Taking care of business in Panama

Greetings from Panama City. The country was featured prominently in the press some time ago as the so called “Panama Papers” were all over the news, containing 11 million leaked documents of juicy details regarding financials of offshore companies.

But the area has a lot to offer when you scratch the surface. This city features the only two bridges that connect North America and South America, a marvel in itself for map aficionados such as myself.

Along the avenida.

Historically, Panama City was burned to the ground in 1671 by the pirate Henry Morgan, the fellow depicted on the eponymous rum bottle of Captain Morgan. The ruins in the outskirts of the city are still there to visit.

The ruins of Panama Viejo.

The city was also the starting point for the expeditions of the armies that conquered the Inca empire in 1532 and later the epicenter of the USA invasion in 1989, the war that started all of Washington’s wars post the Cold war.

Afternoon stroll in Casco Viejo.

Despite being such a focal location, the country is surprisingly absent from mainstream media, but many people have seen Panama without realizing it. Panama city is heavily featured in Bond movie Quantum of Solace from 2008, even though the scenes from Panama City are named “La Paz, Bolivia” in the movie. No shoots were done in Bolivia at all and the scenes from “Port-au-Prince, Haiti” are actually the city of Colon in northern Panama.

A bonus Bond connection is also the 2001 film Tailor of Panama, with Pierce Brosnan roaming the city as a somewhat seedier MI6 agent.

Along the narrow streets of Casco Viejo.

The old town, Casco Viejo, was placed on a peninsula for better protection against pirates. While walking along the beautiful streets it’s easy to momentary relax and drop the guard, but the calm is very regional. Just a few streets north is the infamous area El Chorrillo, where not even taxi drivers dare to pass through.

Colorful ride in Casco Viejo.

This city is clearly more than meets the eye. I will make sure to have a closer look at this place in the following days.