18th of May
Panama‘s dollarized economy rests primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts for 80% of GDP. Services include operating the Panama Canal, banking, insurance, container ports, flagship registry and tourism.
After a nice breakfast, we leave the „Hotel with a Heart“. The driver is here on time and we are at the airport as planned. Unfortunately we realize the the handling company has not prepared any papers (weather, flight plan, general declaration, etc.). So Capitano Rainer spends almost 45 minutes running around, finally filling out the forms himself. After take-off, we see again Granada with the Islitas and the Volcan Mombacho. Flying over Costa Rica, we reach Panama after two hours.
There we are greeted by an army of people and all of them want something at once. Customs enters the plane with a Golden Labrador; the guy is not taking him for a pleasure walk though. Everything takes a bit longer here and we are greeted by Peter, a good friend of a good friend of ours. Peter lives 20 years in Panama so he knows the place quite well. We check in at the hotel, which is again really nice, say good-bye to Peter who will pick us up tomorrow morning for some fishing and sightseeing (Eric – we gonna miss you!!). Today is also laundry day and the poor chica has to pick up mountains of dirty stuff. Relaxing at the pool, getting things done (like updating this page) and just take a rest! Dinner we had at a very good restaurant and hit the sack pretty early.
Explored by Columbus in 1502 and by Balboa in 1513, Panama was the principal shipping point to and from South and Central America in colonial days. In 1821, when Central America revolted against Spain, Panama joined Colombia, which had already declared its independence. For the next 82 years, Panama attempted unsuccessfully to break away from Colombia. Between 1850 and 1900 Panama had 40 administrations, 50 riots, 5 attempted secessions, and 13 U.S. interventions. After a U.S. proposal for canal rights over the narrow isthmus was rejected by Colombia, Panama proclaimed its independence with U.S. backing in 1903.
For canal rights in perpetuity, the U.S. paid Panama $10 million and agreed to pay $250,000 each year, which was increased to $430,000 in 1933 and to $1,930,000 in 1955. In exchange, the U.S. got the Canal Zone—a 10-mile-wide strip across the isthmus—and considerable influence in Panama’s affairs. On Sept. 7, 1977, Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera and President Jimmy Carter signed treaties giving Panama gradual control of the canal, phasing out U.S. military bases, and guaranteeing the canal’s neutrality.
Nicolas Ardito Barletta, Panama’s first directly elected president in 16 years, was inaugurated on Oct. 11, 1984, for a five-year term. He was a puppet of strongman Gen. Manuel Noriega, a former CIA operative and head of the secret police. Noriega replaced Barletta with vice president Eric Arturo Delvalle a year later. In 1988, Noriega was indicted in the U.S. for drug trafficking, but when Delvalle attempted to fire him, Noriega forced the national assembly to replace Delvalle with Manuel Solis Palma. In Dec. 1989, the assembly named Noriega “maximum leader” and declared the U.S. and Panama to be in a state of war. In Dec. 1989, 24,000 U.S. troops seized control of Panama City in an attempt to capture Noriega after a U.S. soldier was killed in Panama. On Jan. 3, 1990, Noriega surrendered himself to U.S. custody and was transported to Miami, where he was later convicted of drug trafficking. Guillermo Endara, who probably would have won an election suppressed earlier by Noriega, was installed as president.
On Dec. 31, 1999, the U.S. formally handed over control of the Panama Canal to Panama. Meanwhile, Colombian rebels and paramilitary forces have made periodic incursions into Panamanian territory, raising security concerns. Panama has also faced increased drug and arms smuggling.
Panamanians approved a plan to expand the Panama Canal in 2006. It will likely double the canal’s capacity and is expected to be completed by2015.
Defying the current Latin American trend for left-leaning governments, Panama elected millionaire businessman Ricardo Martinelli as its president on May 3, 2009. After a period of rapid economic growth, Panama had succumbed to the global recession.
19th of May
Panama City – the Hong Kong of Central America – was the most positive experience for us so far. Top notch infrastructure, friendly people, a nature with rainforest and jungle with the biggest bio-diversity 10 minutes from city center; where else can you find this. Hotels, restaurants and nightlife are also fantastic.
Today is our day off (or rest day). So we decide to go fishing with Peter – which means leaving the hotel a 06.00h in the morning! Peter picks us up at the hotel and we are driving through the former US military bases. They are huge!! The amazing thing though is that we are within 15 minutes from the city center in the heart of the jungle. We get the fishing gear, board the boat with a captain and a guide and leave the jetty. After a few minutes we hit the Canal and are amazed. It is wide, sometimes with rainforest on each side. We had more the Canal of Corinth or the Suez Canal in mind – straight and narrow. And there are no ship in sight!
We leave the Canal and follow a river into the jungle. We never saw this kind of rainforest in Panama – we had more a concrete jungle in mind. But the rainforest is just beautiful and we see baby crocodiles and then a tree full of monkeys. They know no fear, look at us with their big eyes and then even jump on the boat. „Just don‘t move quickly, don‘t smile and show your teeth; they might become aggressive“ our guide says. And we don‘t.
Back to the Canal and we still can‘t see a ship. So we head for a sweat water lake and start to fish. The local crew is quite helpful with putting the sardines as on the hook. Within seconds, everybody catches a small fish – and is happy. There is some swimming done in the warm water and after some of us got bigger fish, we had for the Canal again. And we finally see the big boats. Even the small ones are big!
Soon we turn off into another river and this time we go really into the rainforest. It‘s like a narrow tunnel sometimes, just wide enough for our fishing boat. We literally can touch the plants and just hope that the snakes stay up in the trees. Actually a third of the country is set aside as protected areas and national parks and indigenous groups have survived with their cultures largely intact!
On the way back to the fishing harbor, we pass some really big container vessels – they are just gigantic! We say goodbye to the crew and head for the airport – to do our planned helicopter flight over the canal. The chopper is a brand new Robinson 66 (only 45 hours on it) and the pilot makes a good impression. We take off and fly straight over the Canal. What a sight – everything we saw from the boat before we see from the air now. Shortly before reaching the Atlantic coast, our pilot wants to show us the rainforest and he flies really, really low along a river.
Near Colon we see the gigantic construction site for the new locks. If everything works according to plan, they should be finished within 2 years and double the capacity of the Canal. After flying back to the Pacific side, we fly around Panama City. It reminds us very much of Hong Kong in the early years. Just amazing what was built within the last 18 months! Back to helicopter base and hotel. What an impressive day again – what should have been our day of for relaxing!!
Dinner is at a local gourmet place and Alberto, one of Peter‘s colleagues from work is joining us. He is a local boy, knows Panama City and the world! Peter could be a top tour guide: he knows so much about the area – Wikipedia has a tough time to compete with him. The food at the restaurant is out of this world and we are having a good time.
There is an article about the the history of the Panama Canal in the tab „About America“. Read it and if you want more there is a link to Wikipedia – or call Peter (the more pleasant alternative).
