Here is the first in a series of videos from my treeclimbing trip to Panama this past January.

I expect to post at least two more. There will be some good stuff to come, like climbing in the cloudforest and exploring coastal caves filled with vampire bats.

I hope you enjoy them and become encouraged to take the trip yourself. It is simply AWESOME there.

Click the link...PANAMA 2009 Part 1

Click the link...PANAMA 2009 Part 2

Click the link...PANAMA 2009 Part 3

Awesome stuff, Hu. You got some great shots of the insects and amphibians, and the view from Balboa is just as nice as ever. The best part of going to Boca del Drago in January, in my opinion, is leaving home in a snow storm and five hours later sipping a Cuba Libre in the 90-degree tropical village. Great climbing, great friends and a great adventure.

Outstanding video, David. The next best thing to actually being there!

Your camera work and commentary keeps getting better and better. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up making documentaries for a living!

I can't miss an opportunity to be commercially blatent:

Hu's video is brought to you by Panama Rainforest Tree Climbing Expedition 2010. This awesome adventure to the densely forested topical islands and mainland cloud forests of Bocas del Toro Province in the Republic of Panama will be held January 9 through January 24 (see full expedition announcement in this section of the message board).

Mark your calendars now for this wintertime adventure that includes hot latin nights and warm tropical waters, without the distractions of things like television and electricity and constantly ringing cell phones. There's no better place on earth to escape the wintertime blahs.

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you all enjoy it.

Part two is now online, just click the link in the original post.

Part three will be up soon two. It will have some of my favorite moments from the trip.

Great stuff David. I'm learning alot!

Amazing videos Hunabku!!!!!

I love the out takes for the nature finds.....I really have a feel for the place....

Looking forward to Part III

Amazing videos Hunabku!!!!!

I love the out takes for the nature finds.....I really have a feel for the place....

Looking forward to Part III

Alright folks, thanks to some recent motivation I have finally completed the 2009 Panama video series.

Just go back to the original post and click the link for video three.

In this final part of the series you are going to see a Family from upstate New York including a 14 year old girl who was one of the best first time climbers I have ever seen.

From there I move on to one of the other things that make Bocas so unique, Caves! we explore some coastal caves that are totally off the map. Most of them had no footprints in them when we entered them.

It was a real thrill and test of nerve for me to have bats flying all around me. I'm still sleeping at night at walking around in daylight, so I don't think I got bit.

Ultimately my goal for these videos is to encourage the people to visit Panama with TCC. It is an indescribably cool place.

Enjoy the videos!!!

Dig it bro!

Well done, Hu!

I wish we had the time, space and editing know-how to use a lot of this video (and the stuff from previous expeditions) for a full-fledged pro job that could take everybody from the flight into Panama and through the coastal rainforest, the highlands cloud forest, the return to downtown Panama City and the canal, and finally the (sad?) flight home.

Maybe someday...!

I wasnt sure if i should watch the videos, becuase i didnt want to spoil any surprises for my trip!

... But i watched all three anyway. Some of the wildlife shots are really great, and the narration was really informative and interesting! You should take david attenborough's place (although im sure he still has a good 50 years in him ) Overall, very enjoyable viewing. Im glad that there wasnt too much footage, plenty left which can still surprise me!

How big was the tallest tree you climbed? And what was your favourite activitiy during the whole time you were there?

Marty,

I don't think my videos will ruin anything for you at all. Panama is full of surprises.

Those three videos added up to about thirty minutes. I think I came back with about ten hours of film so there is way more interesting things to see than I could ever fit into those films.

It would be very difficult for me to pick out a favorite thing that I've done there on the past two trips. There is so much cool stuff to do there. I never even touched on all the great snorkeling right of the beach at the research station.

We climbed a LOT of awesome trees. The tallest weren't the biggest, and the biggest weren't the tallest if you know what I mean. Joe has told me about a new tree name "Awesome" He says that is is taller than any tree I've been to.

Height wise I think 180' was as high as I went. Many of the trees are so big around you just can't get them on film. The tallest ones are often thinner.

Thing is, there is so much stuff growing all over some of these trees that you could spend all day just looking at all of the epiphytes. In other words, its not all just about the tree!

I would definitely not miss the chance to go across the isthmus and visit Boquete. Some of the coolest trees are near there. And the town itself is very happening!!!