One Beautiful Day in Panama

Who?  Jaime Toro  Where?  Along with the exceptional economic growth of Panama in recent years has come a flood of new automobiles.  Panama City is a very old city (the oldest city on the Pacific Coast of the Western Hemisphere) and it was not built for this much traffic.  One step taken by the government is the construction of a Cinta Costera (Coastal Beltway) across part of the bay that will allow much of the traffic to avoid the downtown area.  As you can see, the new “belt” is being tightened and is expected to be completed by June of this year.

Who?  “Bill’s friend”   Where?  Nearly everyone interested in Panama has seen photos of the huge ships that cross our nation on the Panama Canal every day.  But let us not forget that they are greatly outnumbered by boats of far more modest size.  The one above is resting ashore just off the Rio Bayano (Bayano River) near the town of Chepo in eastern Panama.  The Rio Bayano is a major route to the ocean for fishermen and women and this is how they get there.  These boats may be utilitarian, but like so many things in Panama, they add their “color” to please the eye.

Who?  Jeff  Where?  Despite being only half the size of Florida, we have sixteen national parks in Panama.  This photo of palm fronds was taken in the Camino de Cruces National Park, just outside of Panama City.   In Panama, some of our most beautiful views are of the simple things that surround us every day.