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| The Spanish founded Panama on the site
of a fishing village in 1519 and the name "Panama" means abundant fish
in the native Indian language. Gold also became abundant as the Spanish used this
new city as the staging post for plunder heading back to Mother Spain. The gold
attracted pirates, and in 1671 Henry Morgan, the famed British pirate, burned
the city to the ground. The Spanish re-established it a few kilometers east (present
day old town) but eventually stopped using Panama as a major trading post. It
declined in importance. Panama declared itself independent from Colombia on November
3rd, 1903, the country's most important date. Commerce returned with the opening
of the Panama Canal in 1914. |
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| Panama
City encloses a real jungle within its concrete jungle: the Parque Natural Metropolitano.
Some trees look like skyscrapers and the mosquitos attack like mad salesmen. Titi
monkeys clamber about the trees and toucans show off their rainbow beaks. |
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| Last look at Panama City. This afternoon we
will fly to Quito, Ecuador. Overland trips from Panama thru Colombia have become
too dangerous. The InterAmericana ends in Panama and no roads go from there into
Colombia. With so much to see in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and the rest of SA we
decided to skip Colombia. So much for Central America, next stop - South America. |
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