Global Challenge: Panama

France Square

This is commemorated to the French who first started building the canal. There are large stone plaques dedicated to the 22,000 workers who died trying to create the canal. Panama’s Instituto Nacional de Cultura is also in this square.

Ananas Panama S.A.

Ananas grows pineapples and passionfruit to be sold in local stores. They must do manual pollination because insects are not in the area they farm. It is 7 months of work in total to harvest the passionfruit and pineapple. They say that greener pineapples are sent for fruit salads and orange ones are used for concentrate. The pineapples which cannot be sold are fed to the farm’s cows.

Punta Paitilla

The biggest kosher super market in latin america is located in Punta Paitilla. There are at least a dozen kosher restaurants and two synagogues in this town as it is neighborhood where the majority of residents are jewish. In fact, Panama has the largest jewish population in Central America.

Panamá Viejo

Sent by the king of Spain, Pedrarías Dávila founded Panamá Viejo in 1519. This was the first ever first town built in pacific ocean of america. Most of these buildings were churches or convents as this town was meant to spread Catholicism. Later on, this location became a hub for slave trade, gold, and coffee, introducing all of these items to the Americas from Europe. However, the Spaniards saw this town as temporary for business, and did not view Panamá Viejo as a permanent destination. British buccaneers arrived in 1671, attacking the town, and so the Spaniards set fire to the village so they could not plunder their supplies.

Gatun Lake

Gatun Lake was created during the construction of the canal to provide the water needed to lift ships through the locks of the canal. The artificial island, Barro Colorado, is rich in biodiversity. Panama’s drinkable water comes from this lake as well. The lake is fresh water. It connects to the Chagres River.

Boquete Tree Trek Adventure Park

Just outside of Boquete in Los Naranjos, Tree Trek Boquete is an absolutely beautiful 40 hectare property that offers ecological adventures and tours. We experienced the hanging bridges and zipline, but they are also a hotel, guide coffee and tea tours, as well as birdwatching tours. They began the construction of their ziplines in 2004, when tourism to the area was really beginning to boom. Tree Trek balances conservation of the jungles of Panama with showing people the beauty and biodiversity of the area.

Mola Museum

The mola is a fabric, like a skirt or blouse, made by the indigenous Guna women. Nike was actually sued by the Guna people due to a shoe that looked very similar to the designs they use. According to the Guna worldview, molas have existed since the mythical origin of the universe. The mola patterns changed the clouds in the sky and are meant to pass female ancestral knowledge. It takes a woman about 60 hours to create a mola.

Miraflores Locks

The Miraflores Locks are one of the three locks involved in transporting ships through the Panama Canal. We had the chance to see one of the guiding tugboats pass through them. These locks allow vessels to be transported to and from the Pacific Ocean Port of Balboa in Panama City

Arco Chato

This arch was so important to the US’s decision to keep the canal in Panama instead of Nicaragua. This arch has stood through non-destructive earthquakes, so they decided that Panama was the best location. Additionally, no metal was used to support the arch for more than 300 years.

JW Marriott Panama

Was once the Trump Tower and is now the second largest building in Latin America.

Parque Natural Metropolitano

This park is one of the few tropical forests located within a metropolitan area in Latin America. It was established in 1985. The park includes a lowland tropical forest and secondary growth forest with panama trees, and ceiba trees in a dry topical forest. There are over 150 species in this forest, including white-tailed deer, aguotis, tamarin monkeys, sloths, and iguanas. There used to be WWII bunkers and military plane repair shops in this area.

Hotel La Serranía

We had the opportunity to stay at Hotel La Serrania in Boquete. It's a small independently owned hotel not far from the main downtown Boquete area. The garden, common spaces, and terraces truly immersed us in the natural beauty of Boquete.

Ruinas de Portobelo, Fuerte Santiago

Gold and silver came from peru to be stored in Portobelo to then be shipped to spain. it was the most important trade center in the 16-17 hundreds. The town was built in 1612. the cannons reach 200 kilometers, protecting spanish goods. The town of Portobelo celebrates the Congo Carnival, celebrating the resistance of Cimarrones, formerly enslaves Africans during the Spanish period. This is also where Cristo Negro resides.

Panama Canal

The canal was completed in 1914 by the Americans, finishing what the French started. The Americans built terraces as they dug, controlling erosion. The revenue from the canal was controlled by the US until 1999. The bottom of the canal is not flat as it was too hard to dig through some sections of rock. As such, there are locks that lower and lift the ships through the canal, and the water fills through gravity by filling the previous lock. The new lock system has been built entirely by panama in 2016. Additionally, the canal is a great place for biological research as it provides a great small sample source.

Boquete

Boquete grows 90% of the vegetables in Panama. They are known for their high quality geisha coffee and is known as the best place to retire in Latin America, meaning there is a large Ex-Pat community.

Biomuseo

The building was designed by Frank Gehry as his first work in Latin America, fully finished in 2021. It showcases the vital role Panama has played in global diversity and explores how the rise of the isthmus of Panama about 3 million years ago created a land bridge that changed ocean currents, climate patterns, and animal migration (the great American interchange). It shows how the environment shaped the lives of indigenous and early settlers

Embera Quera

Emberá is the name of the indigenous people, and Quera means perfume in their native language. The Emberá peoples came from the Darien area between Panama and Columbia/ They migrated to this area in 2007 with only two families for better education, health, and security. They sustain themselves only on tourism and agriculture. There are 70 people in the community in total, with 18 families, most of them being very young. They have a mltigrade school and two haibenas (medicinal experts.)

Mercado de Mariscos

This market imports fish from Costa Rica and Mexico but mainly sells high end fish right from the bay of Panama. The building was built by Japan to convince Panama to join in their research to obtain whale fat for cancer. This was a scam, as they were not using the whale fat for research but eating it instead. So, Panama turned their back on Japan, deciding to protect the oceans and its wildlife.

Casa Góngora

One of the oldest original buildings in Panama. Here, pearls were traded from the pearl islands. Historically, people who could get valuable enough pearls could buy themselves freedom.

Casco Viejo

This town was built in 1673, two years after the fall of Panama Viejo. The seawall was built by the Spanish to protect gold and other valuables from british buccaneers, with holes cut out for cannons. Many Guna people live here selling Molas.

Selina Casco Viejo Panama City

Selina is a hotel as well as one of the iconic rooftop bars in Casco Viejo. Their business is geared to nomadic travelers and is marketed as a place to stay, eat, and work. They have workshops and projects that aim to help the people staying with them, the environment, and the surrounding communities. We visited and enjoyed drinks with a view of the incredible Panama City skyline.

Multiplaza Panamá

The location in which this mall is now situated to be the site of the country’s Air Force Station.

Tántalo Hotel / Kitchen / Roofbar

The walls inside are adorned with many different murals from a handful of different artists. Most depict the flora and fauna of Panama with others depicting social commentary on things like relationships or sexuality. On fridays, they have live music at the rooftop DJ bar.

Scuba Portobelo

It rains 120 more here than Panama City. his is the only stop on our journey where we will be on the caribbean side of latin america. Here, people used to pan for gold to make a living. We went to playa huerta to swim.

Paso Canoas Internacional

Paso Canoas was the border crossing we passed through on our way back to San Jose. Paso Canoas is shared by the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica and the Chiquirí Province of Panama. While technically the town is located on the Costa Rica side of the border, it is also considered a Panamanian City. It's main economic activity is commerce.

Summit Municipal Park

The summit Botanical Garden was founded in 1923 by David Fairchild. He was hired by the US Government, as part of the Panama Canal Project, to start a botanical garden. It is not only a garden which contains flora from all different parts of the world, but also rehabilitates animals such as sloths, parrots, and jaguars.

Landau farm

The farm is named after one of the first families that settled in Boquete, coming from Germany. The farm has been here for multiple decades and first started as a coffee plantation until a flood destroyed their machinery. It has now been a vegetable business for 53 years growing tomatoes and peppers in over 25 greenhouses. Their products are sold in local stores.

Chinatown Panamá

There is a large chinese population in Panama due to chinese immigration for the construction of the canal. Panama has the oldest history of Chinese immigrants, dating back to the 1800s due to working on rail tracks. This became a stopover for 49ers on the way to california or oregon. 5% of Panama’s population is Chinese.

Tocumen International Airport Panama

We arrived into Tocumen International Airport when we first arrived to Panama City. It is generally considered to be a regional hub to and from the Caribbean, Central, and South America.

La Rana Dorada | Vía Argentina

La Rana Dorada is one of the only craft breweries in Panama. 14 years ago, it was one of the first breweries of it's kind in Panama, but now it has 10 locations all over the region. It was also the destination of our ride on el Diablo Rojo, which is an icon of Panamanian art and pop culture.

Plaza Mayor

The Metropolitan Archcathedral Basilica of Santa María la Antigua faces the Casco Viejo’s town center. It was consecrated in 1796, although construction work began in 1688. There are colonial architecture as well as French architecture due to France’s contribution to the canal. There is also Neo-Classical, Art-Deco styles influenced by the US.

Courtyard by Marriott Panama Multiplaza Mall

We stayed in this hotel in downtown Panama City. It has direct access to the Multiplaza Mall an is located in the middle of a commercial hub, with shopping and businesses surrounding it.