Big-Belly Trees Revisited ...

I have had a response to my last post from a garden forum friend and a CZBRAT.

CZBRATS, or Canal Zone Brats, are Americans born and/or raised in the Panama Canal Zone (Zonians). Thanks to Lesley for this beautiful picture.

Here is her picture of "big-belly" trees in full bloom

Panama Vacation

We have just returned from a short vacation in Panama. We stayed at a beautiful resort about 20 minutes from Panama City and situated in the rain forest on the shores of the Chagras River. The resort is the Gamboa Rainforest Resort
and we recommend that you have a look at it if you are considering a warm weather getaway.

Naturally, we were busy with our cameras and I have some pictures to share. First the flowers of the rainforest.

Bougainvillea ...






Next the orchids ... hundreds of them ...









We found this little guy on the ground, and our guide 'planted' it in a crook of a tree so it will keep growing now.




And more beautiful flowers everywhere we looked, growing wild.







We saw hundreds of pelicans at the canal ... enjoying the 24-hour sushi bar. And there were spectacular hawks soaring over the river that we enjoyed every afternoon from the balcony of the hotel.









Have you ever tried to grow a bird's nest fern in your house? They grow wild here.





These are seed pods on a palm tree. They change colour as they ripen.


The afternoon view from our balcony. The first two are looking upriver on the Chagras. Those white-colour trees in the third are called "big-belly" trees by the locals. They store water in large bulbs at the of their trunk. In January, when this picture was taken, they drop all their leaves and by the end of February they will be covered in flowers. After a little research, I believe they are some sort of kapok tree.







Here are some shots of beautiful Panama City, the Pacific Ocean and the Panama Canal.













And finally, I leave you with some pictures of friends and family. Have a great day.