we had to clean some more frog tanks. When we were done doing that, we had to prepare little buckets for the fruit flies to live in (the fruit flies are used as food for the fogs).
When it was 2.45 pm, we had to leave, since the bus only drives every two hours and the 5 pm bus can be more than 2 hours too late because of traffic jams.
The busride itself was a whole new experience for us. Unlike the Netherlands, in Panama there are no organized bus organizations like U-OV or Connexxion (well, except for Metrobus, but they only drive in the city). Instead, busdrivers buy or rent their own busses (because of that most busses are really old, half broken school busses), plan out a route they think makes them the most money, and just drive that route, hoping to get many passengers. Another difference with the Netherlands is the price: our ride (20 km) only costed us $0.65 per person.
After a half an hour ride with lots of Spanish music in the background, we arrived at our bus stop, and we walked back to our house. There, we watched some movies, and went to bed early, after having dinner of course.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
