Up the mountain again!

In Panama we only have two seasons - dry and wet. They call the wet season the winter and the dry season the summer, even though the dry season is January through March, when the days are shorter here.  We are so close to the equator (8 degrees) that we only lose a half hour of daylight, so you hardly notice the difference.

Since it’s summer here, the schools are out and the kids are on vacation for a couple of months.  Normally in vacation time the kids are over at our house all the time asking if we can take them to the swimming hole or to the mountain.  The mountain, the Alto del Higo, is the highest spot in our province at 3200 ft.  

Parents in town almost never take their kids up the mountain.  Many of the parents were prohibited as kids from going up there, so they don’t feel comfortable taking their kids up. There used to be jaguars up there, and you still see snakes from time to time. Plus, family excursions are not really part of Panamanian culture.  The kids usually find ways of amusing themselves on their own.

Given the pent-up demand for a trip up the mountain (I had been in the US for almost two months), I only had to mention to several of the local kids that I was going up on Tuesday, and they showed up in droves.  I told everyone to be at my house at 9 am.  Everyone knows that people here show up “Panamanian time”, which means late.  After two years here, we are still trying to figure out how late “Panamanian time” is.  Some events start two hours late, some a half hour late, and some start on time.  Heather and I always seem to misjudge it.

Imagine my surprise when kids started showing up at 8:30 am for the trip.  They were all there by 8:50, ready to go.  We set off, picking up a few more kids on the way.  There were 16 of us in the group, ranging in age from 10 to 23.

Kids here love to run.  It doesn’t matter if we are going up the mountain or down, they will run.  I let one group go ahead, and I went with the group that was just walking fast.  I told them that no one could climb the tower until I got there, and they did obey that rule.

Of course we had to stop at the “Tarzan vine” along the way.  Many of the kids were too short to reach it and needed a boost from their friends.

We finally made it to the top and the kids clambered up the antenna tower, which is 100 ft high.  Six of the fifteen kids made it to the top of the tower; the others stopped at various points along the way.  They all had a good time.

Zuleika and Daysi enjoy the view from the top

Michelle made it to the top for the first time.  She has been up the mountain four times with me.

Melissa and Jonathan make their way to the top.  They are from Panama City, visiting their Chepo cousins.

Kids never tire of posing for the camera!

Before going down, the kids all took a “say hi to Heather” picture, which I sent to her later.

You would think that after running down the mountain, everyone would be tired enough to just want to relax in the hammock for the afternoon.  You would be wrong.  First they headed to the Bailey house for some wet porch sliding.  

Still full of energy!

I finally sent them home at lunchtime, but not before they had extracted a promise from me to take them to the river in the afternoon.  I didn’t take much convincing - it was a nice way to cool off.

Jorge jumps from the rocks

Johannys makes a heart with her hands while the others ham it up for the camera.

That's it for now!