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Day 25 - February 23

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Monday, we picked up Scarlett for a girls' day (plus Kiefer… who was actually very invested in this plan) and headed into the city for a chocolate-making class. We weren’t even sure we had the right place because the door was locked, and we just stood there awkwardly like tourists who had already messed up. Thankfully, someone quickly opened it and let us in — and immediately the smell hit. The kind of smell that makes you want to eat chocolate even if you just ate. The display chocolates also looked both delicious and expensive, which felt very on brand. Scarlett was our official translator and tour guide for the day. She was very excited to escape the littles… but admitted she didn’t actually know where anything was anymore 😂 Still — excellent translator, questionable GPS. Kiefer, however, was thrilled. He now refers to Scarlett as his new best friend, and the two of them were basically inseparable the entire day. The class itself was actually really interesting. They walke...
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Day 22 - February 21

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We arrived at the coffee plantation around 10:30 Saturday morning, and the first thing that hit me wasn’t the view… …it was the air. Not warm. Not humid. Soup.  We were breathing soup. Apparently, higher elevations in Panama get more rain, and WOW, you feel it immediately. I also had this mental image of a nice, flat little farm you stroll through, holding a coffee cup, looking sophisticated. Instead, it was a mountain. Everything was incredibly hilly with this reddish-orange clay soil that was basically a slip-n-slide from the rain. But at the same time, it was completely quiet. No traffic. No horns. No city buzz. Just birds and jungle sounds. The kind of quiet where you instinctively lower your voice for no reason. Luis showed us around and told us they planted 2,500 coffee plants in two weekends during Covid, which now sounds absolutely unhinged after seeing the terrain. He walked us through the whole process — flowers, beans, growth, harvesting — and what shocked me most is th...
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Day 18 - February 17

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  SLOTH DAY IS HERE! Today was one of those days that makes you stop mid-thought and go, Is this actually my life right now? We woke up early because the drive to the sanctuary is just under two hours, and we were on the road a little after 9 a.m., coffee in hand, full of excitement. About three-quarters of the way there, we realized we’d missed a turn and added an extra 10 minutes to the drive. Oh well — in Panama, time feels a little more flexible anyway. We rolled into the resort around 10:50 and immediately discovered parking was… ambitious. Paul checked us in for the tour while Kiefer and I circled until we finally snagged a spot. We boarded a bus that took us deeper into the sanctuary, officially kicking off the day. The first stop was the frog exhibit. At first, nothing. Just greenery and silence. Then the guide turned on mist sprinklers, and suddenly the tiniest frogs imaginable started appearing. I don’t know what I expected, but these were miniature . We caught a glimpse ...
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