Day 9 – COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECT (CAP) DAY 2

Hello all!

This is Erik and Gordon writing. Today was CAP (Community Action Plan) Day Two, where we continued the meaningful work that we started yesterday. We got up bright and early yet again at 5:30. We started the day off with a delicious traditional Panamanian breakfast! After breakfast, we started the hour-and-a-half bus ride to Playa Venao. Although we boarded the bus on time, we soon encountered a delay. Shortly after leaving Las Tablas, we got stuck behind a herd of cows. After following them for several miles, we were able to pass and continue to Playa Venao

Once we arrived, we led the group with some physical and mental warmups, preparing them for the strenuous day ahead. Then we split into our groups and picked up where we left off yesterday. The Butterfly Garden group began their short hike up to the garden and began planting. They continued to learn about permaculture and native plants. They saw a variety of wildlife including monkeys, iguanas, and capybaras. The Turtle Nursery Group began lifting logs and moving rocks to continue upgrading the Tide Barricade. Since it was the second CAP Day, everyone seemed to have found their flow and built on the progress from day one. Although we had different tasks, each group demonstrated persistent and valiant work efforts. The nest cover group was especially productive. In one hour, they repaired and washed as many covers as they did all of day one. After all our work in the morning, we went to get lunch at Oleaje de Sabores. We had a delicious meal of rice, beans, mac and cheese, and teriyaki chicken. After lunch, we returned for another hour of work. We continued our progress from the morning and cleaned up. Then we boarded the bus to return home. We started the ride listening and singing along to music but within 30 minutes almost everyone had fallen asleep. Once we returned to Las Tablas, we could see all the signs of the Santa Librada celebrations. There were people on horses lining the streets and a constant stream of fireworks. After some downtime, we had chicken and vegetable Chow Mein for dinner. Following dinner, we had our nightly meeting and passed the leadership torch on!

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