Panama La Vieja (Old Panama)
which now lies in ruins, was founded on August 15, 1519, by Pedrarias Davila,
old Panama was the first European settlement on the shores of the Pacific
Ocean. Thru it passed all the gold which
originated in Peru and was destined for Portobello and Nombre de Dios where it
was loaded on ships headed for Spain. In 1671, 1200 men, led by Pirate Henry
Morgan sailed up the Chagres River to the city which they plundered and reduced
to ruins.
El Casco Viejo: with the
destruction of Old Panama, its inhabitants moved to the skirts of Cerro Ancon
where, on Jan 21 1673, the new city of Panama was founded by Antonio Fernandez
de Cordoba y Mendoza. The old quarter of
town is a pleasant place to stroll around and has a shopping street with no
cars.
Today Panama City is booming,
overtaking Miami as Latin Americas business center. The world’s tallest residential buildings
(over 100 floors) are currently under construction. This is the doorway to the world’s largest ‘free
zone’ with daily trains, planes and buses to Colon.
Panama City is like returning
to the land of stuff after being in the San Blas Islands. It is a major cosmopolitan center with the
majority of Panama citizens resident in this one place. It is a place of unlimited shopping, high-rise
towers including Trump’s The Sails and one of the most interesting
architectural displays evident in the building known simply as ‘The Helix’,
which regardless of where it is viewed always has the same anomaly that being,
the top looks like it is about to fall over...it is a trickery of the eye
accomplished by some very interested engineering.
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Panama City, Bridge of Americas, Bio-Museum (under construction) &
Panama City Skyline
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Shortly after our arrival in
Panama City, Kaija departed for a return trip to Vancouver to see family and
friends. Meanwhile, Gary along with his
good friend Trip headed out to the Perlas Islands for a few days.
Kaija enjoyed much cooler
weather than anticipated but a very warm reception by her family and the many
friends she was able to see in her thirty day stay. Meanwhile, Gary & Trip were behaving or
dare I say, misbehaving as only two adolescent overgrown, over-aged out of
shape males can. The good news is,
whatever they broke, they were able to fix, sort of, and with the exception of
one day spent of complete recovery, they had a blast sailing the boat and
catching fish.
After Kaija’s return and Trip
departure, Gary left for Toronto and spent a couple of weeks enjoying the
company of old friends and relatives and taking care of business.
After returning from Canada,
we departed again for the Perlas Islands and have spent as much time as possible away
from the considerably less desirable city anchorages. It is our first time since leaving Vancouver,
that we have experienced the dramatic tidal ranges being as much as 17 feet
between high and low. The fishing has
been excellent while trolling, however, visibility in these murky rushing
waters has made spear fishing virtually nonexistent.
We are currently preparing for
our soon departure (Mid-March) for the Galapagos. We are being joined for this passage by our
good friend Trip.
