Panamania

April 2 nd   This morning Yarineth, Rodrigo, his two sons, and I hiked up to Cerro Corral.  Cerro Corral is a set of beautiful mountain peaks that overlook Piedras Gordas and the surrounding towns.  The vegetation along the ridgeline is entirely different from the tropical plants in town.  There are lots of pine trees (due to past reforestation projects), rocks covered in lichens, and native shrubs that wouldn’t seem out of place along the Appalachian Trail.  I kept feeling like I was back hiking in Maine…until I looked out of the countryside.

April 1 st Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows no victory or defeat. –Theodore Roosevelt