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Panama: A Voyage of Discovery
Story by Peter Rose
Photos by Peter and Hedy Rose
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Panama, a native word that literally means "abundance," truly has something for everyone -- for those interested in history, ecology, anthropology, and opportunities to cruise the bays and rivers on both sides of the isthmus and taking the storied passage between the seas on the Panama Canal.
In February, 2008, we spent 12 days in Panama, eight of them aboard an Australian-built catamaran aptly named, "Discovery." It is owned and operated by Panama Marine Adventures. It was a unique opportunity to see and feel the special appeal of this Central American country.
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Panama's attraction was summed up by a fellow traveler who is also a rain forest maven. "I'm mad about the place as a venue for all sorts of people. It is a smorgsbord of biodiversity -- colorful, full of flora and fauna and still extant traditional tribes, and it is both safe and easily accessible. "Then he added, "Couple that with the chance to see and pass through one of the wonders of the modern world, the Panama Canal, and you have an ideal place for a tropical vacation."
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Ours was not a conventional cruise on a 800 foot long mega-ship with many decks, many dining rooms, hotel services, casinos, mobs of people and tightly scheduled shore excursions with huge groups of fellow passengers. Our voyage of discovery was just the opposite. Well, almost. The 33-meter-long brand new vessel, while dwarfed by the behemoths seen along the route by a factor of five, is anything but bare-boned. It has many features rarely found on ships large or small, not least floor to ceiling windows on the main deck, commodious cabins -- 8 with double beds, 4 with singles, each with a full wall of windows and a full bath; ample shaded and open spaces on each of three decks, a well-stocked bar; a varied menu and plenty of tasty food. The craft is manned by Captain Rafae Munoz and an exceptional crew, including two professional guides, Richard Cahill and Iann Sanchez, both specialists in national as well as natural history, rainforest biology and local ethnography.
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The trip was truly what the folks in the travel business call a "soft adventure," a now-common expression meaning, "Have a real getaway, a chance to escape from the ordinary and engage in a number of challenging activities without taking any unnecessary risks."
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Our Panamanian adventure began in Panama City, now a bustling metropolis but once an outpost of the Spanish Empire. The isthmus itself was first approached by Europeans on Columbus's fourth voyage to the Americas, soon to be followed by Vasco Nunez de Balboa's "discovery" of the Pacific, where Panama City is located. Some claim that the old part, Panama Viejo, was the first permanent community established by Europeans in the New World.
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The itinerary took us southward from the Flamenco Marina outside Panama City to several islands in the Archipelago de Las Perlas in the Golfo de San Miguel and far up the Mogue River and into the Darien Jungle to visit an Embera village-a leap from the 21st to the 14th century to meet with tattooed and lightly clad Embera Indians. There many aspects of their traditional lifeways are still maintained, including techniques for wood carving, basket weaving, music making and dancing.
For an afternoon, we were caught in a time warp.
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A day of bird-spotting, swimming, snorkeling, and kayaking on several of the Pearl Islands (San Elmo and Mogo Mogo) followed before Captain Munoz put the Discovery on a northeast course. We sailed through the night to get in line to enter the southwestern end of the great Panama Canal and awoke to find ourselves surrounded by ships from all over the world.
The water route from the Pacific side begins with a literal rite de passage, as we slowly motored under the high bridge on the Pan-American highway that links North and South America and headed toward the narrowing entry to the "Path Between the Seas."
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Normally it takes less than a day to go through the canal. We took two, starting with the Miraflores and San Miguel locks. I thought of the expression "a rising tide lifts all boats" as the gates closed lifting small yachts and huge tankers, cargo vessels and cruise ships -- and our catamaran -- all to a height of 85 feet and into the man-made Gatun Lake.
The lake itself was created during the building of the canal by damming the mighty Chagres River and flooding a huge area. Now what were once high hills are protected islands.
While moored near the largest, Barro Colorado, site of the world-famous Smithsonian Tropical Research Center, time was spent exploring the lake shore by Zodiac and kayak, and taking STRI guide-led hikes through the dense jungle.
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The next day we completed our ocean-to-ocean passage, going through the three-stepped Gatun Locks which dropped us back to sea level. We moved out into the Caribbean, then made a U-turn and headed into the mouth of the Chagres, anchoring two miles upstream. Next day, we enjoyed another morning of snorkeling and swimming; the afternoon hiking to the old fortress called San Lorenzo. Late that night we cruised back down the river and moved out to sea, turned south past protected harbor and city of Colon and dropping anchor near the small settlement of Portobelo, said to have been developed on the very site where by Christopher Columbus landed in 1497. We spent the last full day swimming and snorkeling in the morning and the afternoon and part of the evening in the village. There we visited the large church world famous because of its iconic Black Christ, went to the market where Kuna Indians display and sell their appliquéd molas, and met, danced and drank with many other locals.
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Departing from Portobelo on a chartered bus, we experienced both symbolic and real time travel leaving Spanish colonial Panama to ride back across the country on a highway paralleling the canal, and then abruptly reentering modern times in a city that is rapidly coming to look like a Latin American Singapore or Hong Kong.
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For those like us, passionate about history, ethnography, ecology, feats of engineering and nature's wonders, our Panamanian voyage on Discovery, was truly a voyage of discovery.
For further information:
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Editor of SoGoNow.com, Peter Rose is a sociologist, writer and photographer. Hedy Rose is a researcher and photographer.
Panama, a native word that literally means "abundance," truly has something for everyone -- for those interested in history, ecology, anthropology, and opportunities to cruise the bays and rivers on both sides of the isthmus and taking the storied passage between the seas on the Panama Canal.
In February, 2008, we spent 12 days in Panama, eight of them aboard an Australian-built catamaran aptly named, "Discovery." It is owned and operated by Panama Marine Adventures. It was a unique opportunity to see and feel the special appeal of this Central American country.
Panama's attraction was summed up by a fellow traveler who is also a rain forest maven. "I'm mad about the place as a venue for all sorts of people. It is a smorgsbord of biodiversity -- colorful, full of flora and fauna and still extant traditional tribes, and it is both safe and easily accessible. "Then he added, "Couple that with the chance to see and pass through one of the wonders of the modern world, the Panama Canal, and you have an ideal place for a tropical vacation."
The trip was truly what the folks in the travel business call a "soft adventure," a now-common expression meaning, "Have a real getaway, a chance to escape from the ordinary and engage in a number of challenging activities without taking any unnecessary risks."Our Panamanian adventure began in Panama City, now a bustling metropolis but once an outpost of the Spanish Empire. The isthmus itself was first approached by Europeans on Columbus's fourth voyage to the Americas, soon to be followed by Vasco Nunez de Balboa's "discovery" of the Pacific, where Panama City is located. Some claim that the old part, Panama Viejo, was the first permanent community established by Europeans in the New World.
The itinerary took us southward from the Flamenco Marina outside Panama City to several islands in the Archipelago de Las Perlas in the Golfo de San Miguel and far up the Mogue River and into the Darien Jungle to visit an Embera village-a leap from the 21st to the 14th century to meet with tattooed and lightly clad Embera Indians. There many aspects of their traditional lifeways are still maintained, including techniques for wood carving, basket weaving, music making and dancing.
For an afternoon, we were caught in a time warp.
A day of bird-spotting, swimming, snorkeling, and kayaking on several of the Pearl Islands (San Elmo and Mogo Mogo) followed before Captain Munoz put the Discovery on a northeast course. We sailed through the night to get in line to enter the southwestern end of the great Panama Canal and awoke to find ourselves surrounded by ships from all over the world.
The water route from the Pacific side begins with a literal rite de passage, as we slowly motored under the high bridge on the Pan-American highway that links North and South America and headed toward the narrowing entry to the "Path Between the Seas."
Normally it takes less than a day to go through the canal. We took two, starting with the Miraflores and San Miguel locks. I thought of the expression "a rising tide lifts all boats" as the gates closed lifting small yachts and huge tankers, cargo vessels and cruise ships -- and our catamaran -- all to a height of 85 feet and into the man-made Gatun Lake.
The lake itself was created during the building of the canal by damming the mighty Chagres River and flooding a huge area. Now what were once high hills are protected islands.
While moored near the largest, Barro Colorado, site of the world-famous Smithsonian Tropical Research Center, time was spent exploring the lake shore by Zodiac and kayak, and taking STRI guide-led hikes through the dense jungle.
The next day we completed our ocean-to-ocean passage, going through the three-stepped Gatun Locks which dropped us back to sea level. We moved out into the Caribbean, then made a U-turn and headed into the mouth of the Chagres, anchoring two miles upstream. Next day, we enjoyed another morning of snorkeling and swimming; the afternoon hiking to the old fortress called San Lorenzo. Late that night we cruised back down the river and moved out to sea, turned south past protected harbor and city of Colon and dropping anchor near the small settlement of Portobelo, said to have been developed on the very site where by Christopher Columbus landed in 1497. We spent the last full day swimming and snorkeling in the morning and the afternoon and part of the evening in the village. There we visited the large church world famous because of its iconic Black Christ, went to the market where Kuna Indians display and sell their appliquéd molas, and met, danced and drank with many other locals.
Departing from Portobelo on a chartered bus, we experienced both symbolic and real time travel leaving Spanish colonial Panama to ride back across the country on a highway paralleling the canal, and then abruptly reentering modern times in a city that is rapidly coming to look like a Latin American Singapore or Hong Kong.
For those like us, passionate about history, ethnography, ecology, feats of engineering and nature's wonders, our Panamanian voyage on Discovery, was truly a voyage of discovery.
For further information:
www.pmatours.net
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Editor of SoGoNow.com, Peter Rose is a sociologist, writer and photographer. Hedy Rose is a researcher and photographer.
