The highlands of central Panama are covered in a luxuriant mat of jungle green. The forests near the mountain town of Boquete are exceptionally beautiful and have the giant tropical oaks as their dominant emergents. A week age I was there with students and staff from the field station and once again was privileged to climb here.



The weather is dominated by cloudy, rainy afternoons and almost every day, at almost exactly two in the afternoon, the rains will begin just after the clouds move in.



The forest where I climb has been named the Philosopher´s Grove, by one of our former students, and the dominant trees have all received the names of Greek philosophers. Above, Clarence Fouche and I are shown looking about to decide which tree we will climb. We finally settle on Aristotle, a tree that has not yet been climbed. Ari has a monstrous trunk and, as we discover on our climb, is well over a hundred and fifty feet high.



Clarence was second up, after my lead, and is shown here dangling at about one hundred and twenty feet. As you can see, the tree is covfered in all manner of epiphytic growth. On one limb I saw more than ten different species of orchids.



At one hundred and forty feet I pose for Clarence. We won´t be here much longer because the clouds are starting to roll in and the rains will soon be upon us.



From Ari´s top we can see a distant waterfall on a nearby mountainside that we were unaware of until seeing it from the tree. The climb was quite awesome and hopefully I can be back there in another couple of weeks.

That pic of Clarence is a classic - a true biologist in his element. I'm assuming that Clarence's DRT was a pitch after entering on the Yo-yo?

I must admit I am slightly jealous. Well, hopefully Clarence don't drop nuthin' on yer head.

Joe -it looks like a special place. The pictures did a great job of bringing me into your climb. Do all the orchids have flowers? Every tree climbing area is its own special place, but your pictures make me envious. Have a great time in Panama.

I have got a lot of video from that area, if I could just find the time...

The philosophers grove is by far the most awesome climbing area I have ever been too. I am very much looking forward to a return trip! I equate the trees there to tropical coral reefs in the sky. The biodiversity in those trees is beyond belief. I simply could not get over all of the different epiphytes. There were various orchids, bromiliads, forms of mistletoe, mosses, lichens, vines, and even cactus growing up in these trees.

Joe, I'm glad to see that you are doing well and thanks for taking the time to post the fantastic report!

The orchids in that one photo are shocking red. I'd love to sit there with my camera, and a few lenses and work up a study for a week or four...I hate being poor!

So what's the word on future years guys? Ever gonna happen again?

I´m having a rare night in town this evening so this will be short! My rum´n´coke is waiting for me at The Pirate and I foresee a shrimp dinner in my very near future.

I will be going back to the Philosopher´s Grove in another couple of weeks and we will be trying out another tree and hopefully I can send out some more photos.

On the orchids...there are some in bloom almost all the time. They come, they go, but they are always there.

For those coming to Panama this January.... Boquete and this grove of trees are definitely on the agenda.

I spent yesterday climbing "Forbidden", which is no longer forbidden! David Zimmerman and I took it all the way to the top, right where Hunabku and I went in January. Forbidden is awesome.....! I will be taking two of our students up to the top on Monday.