Travel, Photography, Life.
Panamá
My first country in Central America.
To the Top Of Panama.
May 22nd
February 10-14, 2008
Day 807-811
After leaving the Bocas archipelago, I took a bus across the country, from the Caribbean to the Pacific, to David, the second-largest city in Panama. From there I got to ride in my first school bus to the small highland town of Boquete. Three people sat in each seat, but it wasn’t nearly as jammed as I had been expecting based on what other people had told me, and I found it quite the nostalgic experience as I recalled riding to school in my youth.
At 1000 meters above sea level, Boquete had a far more pleasant climate than the coast. The only problem was that it rained the entire first day I was there, and supposedly this was dry season. The really bizarre thing was that even though it was raining, the sun was constantly out. I didn’t realize it was possible to have so much sun and rain simultaneously.
The main attraction of the area was the extinct Baru Volcano, which at 3475 meters above sea level was the highest point in the country. I decided to hike up to the top one day, then come down the next. The 2000 meters uphill climb was uneventful though exhausting, but I had plenty of energy due to the perfectly cool temperature. I met a few of the guys working on the antennae on top, and noted how clearly their soap opera came in on their portable television set. They situated me with a room to sleep in so I didn’t need to bring my tent. The pitch black and solitary night made me somewhat regretful of my chosen reading material of Interview with the Vampire.
I got up early and made the short walk to the very top where there was — of course — a cross. The previous afternoon had been cloudy, but the sky was fairly clear for the sunrise. I had the beautiful view all to myself for a few minutes before five others joined me on top. One of them was a Canadian guy who had recently befriended a yacht owner looking for crew, and they were preparing to sail around the world for the next two years.
On a clear day, you could see both oceans at once, but there were too many clouds to see the Caribbean this morning. The Pacific, however, was easily visible, and looking over the edge showed even more detail than my guidebook’s map of the region. It was a long trip, but that view made it worthwhile.
I made the long walk back to Boquete to find the whole town up in arms. Pancho (the owner of my hostel)’s mother had inherited the house next door many years ago, but never got the chance to move in because a prostitute was already there and claimed squatter’s rights. Pancho tried for years to kick her out, but the prostitute always had excuses, such as having her children in the house, who had themselves become prostitutes. But I got to witness history in the making as the police finally showed up to kick her out, despite the fact that she claimed she was too sick to leave.
This whole story was related to me by a man of about sixty from Tennessee who smoked pot “morning, noon, and night” and who had been coming to Boquete for the last three years to escape the US winter. He gained most of his gossip from sitting on the porch all day, but unfortunately he left carrying his rugby ball and dressed in his uniform to “get some exercise” before he could fill me in on all of the juicy details. I don’t know which was stranger, the squatter or the old man whose hobbies were those of a teenager.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Taking the Bull By the Mouths
May 22nd
February 7-9, 2008
Days 804-806
I arrived near the Costa Rican border to the archipelago of Bocas del Toro before dawn. I took a quick boat taxi from the mainland to Colon Island, where I based myself for the weekend. I was amazed when I looked into the sky and saw the Southern Cross, which I hadn’t seen in months and didn’t realize could even be seen this far north. The island culture was laid back and the beaches were nice, but the place was filled with the most annoying type of tourist: The loud ones, the ones who think they invented travel by the simple fact that they’ve managed to set foot on foreign soil.
After a day of getting situated, I went scuba diving with a couple of Dutch girls named Sybrenne and Tara. They were a psychologist and a psychiatrist respectively, so I tried not to tell them anything incriminating. After watching the jumping dolphins in a tranquil bay, we submerged ourselves and saw lots of colorful coral, a few schools of fish, several lobsters, a few eels, and one stingray. Between dives, we went to a small island with one restaurant where the first item on the menu was lobster for $15. It saddened me that the creatures I was just admiring in their natural habitat were being served for lunch, but luckily I brought my own PB&J, one of those delicacies not available in places with fewer tourists. Another great thing about the archipelago was that the water was so warm, it was like being in a bathtub. Unlike Colombia, I could stay in the ocean for hours without getting cold.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Shopping Malls and Urban Sprawl
May 22nd
February 6, 2008
Day 803
I bought a ticket for a night bus out of the city this morning. Next to the bus station was a massive shopping mall with name brand stores everywhere. Lots of American ex patriots, tourists, and rich Panamanians were busy buying pairs of jeans for hundreds of dollars. But right outside the mall were some nasty looking slums. I began to wonder if Panama’s large tourism industry had actually done any good for the regular people who lived there. My thoughts were reflected by a taxi driver, who claimed that three percent of the money generated by the canal could be used to pay for the utilities of every Panamanian. He wondered out loud where all that money was going.
When I returned to the bus terminal for my ride out of town, I was amazed to see dozens of American school buses waiting to take passengers away. They were painted very colorfully, not unlike the chivas of Colombia, and were equipped with obscenely large horns and bumper stickers claiming Jesus as their insurance policy. Unfortunately, my bus was of the normal, boring variety, so I would have to wait a bit longer to experience the Central American “chicken buses” about which I had heard so much.
The highway was better than anything I had seen in South America outside of Chile and Argentina. Not only did it have pavement, but it had four lanes actually painted on the ground, and there were an amazing lack of potholes, llamas, and semis going five miles per hour with which to contend. But the biggest surprise after being in Colombia and Venezuela for so long was the lack of police checkpoints. Not one officer brandishing an assault rifle inspected our bus all night. I could get used to this.
A Man, A Plan, A Canal
May 22nd
February 5, 2008
Day 802
Today was the big day where I got to see where the Americas were geographically divided, at the Panama Canal.
Before looking at the Miraflores Locks, I checked out the museum that talked about the history of the canal. The French were the first to attempt to build a canal across Panama, but failed when thousands of workers died of tropical diseases, the topography of the land proved too difficult to work with, and the money eventually ran out. Panama was still part of Colombia back then, and the country wasn’t keen to let the Americans start up where the French left off. The US did what any democracy-loving country in that position would do and backed the Panamanian revolution and recognised the new country right away, thus securing the rights to build the canal.
As you’d expect from any project of its size, the canal attracted the superlative hunters who were quick to point out that it took ten years, $400 million, and a labor force of 75,000 to complete the project. I must have learned at least ten times that the lowest fee ever for crossing the canal was thirty-six cents by Richard Halliburton, who swam across it from August 14 to August 23, 1928. The highest fee ever paid changes often, but it is currently well over $300,000.
I finished looking at the museum just as a boat was approaching the locks. A guy walking around with colorful clothes and a Panama hat was giving the play-by-play to the crowd. The ship, which was transferring several private yachts, slowly made its way into the locks, guided by rail cars on either side. Once it was in place, the doors were shut and the process of draining the water began. Seven minutes later, the boat had dropped thirteen meters and was ready to take head into the Pacific Ocean. Very impressive.
A few minutes later, an even bigger ship entered the lock in the lane closer to us. This ship came from Venezuela and was carrying 4500 semi trailers to the US. Once again, the ship went through the locks in the same amount of time it takes to fill a bathtub.
A lot of people thought the Panamanians would surely screw things up when the US transferred the canal to them on December 31, 1999, but in fact, the canal now runs smoother than ever. In a few years, increase in global trade will cause it to reach capacity, so the Panamanians are building a new set of locks that will allow ships with twice as much cargo to cross it. The observation deck of the canal didn’t come with a lot of bells and whistles, but for me it was an awesome experience to watch one of the greatest engineering feats in history in action.
The photo album for this entry is here.
Traveling with the Family Circus
Feb 14th
February 4, 2008
Day 801
Crossing the Gap, Day 5
I spent the morning with the Italians waiting to see if the mysterious plane would show up. The two boys were brothers who had been working around Central America and Colombia for the last two years as street performers. Among their luggage was a unicycle and a lot of material for making jewelery. Their dad was visiting them, so they were traveling around a bit more than usual. The other two were an English woman and her Italian boyfriend, but the poor lady didn’t speak any Spanish or Italian and only her boyfriend spoke English, so she was left out of most of their conversations. One of the boys was deathly afraid of flying, and as we were eating breakfast we joked about drugging him like B.A. Barackus.
It was a suspenseful morning, but the airplane indeed landed at about the same time as yesterday. The dad continuously stroked his son’s shoulder to reassure him that we wouldn’t crash. It was an incredible flight as we started over the Caribbean, then worked our way across the Darien Gap, and finally flew over the Pacific. Most of the land we saw was jungle, but occasionally there was a single house that was certainly there under nefarious circumstances. At the end of the flight, we circled around Panama City, and I was amazed to see all the huge ships, luxurious yachts, and massive skyscrapers of the city. It was a big change from Puerto Obaldia.
Despite our best efforts to convince them that we were not on an international flight, we had to go through customs at the airport. One of the officers let a little air out of the unicycle’s tire to make sure nothing was hidden in it, but then his attention was diverted when the drug dog discovered something in one of the Italian boys’ backpacks. They were asking me if I had any weed last night, so I was worried they were smuggling it, but then I realized that that made no sense because they wouldn’t have asked me for weed if they already had it. The customs official wasn’t taking any chances and proceeded to search through every inch of the indicated backpack. He found some bottles of ink, which the Italian figured is what set the dog off (I’m not sure why that would be), but he was more interested in the plastic syringes at the bottom of the pack. The Italian explained that they were only for injecting ink and challenged the officer to puncture his skin with them. The officer wasn’t amused, but in the end, he found nothing illegal. A group of gringos with barely any luggage entered behind us, and the rest of my group was allowed to leave without being searched because it was getting too crowded.
When I finished getting settled at a hostel, I was surprised to learn it was Carnaval time. I hadn’t planned for it yet because it’s usually a few weeks later. I went to the parade with some people from the hostel, but it was nothing special compared with the last two years when I was in Brazil and Argentina. In fact, I was kind of put off when a lot of the people from the parade walked around with soda cans with the tops cut off and asked any white person they could find for money. I found that totally against the spirit of Carnaval. One girl in the crowd even had the nerve to walk right up to me and demand that I buy her a beer because I was rich and she was poor. She was about twice my size, so I doubted she was too poor to eat.
I didn’t blame the local people for wanting money from the tourists because tourism and western culture in general had obviously overrun the city. Everywhere I looked, there were hordes of tourists, shopping malls, and American chain restaurants. Certainly this must have jaded even the most resilient Panamanians to some degree. It was good to see economic progress, but not at the expense of local traditions like Carnaval.
The photo album for this entry is here.
The Waiting Game
Feb 11th
February 3, 2008
Day 800
Crossing the Gap, Day 4
The day started off smoothly when the immigration office was actually open and I was able to get my passport stamped. The officer needed to make a copy of my passport, so he made a kid go to the back room to turn on the generator, and the gas-powered copy machine functioned properly. The only step left was getting on the plane to Panama City.
I asked everyone with a set of ears about the flight, but still nobody knew anything. The main lady in charge of arranging seats finally told me that it was full and nobody had mysteriously not shown up like she claimed they “always” did yesterday. The problem was she wouldn’t even write me down on the list for tomorrow’s flight because she was too busy trying to figure out the logistics for today’s flight. I had to keep on waiting patiently.
At about 11:30, a car alarm went off. Car alarms are so common in South America that I had grown completely oblivious to them, but this was a special case because there weren’t any cars in Puerto Obaldia. It turned out that it was the warning that the plane was about to land, so everyone had to stay clear of the runway. Most of the town gathered to watch the most interesting part of the day when the plane hit the runway with about six inches to spare and dropped off its passengers from Panama City. The new passengers got on board and when the plane was just about to take off, one of the kids playing baseball (the only people not watching the plane) made a bad throw and the ball rolled right onto the runway. Someone ran after it, but the plane was already revving up its propellers for the takeoff. The ball slowly rolled across the pavement and came to a rest just on the other side, barely outside the plane’s trajectory. The flight left without incident and I had the rest of the day to relax.
One of the military men told me there wasn’t a flight for tomorrow, so I became nervous that I would have to wait three more days in Puerto Obaldia. The plane ticket lady finally wrote down my name, but told me she had no idea if the plane would indeed be back tomorrow. The Italian group I had met a few days ago on the boat showed up and were put on the list as well. I spent the rest of the day sleeping through the intense heat and hanging out on the deserted beach. The military had the town well under control and were very nice to me, but they insisted that I couldn’t leave their watch because they had no control of the jungle beyond the hills. Puerto Obaldia is a beautiful place, but there’s nothing to do here so I hope I can get out tomorrow.
Crossing to Panama
Feb 10th
February 2, 2008
Day 799
Crossing the Gap, Day 3
I got up early and promptly began waiting for a boat. Nobody seemed to know when one would leave, but they assured me the a boat would indeed be going north to Sapzurro at some point. Eventually I got the ride I was looking for and was in the last settlement in Colombia.
Sapzurro was even smaller than Capurgana, with a few deserted beaches and some small fishing boats to keep its few residents occupied. From there I walked up a hill marking the border between Colombia and Panama, and made it to a small monument and a hut with police officers from both countries. They looked at my passport but didn’t search my backpack because they knew I had nowhere to run to. I took one last look at South America and headed down the hill and into Panama.
Yet another tiny village called La Miel was on the other side. The people told me there weren’t many boats leaving from there, and maybe I’d have to wait until tomorrow to get out. I got lucky, however, when some police showed up for a shift change and took me away in their boat. We went a few minutes north to Puerto Olbaldia, the last town before a long coastline of uninhabited jungle. Customs did a light search of my backpack, but didn’t seem too concerned with me. It would have been quite a maneuver to smuggle Colombian contraband into the country on a police boat.
I found out for certain that there would be no long-distance boats out of town for at least several days, and even then, nothing was certain. That left flying as my only option. There was a flight scheduled for tomorrow, but everyone involved in ticket sales was off drinking somewhere. Immigration was also nowhere to be seen, so the drama of getting my passport stamped was left up in the air as well.
After an entire afternoon of escaping the heat and asking everyone who would listen about tomorrow’s flight, I was finally informed tonight that it was already full. However, somebody “always” canceled at the last minute, so maybe I’d still get to leave. I hung out with Ricardo, a Colombian ex patriot living in Panama, for a few beers. The Dutch-imported lager was going for only sixty cents a can, so the village ran out before dark. From that point onward, we were stuck drinking boring rum. Puerto Olbaldia’s nightlife consisted of three light bulbs, repetitive music loud enough to wake the people in Colombia, and about a dozen people who found that the best place to listen to said music was three inches in front of the speakers. It was a beautiful place, but life moved way too slowly for me to enjoy sitting around much longer.
The photo album for this entry is here.