Preparing for Panama (With your help)

[wingedwishes]

So its almost 20 months until I go to Panama for a collecting trip. I should have permits and documents in order. The person who will be my guide came highly recommended and has the gear to collect stowed at the places we will be staying and collecting. I am buying a camera which records GPS coordinates for the species collected. I do have a few questions for the Insectnet community.

1. What kind of shoes do you suggest?
2. What insect repellant would you take?
3. I will take a hat but what kinds would you take?

More questions later....

[nomihoudai]

I wasn't in Panama but I was in Java. Before going there I went to buy a good pair of shoes and I took myself 2 hours in order to do so. I have shoes similar to this one here. It is important to have a good pair of shoes and I checked out every single pair of shoes they had in that shop. After checking 20 different pairs I narrowed it down to 3 pairs that fit best and then I started to run around in the shop and do quick stops to check if they are good for hunting butterflies. I may have looked silly but I got a pair of shoes that fits better than any pair before and will probably last a few years.

What I would recommend mostly is to check that they are waterproof and that the shoe tongue is connected to the rest of the shoe until the very top. In this way they may be light and versatile, but still completely waterproof above your ankles.

Don't know if there is any better pair of shoes for South America, but for me this worked in the tropics and I hope that my experience will be of help for you.

Considering the camera, you might need to take a plastic bag with you. In the tropics the temperature of the device somehow varies a lot which results in a very strong condensation of water. The condensation on the lens makes pictures all blurry. I had my Nikon D5000 with me in Java but I couldn't really get any good pic as the camera was unusable in many instances as water had condensed on the lens. Also you will need a flash as dense forest is pretty dark for good pics. Maybe someone more experienced can explain how to avoid all of these problems as I didn't have much joy with my camera in Indonesia.

[timsbugs]

I agree that a water proof pair of hiking boots with lots of grip is a must for the mountains of Panama. As well if you are going to hike to high elevations (2600m) a pair of gloves is really important as it gets very step and wet and the tendency is to grab whatever is closest.

It is good to remember that Panama has extreme temperature zones. I experienced a 38C change in one day by going from the mountains to the coast. It gets very hot near the coast. If you are hunting for morpho's, I found shoes (aqua socks) that you can wear into the river to be invaluable. when its impossible to walk one land the rivers are a great alternative. But be aware, there is constant flash floods, so always be looking up stream and have an exit plan.

Eat garlic and you won't need insect repellant!

Its a great country to vist!
Hope you have a great time.
Tim

[bobw]

Shoes are probably the most important thing to get right. They need to be comfortable and you need to break them in before you go - you don't want to be getting blisters on your feet. Boots are best and they should be high enough to give you some ankle protection as a sprained ankle can lay you up for days, if not weeks. They should be lightweight and breathable and if you are going to be crossing or walking in streams some degree of waterproofing is useful. Boots are probably the last thing you want to be trying to save money on.

For an effective insect repellent make sure it contains DEET. People make claims for other types but nothing is as effective as DEET.

A hat with a brim is always best so it protects the back of your neck.  Softish fabric ones are good as they're easy to pack, and there's nothing more refreshing than soaking a hat in a cold stream on a really hot day and putting it back on your head.

Bob

[wingedwishes]

I've been considering boots much like those. I had not thought of aqua socks. Probably no coastal collecting, mostly montane.

Any backpack suggestions?

[jaguarae]

I was in Panama 3 times and the last one was on January 2012 and i made the ascent of the Baru's mountain : i had bought in Boquete hot clothes because during the night it was cold and i had forgotten this detail ! .... you'll need good schoes too ! At the moment i didn't have permits , but no problems ! The hat , sure it's important , i didn't need repellant each time ,but maybe you'll need it
I hope you'll have a good trip ... i enjoy this country

[lucanidae25]

I think you'll need more than just a good pair of shoes, insect repellant and camera...... for the topical countries.

This is what I will bring:

Bushman insect repellent 80% deet heavy duty (works on sandflies, mosquitoes, ticks, leeches, marchflies but dosen't work on fleas or bed bugs) I found out the hard way.

Lots of anti diarrhea pills (I can never bing enough of those)

Water purification tablets (for drinking water from the wild)

Panadol and anti multi worm tablets

Malaria tablets and all the right injections before hands

Isopropyl alcohol for jungle rot

Sun cream 50+

Maps

Wet weather gear

Small Portable Fan & Mini-Air Conditioner:Runs on batteries or USB.

Rechargeable batteries and battery charger

Power point adaptors


If you are going to do light traping and the list will never end, it's just goes on and on............

My last trip was 30Kg frount and back.....

[wollastoni]

You can find some of my advices here : www.collector-secret.com/index.php/blog/tips-collecting-trips-tropical-areas/

I would add :
-"ziplock" all your belongings inside your bags. Big thunderstorms and floading can happen easily in the tropics.
In Biak, when we came back from collecting, all our bag were "floating" in 30 cm of water because of a suddent and massive storm. Luckily all my clothes and material were ziplocked.

- always have a 20 USD note and a bottle of whisky in your pocket.

- never be armed.

- be very polite with everybody, and especially with policemen, army, militias, local chieves...

- take the time to make some live pictures and habitat pictures. It is one of my main regret from all my former collecting trips.

- if you want to discover something, don't be lured by big coloured insects, and mix famous collecting spots with less exploared areas.

Final one : enjoy, you will remember this tropical collecting trip for your whole life !!!

[wingedwishes]

I think good advice. Fortunately, we will not be camping. Since I had to have access to ice or refridgeration for my medications (Insulin), we will be staying in some of the resorts around the mountains. We will have film clips galore and will have them so that my specimins will have not only GPS coordinates but video of environs where they were found. I plan to carry some cash but divided among pockes and carriers just in case. I would be armed with no more than a walking stick. Anti diarrhea pills. Good to know. Going to have bottled or boiled water but having the water pills still a just in case. I don't expect to discover a new species. I am going to learn. Thank my genetics for two things - 1. I am not allergic to poison ivy or many other skin irritants. 2. I do not sunburn. I worked sun up to sunset on a boat for years and never even turned red. True, I'll be at a different elevation with a thinner atmosphere but I did not burn in the Sangria De Christo Mountains either.

[jaguarae]

An emple during the descent of th volcano Baru

[wingedwishes]

While there, do you think baited pit fall traps would be worth it?

[jaguarae]

They could be useful effectively
Few butterflies came down without " baited trap" ... like Nymphalidae

[wollastoni]

Yes bring bait traps, morpho lures and so on

[wingedwishes]

I hope to witness puddling in the wild for the first time. What about beetle traps? Is it worthwhile in cloud forest?

[wingedwishes]

I also keep getting friends say to me "I'd never go to Central America! It is not safe!" Everything I read indicates it is very safe. As safe as my own area. I am going to known places with a respected/experienced guide. Your thoughts?