Larry's Central American Travels

Hola From Panama

 

What's Happening In Panama?

 

Panama Canal Anniversary

On Wednesday, August 15, Panama celebrated the 98th anniversary of the opening of its Canal. It was at the time the greatest engineering feat of humankind of the century and remains one of the world’s wonders today. In 1914 the tugboat Ancón made the inaugural transit that set in motion a great unification of trade routes and ports from east to west and north to south.

Panama Viejo celebrates 493 years

It was nearly 500 years since the founding of Panama La Vieja, the ancient fortress-style settlement whose ruins grace the eastern section of today's Panama City. On August 15, the country celebrated 493 years since the Spanish founded the settlement. It should be noted, because most folks do not know it, that this was the first city on the American Pacific.

New Airplanes for Air Panama

Air Panama began using its new F-1 Fokker jets on Friday, August 17. The airplanes offer 92 total seats, 12 of them are preferential. These newest additions to the rapidly-expanding national airline will be used along its David, Chiriquí and San Jose, Costa Rica routes.

I will admit that this development is particularly important to me. Note the reference to the Costa Rica route? This is how I get back to the U.S. - David to San Jose, then non-stop to Charlotte (U.S. Air). The new jets cut about 15-20 minutes off the flight time to San Jose - an important consideration when you are trying to make connections. In addition, the newer jets are much more reliable. One more reduction in travel pressure.

 

I Need To Tell You About This

You should come with me. The rather plain looking building (shown here) houses one of the best Oriental restaurants in David and by far the largest. Yes it's a Chinese restaurant, but it is a fancy one. The ambience is definitely several 'cuts above' what one expects in restaurants here, with comfortable, cushion armed chairs, white tablecloths, fancy silverware and dishes, all of it tended to by a smartly uniformed and attentive wait-staff. The spacious dining room also features a high ceiling, huge chandeliers, big Chinese prints on the walls, and an array of flat-screen TVs around the room.

The menu is not big - it is massive! Your initial reaction when the menus are presented is that you may starve to death just trying to get throught the menu.  And everything I have tried has been heavenly - as good as any Chinese restaurant I have ever visited, even the very high-end expensive ones that I have sampled in some big U.S. cities. The three bar tenders normally on duty at the long bar across the end of the dining room take their jobs equally as serious as the other help.

By a separate front entrance (the one on the left in the photo) you enter a 'To-Go pickup room' that includes a glass display case (we would call it a butcher's case in the U.S.) full of prepared items (either to cook or warm up) to take with your prepared order. The to-go operation is busy enough that 3 or 4 people are usually working behind the counter.

One of the reasons I thought you all would get a kick out of this posting is due to the fact that this restaurant has a very unique feature. The name of one of the biggest and more popular restaurants in David Panama is neither Chinese nor Spanish - it is English. Even better the best Chinese cuisine in this part of Panama is served at - ready for this? - 'The Steak House'.  Huh? A Chinese restaurant named The Steak House? Yes, The Steak House - go figure!

 

Do You Know Reuben?

The headline blared "Much ahead for Rubén Blades. And most of you are asking, "Reuben who?", because the name probably does not ring a bell. Well, read on - I think you will enjoy meeting a real unforgetable fellow. Meet Rueben Blades (Spanish pronunciation is Blah - days)

In the previous Panamanian administration headed by Pres.Torrillos, Rebuen Blades was the government's Minister of Tourism. In that position, Blades did more for Panama's tourism industry and, by default, the nation's economy then all the previous tourism heads combined - and then some. He came up with the 'revolutionary' idea of a long-term, multi-year Tourism Master Plan. And then spent a lot of time and effort implementing the plan's initial steps.

He set up and sponsored Panama Tourism trade shows in both Europe and the U.S. and made Panama a highly visible player in tourism conventions all over the world. He established forums and committees here in Panama that coordinated the efforts of the separate tourists-related business sectors, such as hotels, travel sectors, fairs/festivals and tourists attractions. He pushed government initiatives that encouraged increased airline travel in and out of the country and made some traveler-friendly changes in airport and immigration procedures.  It has surprised no one that tourism has boomed in Panama, and is projected to continue that growth for years to come.

But, there is more! Reuben Blades is argueably the country's most famous entertainer, as has been for years.  His brand of salsa music took not only Panama, but all of Latin America by storm years ago - and he is still going strong. Panama’s leading renaissance man already stands cool at the center of 15 studio recordings and a world tour with the Roberto Delgado de Panamá big band. There are also rumors that he is going to join up again for duet concerts with the world's other most famous salsa star, Willie Colon. Ruben Blades turned 64 on July 16, and the salsa star, Hollywood actor and former tourism minister says that he still has a lot to do. So stay tuned.

Oh, and did I mention that Blades is returning to the big screen alongside Denzel Washington in "Safe House," Andy García in "For Greater Glory, and "The True Story of Cristiada," as well as the film "The Counselor," directed by Ridley Scott where Blades appears alongside Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Javier Bardem. Yes, I said the 'big screen' - as in the movie screen. Blades has been 'doing his thing' in Hollywood and American TV for years as well. This is a listing of just some of his awards (his list of credits run several pages)

Won ALMA Award - 2001 for Outstanding Actor in a New Television Series "Gideon's Crossing".

Nominated Daytime Emmy - 2004 for Outstanding Performer in a Family Special "The Maldonado Miracle". (Showtime).

Nominated Emmy - 1992 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries "Crazy from the Heart". (TNT).

Nominated Emmy - 1991 for Outstanding Supporting Actor "The Josephine Baker Story" (HBO).

Won Imagen Award - 2004 for Best Supporting Actor (Film) "Once Upon a Time in Mexico."

Nominated Independent Spirit Award - 1986 for Best Male Lead "Crossover Dream."

So you have probably seen Blades on screen (big or small), and just did not know who he was.  I just saw him last week in a movie on TV (that I did not catch the name of) playing the police-patrolman partner of Harrison Ford.  So keep an eye out for him.

On the back burner, Blades' plans include finding time to write, a return to the University to obtain a doctorate and a return to public service through a government position. An impressive list. And, I think you will agree with me an impressive fellow. Look for Reuben Blades to 'pop up' in some form in a venue near you in the future!

(click on thumbnails to view pics full-size)

Till Next Time.  Pura Vida

 

How Widening The Panama Canal Will Effect You!

 

Widening of Panama Canal Will Remake World Trade Patterns

 

This was the headline of a recent article by Tim Johnson in McClatchy Newspapers. I was amazed by some of the information included in the article. (click on photos to view full-size)  I was even more amazed when I realized that I knew practically nothing about the canal, even though I have lived here in Panama for five years (and have visited the canal on several occasion). I thought that many of you might find this information as interesting as I did. It really becomes more important when it sinks in that widening a canal is going to change things worldwide. Just one more example of what an inter-connected world we live in.

 

Some of the facts outlined in the article:

Ports up and down the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard are in a frenzied race to get ready for the larger, slower, more efficient ships that one day will ply the oceans. They are dredging harbors, expanding rail lines, taking a look at port facilities and distribution centers and, in the case of the New York City area, preparing to elevate the roadway on the Bayonne Bridge so that bigger vessels can slip underneath to Newark Harbor.

Since the first ship transited the Panama Canal (Aug. 15, 1914), the roughly 50-mile-long waterway has saved cargo lines the journey around Cape Horn and through the stormy Drake Passage at the southern tip of South America. More than a million ships have transited the canal, and roughly 5 percent of all world trade moves across the isthmus each year.

But the Panama Canal was always constrained by the size of its locks, permitting no vessel longer than 965 feet, wider than 106 feet and with a draft greater than 39 feet to pass through. Ships suitable for the canal became known as Panamax vessels and could carry nearly 5,000 20-foot shipping containers.

When the third lane opens in late 2014, the canal’s capacity will more than double. Ships as long as 1,200 feet and up to 160 feet wide, with drafts as deep as 50 feet, will be able to transit. The largest vessels will carry as many as 13,200 containers, or at least double the dry weight of bulk cargo that can pass through today. Shipyards are seeing a surge in orders for what are called post-Panamax vessels.

The Panama Canal widening will affect inland railway hubs such as Kansas City and ports along the Gulf Coast, because as shipping becomes cheaper, rail lines that handle cargo coming from Asia and take it across the country may notice a slowdown. TA the same time however, it will be a boon for the Midwest Farm Belt as grain exports moving through the Gulf Coast become more competitive in Asia.

More goods will move through Texas ports, too, and motorists are certain to groan at clogged highways. Texas officials in May created a Working Group to figure out how such highways as I-35 between Dallas and San Antonio, which already handles some 200,000 vehicles a day, will cope.

Traffic already is bustling at the canal, too. The number of shipping containers aboard freighters transiting the canal has risen from 200,000 in 1995 to 6.6 million last year.

One problem is some of the ports along the Atlantic Seaboard don’t have channels deep enough to handle such seagoing behemoths. The White House announced in July that it had issued orders to expedite dredging projects to deepen harbors and approaches in Miami, Jacksonville, Fla., Savannah, Ga., Charleston, S.C., and the Port of New York and New Jersey.

"It’s not only about the ports," Aleman said. "It’s the roads, the trains, the distribution centers and actually it’s about jobs."

The widening of the canal will affect trade across Latin America. Very large ships carrying coal from northeastern Colombia and iron ore from Brazil will soon be able to take the raw material to China through Panama more cheaply, giving a boost to those industries and creating jobs. Chilean copper producers will find it easier to export to European markets.

Panama, a diminutive country of 3.5 million people, took a huge risk financing the canal widening. But the payoff will be bountiful. The United States ran the canal as a break-even operation, but once Panama took over in 1999, it increased tolls to make a profit. This year, the canal will contribute $1 billion to Panamanian government coffers. By 2025, projections are for Panama to earn $4 billion a year from the tolls.

With the widening, Panama also hopes to transform itself from just a transit point for cargo into a logistical hub where ships can be overhauled in dry dock, containers sorted for onward passage and industrial parks set up for final assembly of goods.  Already, major multinationals, including Caterpillar, Procter & Gamble, Dell and Mexico’s Cemex have turned to Panama as a headquarters for regional operations.

Panama also boasts five fiber-optic trunk cables, giving it the best digital connectivity in the Western Hemisphere outside the United States. Its airline offers flights to 29 countries, more than any other hub in the region. The nation is bustling as new port complexes are being built on both the Atlantic and Pacific ends of the canal.

On the canal itself, pilots await a new era of mega-ships inching ever so carefully through the locks on the larger third lane. "There are lots of questions about how currents, wind and the hydrodynamics (of the locks) will work," said master towboat Capt. Gerardo Martinez, one of 230 tugboat pilots guiding ships through the canal. The one sure thing, he added, is "the stress will be bigger."

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So in a couple of years, major changes are anticipated and there are probably many more impacts that have not been addressed as yet. Will be interesting to see. I imagine that the first 'super-ship' to transit the canal will really draw a crowd. You may just want to put that on your 2014 calendar!

Larry Matthews

 

Till Next Time. Pura Vida