• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – way2blue – Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama

On The Road – way2blue – Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama

by WaterGirl|  April 22, 20215:00 am| 16 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

FacebookTweetEmail

On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

way2blue

During our stay on Isla Bastimentos, we took a boat trip up a sluggish river/slough to visit a large cave, home to nectar bats. As our guide paddled up the brackish slough, he pointed out various animal life. The cave was about a mile hike up a muddy trail from where we beached the boat. Once in the cave, we ventured through branching tunnels with headlamps. Wading through cold, thigh-high water, trying not to worry about what might be lurking around our ankles.
[All the following photos were taken on 18 February 2013.]

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama 7
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

Heading up the river through lush vegetation with our guide paddling from the bow.

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama 6
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

Sloth sighting. I also have blurry photos of giant spiders and other scary insects.

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama 5
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

This one’s for Albatrossity, exemplifyling why I shouldn’t try to photograph birds…

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama 4
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

Slightly better shot of a different bird. Is this a raptor of some sort with its compact body & curved beak?

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama 3
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

Took a blurred shot of this one flying in—fortunately s/he’s posing for me here.

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama 2
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

Ants doing ant things using a downed log as an expressway.

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama 1
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

Another tiny red frog along the trail.

On The Road - way2blue - Nivida Bat Cave, Isla Bastimentos, Panama
ISLA BASTIMENTOS

Headed back out, between banks lined with gigantic ferns.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Late Night Easy Targets Open Thread
Next Post: COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Wednesday / Thursday, April 21-22 »

Reader Interactions

16Comments

  1. 1.

    Mary G

    April 22, 2021 at 5:37 am

    So green and lush, and thank you for the cute little frog and (leaf cutter?) ants and not the giant terrifying insects.

  2. 2.

    wvng

    April 22, 2021 at 6:07 am

    Thanks for the trip, and your self deprecating humor.

  3. 3.

    Laura Too

    April 22, 2021 at 7:15 am

    Please, please, please tell me this is part 1 of? I have got to see the giant bats or the cave! The description of the inside is stuff of nightmares for me but I don’t mind living vicariously through you. I love your writing, thank you for sharing.

  4. 4.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    April 22, 2021 at 7:15 am

    Very interesting. I like Panama and birding in the tropics, but I don’t think I would have agreed to do the wet cave thing. The bird in the 3rd pic appears to be a Montezima’s Oropendula. The raptor I can’t tell much about, The heron is an Immature little-blue heron.

    Thanks for sharing and writing about this adventure!

  5. 5.

    Albatrossity

    April 22, 2021 at 7:50 am

    @Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): Yeah, the raptor is a tough call without the ability to embiggen the pictures here. Given the habitat I think Snail Kite would be a decent guess.

  6. 6.

    JanieM

    April 22, 2021 at 10:07 am

    Interesting place and critters!  The notion of walking through hip-deep water in a cave….better experience vicariously! This looks like the intro to a spooky movie… a.k.a. what @Laura Too  said.

  7. 7.

    BigJimSlade

    April 22, 2021 at 11:48 am

    @Albatrossity:  You can see the images bigger – or at least how they were uploaded: (right-click if you’re using a mouse and) open the image in a new window, then get rid of the dash and dimensions before the .jpg
    https://balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/4-18-FEB-2013.jpeg
    vs
    https://balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/4-18-FEB-2013-768×576.jpeg

  8. 8.

    way2blue

    April 22, 2021 at 12:32 pm

    @Laura Too: No.  Alas.  We weren’t set up to photograph inside the cave.  Too focused on not stumbling over the rocky bottom.  Sorry to tease…  (We visited the cave with friends from New Mexico who have beautiful singing voices, and treated us to lovely harmonies on the way out.)

  9. 9.

    way2blue

    April 22, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    @Albatrossity: The ability to zoom is rather limited with my little field Lumix (waterproof with sluggish GPS).  Alas.  Birds need to be close by & posing…

  10. 10.

    eclare

    April 22, 2021 at 1:25 pm

    Beautiful photos! So lush.

  11. 11.

    eachother

    April 22, 2021 at 1:38 pm

    Walking along in 100 degree desert heat, we came upon an underground river inside an easy access cave opening. Young and sure, two of us got in.
    It instantly felt like something was attacking me. Turns out the water was so cold it registered like an attack ahead of the realization I had to get out as fast as I could.

  12. 12.

    Albatrossity

    April 22, 2021 at 3:12 pm

    @BigJimSlade: Thanks! What a great tip!

    Looking at the full-sized pic, you can see the white terminal band on the tail, which is consistent with an ID of Snail Kite. And the long hook on the bill is also consistent.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    April 22, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    @Albatrossity: You can also open the photo in a new tab and then use the ctrl+ to make the page bigger.

  14. 14.

    Albatrossity

    April 22, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, but the photo in that new tab is still the low-res downsized one. If you use the other method you get the image in the size it was uploaded (1920×1440 pixels, in this case). A larger image is always better for looking at details needed to ID a bird!

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    April 22, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    @Albatrossity: That makes sense.

  16. 16.

    way2blue

    April 22, 2021 at 5:45 pm

    @Albatrossity: Thanks for the Snail Kite ID!  Although I’d be surprised if they find Apple Snails in this remote locations.

    “The male and female Snail Kite are quite different in plumage coloration. The males are a beautiful slate gray color with a white rump patch, similar to the rump patch seen on Northern Harriers. Females are dark brown above and streaked brown below, and they also have a white rump patch as well as white beneath their throats. Both the male and female have red eyes.

    In Panama, these birds even changed their behavior when a new food source was found. Historically, the Snail Kite didn’t nest in Panama, but rather migrated through the area at certain times of the year. Now kites are nesting and living year-round in Panama due to construction of the Panama Canal, creation of the associated Gatun Lake, and the introduction of Apple Snails, the Snail Kite’s main prey.”

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Winter Wren - North of Quebec City (part 2 of 3) - Cap Tourmente and on the way to Tadoussac 2
Image by Winter Wren (5/13/25)

Recent Comments

  • Adam L Silverman on War for Ukraine Day 1,174: More Drone Swarms in the Small Hours of the Night (May 13, 2025 @ 9:54pm)
  • Jay on War for Ukraine Day 1,174: More Drone Swarms in the Small Hours of the Night (May 13, 2025 @ 9:53pm)
  • catclub on Tuesday Evening Open Thread (May 13, 2025 @ 9:48pm)
  • Eunicecycle on All-Ohio Meetup on Saturday May 17 at 1 pm (May 13, 2025 @ 9:42pm)
  • The Audacity of Krope on Tuesday Evening Open Thread (May 13, 2025 @ 9:40pm)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!