We had a great trip to Panama and our goal of visiting all of the countries in the Americas is one country closer. Very sweet country and very, very hard for me to get my head around the idea that in 1989 we invaded Panama. Amazing!
We found that it is an easy country to visit, it seems to be doing well with lots of jobs and a lively economy and that a lot of expats enjoy living there. I would go back any time. One interesting thing was that as the airplane neared the country and we filled out our visa forms, we were handed a folder with a detachable card that informed us that as tourists, we were covered for all our health care needs. How shamelessly socialistic! No wonder we invaded them! That crap can be catching...just think if all of us in the US realized you can actually do that and provide health care as a right and not have it continue to be a for-profit industry, it would turn the country upside down.
So in 16 days we visited the old part of the largest city, the Atlantic side at Boca del Toro, the uplands in the north at Boquete and the Pacific side at Boca Chica....giving a nice overview of the country.
I won't go into all of the experiences we had but there were many and we met a fair number of folks that we really enjoyed.
Now I am home in NM and working on happy-home-owner projects as well as getting my hack ready for a good long summer ride. I am experimenting with some ideas to set up a way that I don't have to sleep on the ground but up on the hack tub. Interesting project and I hope it works out....it would be nice to be up off the ground and able to park overnight in an occasional Walmart or Flying J truckstop....maybe a Pemex in Mexico....
Glad you enjoyed Panama, Bri! Can't wait to see your rig set-up. We'll be headed to NM in March...
ReplyDeleteThanks, it was great. I should still be around here then....be sure to let me know when you get here...
ReplyDeleteIn 1903 the US supported Panama's split from Colombia. I did my college thesis on the repercussions and have always thought it was an amazing region. Thanks for the awesome pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ash, Interesting...do you suppose our support in 1903 had anything with the idea of taking over France's attempt at a Panama Canal? I don't have to wonder very long. We made an enormous amount of money with that canal and held a key piece of strategic real estate through several wars including the cold war as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that the $350K to $500k per large ship passage is really enlivening the Panamanian economy. In the hour or hour and a half we were at the locks there were 4 very large ships passing through.
I am interested in the archeology being done there now that is turning up evidence of a previous very early civilization that left no other permanent evidence of their existence. Apparently they are finding a large amount of gold objects from them.
Should be an interesting thing to follow.....
You are totally correct about the US wanting the canal. It's been very well documented that the US supplied the guns and training for Columbian rebels, supporting them in their revolution only long enough for Panama to break away (It's also been suggested that the US instigated the revolution in order to gain control of the area). Once the US had the canal we withdrew support. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you know from your extensive travel in South America, the Columbian revolution didn't end and they are still fighting today for the same reasons and using the same resources we supplied them with in 1900, it’s just not often called a revolution because the US now supports the Columbian government. As you can see, I think this is a fascinating subject:)
DeleteHi Ash, The thing is, as you are finding out, the more you dig and look, the more crap you see that we have been involved in CA and SA. Pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteNot really taught that way in our public school history classes.
I can definitely see why you find it fascinating...keep up the good work...
Bri