Sometimes, the best experiences are the ones you never see coming. That’s exactly how I felt on my first day in Panama when something completely unexpected happened that would become one of the highlights of my entire time here.
We had just arrived in Panama and were on a bus headed to explore the historic district of Casco Viejo. Everyone was excited, chatting, and taking in the views of the city. But little did we know, our adventure would take a surprising detour.
As we were driving along the road, our bus driver suddenly slowed down and pointed to something on the side of the road. At first, we weren’t sure what it was, but as we got closer, we realized it was a sloth! There it was, hanging out on the side of the road, slowly making its way across. We all gasped—how often do you get to see a sloth up close, especially on your first day in a new country?
Our bus driver, without hesitation, reversed the entire bus down the road to get closer to the sloth. It was amazing to see how he immediately took charge of the situation. He pulled over, got out of the bus, and approached the sloth carefully. But the sloth wasn’t exactly keen on moving. It wasn’t in any rush to get off the road, and with cars whizzing by just a few feet away, it seemed like it was in danger.
That’s when our teacher stepped in. She got out of the bus and, with a calm demeanor, began to help. She found a long stick and held it out above the sloth. To our amazement, the sloth instinctively grabbed onto the stick, hanging from it like a little bundle of fur. Slowly, she carried it off the road and into the safety of the nearby forest. It was such a surreal moment—one that none of us could have predicted on our first day in Panama.