Panama: Lay of the land

March 31, 2011

Panama Update: This morning we had a quick breakfast at one of our chosen guest hotels, The Manrey…

Very nice and surprisingly stylish which as we soon discovered is not out of the norm for Panama city or its residents. There are currently 200 hotels/condos under construction here in the city each of which will be over 20 floors. Nigel was instrumental for us as the “Godfather” figure of Panama city and took our lives in his hands as he negotiated the roads, meetings and dealings of the day. Brian Grange appeared a little uneasy about our fate on the Panamanian streets…

But for the “Godfather” it was just another day as he helped us avoid the typical cultural and literal “Huecas” (pot-holes) that come with doing business in Latin America. The roads did throw in a few curves in our way and most North American traffic rules were tossed out the window…

You could argue that adapting the lanes to the trees is a green initiative, so well done Panama city planners! Our second destination was the Flamenco Marina, which will be the site of The Pacific Providers welcome party and reception here in Panama city on May 4th once we’ve made it through the canal crossing…

Nigel worked his magic as Michael and Tobey took in the location with the Panama city skyline in the background…

After which we discussed the details and logistics of the party. Although Nigel commented that in Panama “the left hand doesn’t speak to the right hand” at least they make excellent espresso and the country has a reputation for producing some of the best coffee beans in the world…

That looks fabulous but you can expect to wait a long time for anybody to take your order and even longer for it to arrive, even at the best spots in town. Before leaving the marina we checked up on the two exisiting WCFC boats that are here ready for action. The first is a 35 ft Strike…

Nigel, Tobey and Brian Grange pose with the strike and our trusty blue steed, the Toyota Yaris! Most of you will recognize the second craft but not the surroundings…

One of our beloved northern whalers with Palm trees in the background. Then it was off to “The Market” restaurant for the best hamburger in town and a meeting with the company’s Panamanian lawyer Juan Jose (better known as “JJ”), whose family (on his fathers side) moved to Panama from Spain in 1671…

He entertained us with some very interesting facts on Panama; the country’s population is 3.5 million, 1 million of which live in Panama City, The country gets 2 million tourists a year and the airport has 7 million people through it annually…in short Panama is “open for business”. Here are some shots of the city…

The building on the far right is “The Point”, the largest residential tower in Latin America at 67 stories.

Right beside this cluster downtown was another new set of towers going up…

and some very interesting architecture…

There was much more to report on the afternoon and evening events but its late and tomorrow is a new day in this extraordinary place. You WILL want to come down here!

I’ll end tonight with a glimpse of the city scape…

Goodnight from Panama.
Let us know what you want to see, post a comment.

Ken Beatty
WCFC Panama

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JOHN BAKER
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