Day 5!

We started off our day with a short pit stop at the beach. We played a little bit of beach volleyball and then we walked down the beach a little bit in hopes of finding a better spot to go into the ocean. Though, we quickly found that it was just as muddy as our spot before.

We also got to do a small beach cleanup. Ms. Monroe found some sunglasses that had barnacles already growing on them. Then, Gabe took us to meet a local clam fisherman named Juan. He told us about how this is his side job to keep him humble. He likes to go out to the Pacific on his days off to fish for clams. Raymond even got to help him dig for them.

Hilarious Highlight - Cece, Kaden, and Heidi still went into the muddy, ankle deep ocean. They ended up having to crawl as it was very hard to walk. They came back caked in mud and had to spend like 10 minutes spraying it off.

Then after our short detour to the beach, we went on a really fun nature hike. The trail was a very nice trail with a very lush rainforest surrounding it. While on the hike we saw a bunch of pretty flowers and really cool butterflies. This is a picture of one of the pretty flowers we saw. Overall, the hike was very relaxing and enjoyable.

After that, we had a good lunch. The options were either fried chicken or fish and they both tasted very good. Lunch was a good energy boost for the fun afternoon we were about to have.

We headed back to the hotel for about 30 minutes so that we could take showers and freshen up before going to the Panama Canal. Then we went to the canal for a fun experience to learn about the history of the canal and how it works today. We learned that they have recently (in 2016) opened up a set of new locks to fit bigger ships This has brought a lot more money into the Panama Canal as they are now able to accomodate for bigger boats, which cost more to use the canal.

Our tour guide at the Panama Canal, Ivan, did a really great job at teaching us about the Canal. He explained its history and how it was built, over 100 years ago. He then explained all the different jobs he’s done with the canal and how he has met some very famous people at his job, such as XI Jinping, The Panamanian President, and Dali Lama.

Then went and had a very nice dinner at a local spot. Once again, the options were chicken or fish and they both were very good. Then we drove to the mall and got some ice cream before heading back to the hotel. After, we played some games for family game night to top off the night.

Written by Cece! Until next time…..