The Biomuseo

Day Four in Panama

This morning we decided to go to the Biomuseo which is a museum completely devoted to the beautiful biodiversity of Panama. When we first got there, we saw a colorful and abstract the building located on the Amador Causeway. According to the museum's website, the architect wanted the building to represent how Panama rose from the ocean 4 million years ago. As we waked into the first exhibit we were greeted by life sized photos and sculptures of animals native to this area. As we continued to walk through the exhibit, there was a display on the wall of a lot of the different species in Panama. The pictures of all of the plants and animals were organized by the level of conservation status. It was sad to see how many of the organisms were part of the critically endangered or extinct areas. The next exhibit was a video showing all of Panama's different environments. The room it was shown in had screens on three of the walls, on the floor, and even on the ceiling to create an immersive effect. We continued onto the third exhibit which focused on how Panama was created by volcanoes and rose to the surface of the ocean until it connected to North and South America. When Panama created a division between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the entire world's climate changed. After this, we entered a room full of true to size statues of animals that live or used to live in Panama. All of the statues in one room was eye opening to the diversity of animals in just one area. The penultimate exhibit told the story of the oceans surrounding Panama and the differences between them. The last exhibit transported us into a larger than life fig tree. The tree explained the importance of balance in the natural world and how every living thing relies on another. The entire museum was really interesting and was enjoyable for everyone who visited.
                                      -Ali