In the mountains surrounding the Panamanian town of Boquete, there is a rather phenomenal coffee farm called Hacienda La Esperanza. It is run by Jose Pretto, a Panamanian citizen of Italian descent seen in this photograph. We met one day in 2008, two hours into my walk down a curvy two-lane highway, where I was […]
There Is Only One Sin
In the Panamanian island chain of Bocas del Toro, theft is a problem on some beaches. During the week of my visit in 2008, one couple described being approached by two young men who “asked” for their wallet. They carried no weapon, but their demeanor was intimidating enough — and the travelers sufficiently isolated on their […]
The Gift Of Ignorance On Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve, in 2008, I woke up on a sailboat anchored in the Panama Canal. Howler monkeys were making a wonderful ruckus in the trees on shore. The waters of Gatun Lake lapped softly against our vessel. Humidity gave weight to the air. And our mooring buoy reeked of bird guano. It was, in […]
All Quiet on the Panamanian Front (Bocas del Toro, Panama)
I saw this horse on two different visits one week to Wizard Beach on Isla Bastimentos, an island in Panama’s Bocas del Toro Archipelago. Drawn to the salty taste of the surf, the horse would wade into the water and then mostly stand still, letting the occasional wave slap its face. After maybe half an hour […]