Transport of Workers in Panama

I have gotten used to the way that the Panamanians pack their workers into the back of a truck on their way to and from work, I have seen it so often. As North Americans we are not used to this sight. Sometimes they are perched on the side rails in the box of the truck. Sometimes they are packed in with tools and equipment or supplies.

It always amazes me that no one seems to think about the impact that the movement of a large refrigerator would make, should the truck sway in the wrong direction, on the poor Panamanian that has been solicited to hold it up on the trip.  Or how about being impaled by some of the tools or materials being transported via the same containment.

This particular day we were behind a Panamanian carrying his bicycle off the back of the truck. It was not one of the most exciting transports we have seen, but at least I had my camera ready for this one.

Woman in Trouble on Beach at High Tide

On one particular day while we were staying at the Playa Serena in 2011, there was a large wind blowing. The water was very rough. I had actually never seen the swells so high in Gorgona before. They must have been about 10 feet high and the tide was on its way in.

As I stood on my balcony I watched a fairly large woman come down to the beach to lay in the sun. She put her large purse on the sand down by the foot of her lounge chair. She lay face up on the lounge chair. I watched her because I know the tide was coming in and I knew that she would lose her purse if she left it there.

I should mention that in Gorgona when the swells get high and the tide is coming in there are a series of riptides that run along the length of the beach about every 60 ft.

As I watched a large wave came in very close to her purse and she noticed this and moved her purse from the bottom of her lounge chair to the head of her lounge chair, again on the sand. At this time she turned over face down onto her lounger.

I continued to watch for about the next ten minutes as the tide continued to aggressively advance toward this woman. She was positioned about at the crest of where the high tide line normally would come to, and so I was not concerned for her safety but was sure that her purse would become a victim of the swells.

Sure enough a huge waves came in and engulfed her purse and proceeds to sweep it back out to sea. It moved along more slowly then i had anticipated but to be sure it was being carried out to sea. The woman must have noticed out of the corner of her eye the purse being taken, and was actually for the size of her, quite quick in responding. She jumped out of her charge and went running after her purse, reaching down on several occasions as she got, what she though was close enough to grab it, as it got caught in wave after wave approaching the beach and advancing forward. Of course it was making it's way out to the sea. All this was happening as i watched her get closer and closer the waters edge. My heart was caught in my throat as I watched what happened next.

This woman was not watching the waves and the ocean at all, she was so intent on retrieving her disappearing purse. As she approached the waters edge a large wave, twice her height came right over her and engulfed her. She was soon swept out to sea and caught in one of the riptides. I would see her bob and then she would disappear. Arms would flail and then nothing until a few seconds later when I would see her bob again. This went on for quite some time.

The security guard who was on duty at the Playa Serena saw what had happened and ran down the beach to try to rescue her. Also there where construction workers working on the tower next door, The Bijao, and about six of them ran down from the building to help. The security guard tried to jump in after her a couple of times but was caught in the riptide himself. Everyone on the beach watched in horror at what was unfolding in front of them. The problem was that the current was much too strong for any rescue attempts to be made safely.

The security guard managed to get thrown free of the riptide and made his way back to shore and stood there helpless to assist any further with the recovery of the woman. We watched the woman continually bob up, flail her arms and then disappear beneath surface once again only to resurface somewhere else a few seconds later. Eventually there was no more movement from the woman and then she bounced up face down and disappeared from view again. I knew she was done.

She bobbed up a couple of more times but by now we knew there was no response. She had drowned. Miraculous is what happened next.

The next wave came up and landed the woman on the beach on her back. The six construction workers and the security guard ran down and grabbed her before the next wave came in. She must have been about three hundred pounds and so they dragged her up the beach by her arms and upper body. as they dragged her she was bounced up and down because they were running to get her out of harms way when the next wave would come.

I am trained in CPR and so I ran down the stairs to assist in resuscitation. When I arrived at the scene the woman was already coughing and sputtering. It seems that the act of dragging her up the beach and with all of the bouncing the water had been forced out of her lungs and she was now breathing on her own. She was of course still concerned about her purse which was long gone and never was recovered. At that time I do not think she even realized the severity of what had happened and how she had actually drowned and been revived.

We learned later that this was her first day upon arriving in Panama. The U.S. Consulate was helpful in getting her paperwork that she needed to get her passport etc. There were several people in the building that helped her out with a place to stay until she could get another set of keys for the apartment she was staying in and with transportation and medical that she needed.

I will always remember the brave efforts of the security guard that day as he braved the strong currents to try and rescue her and the construction workers who valiantly pulled her from the brink of death and brought her back through their rough efforts of pulling her out of harms way.

The Celebration of Quinceañera

One of the things we noticed in Panama is how they love their "Fiestas"! They seem to have an occasion for everything. As we were travelling down the road we noticed what appeared to be a small parade. There were a number of teenagers hooting and hollering. I took some pictures. 

It wasn't until later when we learned that this was the celebration called Quinceañera or Quince años. It is the celebration of a young girl at the age of 15 being welcomed into young womanhood. The tradition is to wear pink and she is given gifts of jewelry. There is usually a church celebration followed by a dance at which time the Señorita will have her first dance with the Chambelan who is her date for the night. The dance is a traditional ballroom waltz called the Vals.


The Chambelan initiates the dance by requesting the Quinceañera to join him in the Vals. This dance is usually followed by dances with her father and godfather and other close male relatives. During this time other guests join them on the floor to dance as well. 


The godparents are usually responsible for the arrangement of the ceremonies and are also responsible for the religious upbringing of the girl in the Catholic religion.


This cultural aspect of Panama is quite common in other Latino countries although the celebrations may differ slightly, the common element is that the family is welcoming the young daughter into womanhood.

Deep Sea Fishing in Panama

A few times we have gone out deep sea fishing in Panama. I loved watching the wake from the back of the boat.

It was exciting when we landed "the big one". By the end of the day we were exhausted.

Here are some pictures I took on one of our ventures out. This day we caught a Wahoo, some sierra adn some amberjack

Pioneers in Panama

We consider ourselves to be Pioneers in Panama. We have been here six years now and have been through so much with the cultural differences... the waiting... various different aspects of the business world... the waiting... learning the language... the waiting... the bureaucratic paperwork that is needed for absolutely everything that needs to be done here and ...the waiting....well you get my drift.

A lot of people don't realize how much you really have to go through to get anything done in Panama until they actually try to do anything. We have a lot of people that come to us looking for help in various aspects of their journey because they know that we have been there and done that.

We don't mind helping people out because we know how difficult and frustrating it can be trying to get things done, especially if you do not know the language.

The definition of a Pioneer is "One who ventures into unknown or unclaimed territory to settle." We feel that we are bulldozing the way for others to follow.

We have always been entrepreneurs and have therefore embarked upon many different journeys, most of which are in unchartered territories, so to speak.

For those of you who don't know us well we are overseers of developments in Panama and manage a small resort which is continuing to grow. We also oversee a couple of projects in the highlands in which we are in the process of supervising  the development into residential projects. Most of our properties are geared towards the North American and European peoples who expect more quality in the workmanship, which we are provided to give for a reasonable price.

Here is a video of us bulldozing the way for others to follow:

When We First Came to Panama

The first few trips to Panama we stayed mostly at the Decameron and so it became our home away from home. Once we decided to supervise the development of the resort in Punta Chame, for the first while we decided to stay on site. That was four years ago. We had built the shell of the first duplex and we lived in the one side while the other side was being built.

Wanting to have all the comforts of home we purchased a beautiful bed and a 42" plasma TV. Of course the interior had a little to be desired, but it was our home, even thought we did end up sharing our quarters from time to time with a bat, a nest of bees, a scorpion, mosquitoes etc. I kept a flashlight by my bedside to use at night if I had to get up to go to the bathroom as I would never know when I might encounter some creature.

Of course we have come a long way from those days and so we do not have any problems on this beautiful resort with these creatures now, as they have moved on, but of course in those days the area was quite raw and undeveloped.

There was no such thing as a hot shower. It was always cold, and so I kind of chuckle now whenever I hear a client complain if they have no hot water, because it reminds me of those days, and I always think to myself "You have no idea..."

Another thing I don't miss from those days was the sound of the morning gong which was made from a piece of a steel beam that hung on a tree outside our window. We had sixty workers working on the resort and the gong was rung every morning at 7:00 am to call all the men to work.

Wish I had A Picture of This One

A couple of years ago, while we were driving down the highway, we spotted an old white beat up pickup truck. Not an unusual site in Panama, but what made it unusual was what was inside. In the cab of the truck were three healthy young men, I would say they were in their early thirties….. In the back of the truck was Grandma.

I am telling you this woman had to be 98 years old. Here she was in a make shift wheelchair that was made from an old plastic lawn chair with bicycle wheels, The makeshift wheelchair was strapped up against the cab of the truck with a rope running across the back of the cab and through the windows on each side to secure it. The poor little old lady, though was not strapped into her chair and she was holding on for dear life, terrified out of her wits end as the old rattletrap bumped and rattled its way down the bumpy road….Gosh I wished I had my camera that day…