Lunchtime in the Old Quarter of Panama City brings me to Manolo Caracol, a tapas-style restaurant that happily delivers 12 courses of food before the salad arrives.
It is more than I can stand without walking about, so I am out the door and on to the street for a stroll.
I meet Rafael.
Rafael is the face of the new Panama. He left this country in 1981 at the age of 14. His family moved to Miami, where he studied to be a chef and where he served the likes of Ice Cube and someone known as Jello Man.
Last year he moved back to Panama City and opened a small martini restaurant.
"Miami is too crowded," he says. "It's a dangerous city. You get drunk; you get arrested. And a business was hard to open. I moved back and I hope this is start of big things. Many Panamanians are coming back. We love it here."
And there is lots to love.
I am travelling with a few other journalists, as well as a hundred or so travel agents from Vancouver and Calgary. We have arrived here to case the joint just prior to Air Transat and Nolitours offering travel packages to this amazing country.
The following is four days in the storied history of Panama, Central America. My four days. It is a story of skyscrapers, skinny-dipping, bug bites, drive-in motels and, of course, a canal.
PANAMA CITY
I have returned to Manolo Caracol for another half dozen dishes. The food is exotic and light. On the walls of this beautiful restaurant there is art for sale. I fancy one painting in particular. It looks like a Picasso from his Bob & Margaret period. It runs a snappy $400 US. I barter a bit, but getting it down to the $50 in my pocket seems unlikely.
Out on the narrow streets of the Old Quarter, historic buildings undergo the slowest of renovations. The money to renovate is scarce, so many of these beautiful structures sit half finished and shut out from habitation. In time, they will be finished and the oldest parts of this beautiful city will shine like new.
Across the bay, always in full shine, is the magnificent skyline of the new Panama City. There are close to 100 skyscrapers here. The view is more like something you would find in a large Asian metropolis, like Hong Kong. Our guide proudly points to the statistics that say crime is low in this capital city. There are places a tourist should not travel alone, but for the most part, it is an open and safe environment.
As we walk the streets, our guide speaks adoringly of the Panamanian people, whom she loves — and loves to kid.
"Panamanians are not very ambitious," she says.
"They like lotteries, cockfighting, horse races. Workers would prefer to just lie down under a tree and wait for a fruit to fall in their mouth. It is difficult working hard eight hours a day here. It is so hot."
It is hot. Damn hot. Even the birds don't fly much in weather like this.
We are back in the bus. Next stop: The Royal Decameron.
BACK ON THE BUS
We are en route for a two-day stay at the exquisite and all-inclusive Royal Decameron. Our tour guide is discussing snakes, of which there are 140 different kinds in the fields and forests of this country.
Only 22 are poisonous.
We are told that if you are bitten, do everything in your power to capture the snake. Even if it means you get bitten again and again and again and again, you must capture the snake, in order to assist the physicians in determining the appropriate anti-venom.
"Can't we just take a picture?" someone asks.
It's that kind of crowd.
Thirty minutes outside Panama City and the bus driver is circling a series of garages that look like storage units you might find somewhere in Richmond.
They are actually drive-ins for discreet wild sex. A man can bring his mistress to one of these buildings, park undercover, then slip into the attached bedroom for … well, you know … a pajama party without the pajamas.
Tragedy struck recently when a prominent lawyer was found dead in a lovers' embrace. He forgot to turn off the car.
We arrive at the Royal Decameron around 8 p.m. The night is black as ink. In the distance I hear the surf of the Pacific Ocean. I decide to go swimming. I am alone. It seems safe to skinny-dip. I am waist deep in sand and salt water when I remove my trunks. A wave the size of a Cadillac crashes onto my back and knocks me down.
I drop my trunks.
I am naked in the Pacific Ocean with my swimsuit (room key is in the pocket) floating to Japan.
The situation is not good.
Everything else about the Decameron runs smoothly. It is a lovely and vast resort that will, in time, achieve the highest of ratings. Right now there are a few growing pains, but everyone here is eager to make it a destination that serious sun-worshippers will not want to miss.
The water is warm.
The drinks are cold.
That almost makes it perfect.
THE CANAL
It is hard to imagine how a canal can be sexy, yet somehow, the Panama Canal is just that — sexy and mysterious and exotic.
It is, of course, a modern wonder of our world. One of our greatest engineering feats.
On the day we arrive, 34 ships will pass from one great ocean to another.
Pulling the great freighters through the locks are mechanical "mules." It takes 12 hours for a big ship to pass. The scenery is spectacular. It is obvious why cruises through the canal are so popular.
BIG BUG BITE
We are off to Yayas Falls, set in a forest 90 minutes from the Decameron and 10 minutes from "Coca Cola creek," a torrent of water that bears a striking resemblance to the color of the soft drink.
At the falls we splash around in the natural pools of warm water. We walk gingerly on the slick volcanic rock. It is exhilarating.
A 20-minute hike through the forest follows, then it is back in the bus, where I change from my walking shoes to slip-ons.
A bug of unknown pedigree has crawled into my left sandal. It is the size of my middle toe and when I slide my foot into the shoe it bites me with considerable ferocity.
I flick it away. It breaks in two, but the brain continues to tell the teeth to munch on my foot. I grab the head and pull it off.
No one seems to concerned.
I am certain death is imminent.
BEST FOR LAST
It is now the next day . I have not died.
We are in a boat fashioned from a big tree. At the back of the boat is a small motor and a member of the Emberas tribe. He is taking us to his village up the Chagres River. Along the way we pass crocodiles much larger than anything that has recently crawled into my shoe.
We arrive for an afternoon of lunch and entertainment.
The Emberas inhabit an idyllic village where they live as simple and exquisite a life as is possible.
Not an iPod to be found.
The river is rich in fish; the fruit trees are bountiful. The adults work at crafts, maintaining the village and entertaining guests. The children play and learn.
The Emberas open their community to tourists and, in turn, receive funding and other forms of support from the Panamanian government.
We are all charmed and left almost speechless by the simplicity and meaningfulness of their existence.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Tourism is not a top economic player in this country, which is odd, since the climate is ideal and the land so beautiful.
The canal is the economic breadwinner here, but, in time, the government hopes to make tourism No. 1.
With two oceans and rainforests to experience, it seems only a matter of time before the world starts visiting in the kind of numbers Costa Rica now enjoys. Right now, hospitality is quaint and eager, though still a little rough around the edges. English is not commonly spoken. Government officials know the young people of this country are going to have to educate themselves in the language if the service industry here is to boom.
And boom it will.
—
Panama facts
Official Name: Republic of Panama.
Capital: Panama (City).
Area: 29,762 square miles (77,082 square kilometres).
Population: (2009 est.): 3,360,474 (growth rate: 1.5%); birth rate: 20.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.7/1000; life expectancy: 77.2; density per sq mi: 111.
Major Language: Spanish (official).
Major Religion: Roman Catholicism.
Literacy: 88.2 per cent.
Highest Peak: Volcano Baru.
Major Rivers: Chepo, Chucunaque, Santa Maria, Tuira.
Form of Government: Republic.
Head of State and Government: President.
Legislature: Legislative Assembly.
Voting Qualification: Age 18.
Political Divisions: Nine provinces and one special territory.
Major Cities: Panama City, 1,053,500 (metro. area), 437,200 (city proper); San Miguelito, 309,500; ColÛn, 44,400
Chief Manufactured Products: Processed foods, textiles, clothing, refined petroleum.
Chief Agricultural Products: Crops bananas, cacao, coffee, sugar, grain crops, vegetables, fruits, rice. Livestock and fish cattle, freshwater fish and seafood.
Monetary Unit: 1 balboa = 100 cents US.
An engineering marvel
The Panama Canal joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean ocean and is considered a wonder of modern engineering.
A ship travelling from Halifax to Vancouver cuts the trip in half by using the canal rather than sailing around South America.
The French were the first to attempt building the Canal. The Americans ultimately built it.
Passage through the canal can cost up to $500,000, though a swimmer once passed through for $1.
A typical passage through the canal by a cargo ship takes approximately eight to 10 hours.
Odd facts
– Approximately 25,000 workers died during the building of the Panama Canal, with almost 20,000 a result of malaria and yellow fever.
– The world famous panama hat originated in Ecuador.
– A person cannot drive from the top of North America to the bottom of South America because the rain forest in southern Panama that borders Columbia has no roads.
If you go
All travelers to Panama require a passport that is valid for six months beyond the intended stay .
Source:kelowna.com
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