Penal Colony of Isla Coiba Tour

Tour Suggested

Coiba IslandTour Package

www.panamatourismtravel.com

Mention Isla Coiba to the average Panamanian and treasured marine park and abundant ecosystem are probably not the image that pops into their mind.  For modern day citizens of Panama, stories of imprisonment, torture and death are more like to come to mind.

Coiba Island was Panama’s version of Devil’s Island.  From 1919 to 2004, the penal colony on Isla Coiba was home to the country’s most dangerous criminals as well as home to many who found themselves on the wrong side of the political struggle.  At its peak, The Coiba Island Prison housed 3000 inmates in about 30 camps spread around the islands.

“Los Desaparecidos” was the name given to the hundreds or even thousands who disappeared in Panama under dictators Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega, never to be seen again.  It is believed that many of these unfortunate individuals either ended up in unmarked graves near the Coiba’s penal colony or to have been dismembered and fed to the abundant shark population in its surrounding waters. 

After the fall of the dictatorship, Coiba resumed its role as a criminal prison camp rather than political prison.  In its final days, prisoners were the run of the mill thieves, murders and rapists serving their debt to society by farming and ranching the island to provide for their own existence.

The prison is now closed.  The prisoners have been relocated to other facilities and anything of value has been removed from the site.  The remaining structure is slowly being reclaimed by jungle and the marine air.  Its crumbling buildings and simply marked graves serve as the only memorial to Coiba’s dark history.

The fear of the prison and its inhabitants inadvertently resulted in preservation of the largest untouched rain forests in the Americas.  Because of the deterrent of the penal colony, about 80% of the islands forest remains virgin and unmolested.  A true silver lining in one of man’s most horrible moments.  Of course, with the prison gone and the supervising staff woefully under funded, Coiba’s next challenge is fending off poachers preying on the abundant wildlife of the park.

The Black Race Proudly Celebration

www.panamatourismtravel.com

May, month of the black ethnicity, is enthusiastically celebrated by black civic and folkloric groups in Colón who take advantage of the time to present their culture, contributions to the nation's history, way of thinking, music and, above all, their famous cuisine

Painted Hat

In our country, men in the countryside use a type of hat commonly known as the "sombrero pintao" , or painted hat. They are usually made using natural fibers from plants such as rush, a type of reed, bellota, a type of miniature palm frond or pita, similar in appearance to the aloe vera plant, which are suitable for our climate. The dark color for the stripes is obtained from the chisná plant, whose leaves are boiled along with the fibers to be dyed. This whole process is carried out by hand, using techniques passed down from generation to generation.

The quality of these hats is defined by the number of times the fiber had to go around to make the hat, so the simplest hats have 15 or less rounds and very fine hats with 16 to 24 rounds, which are much more expensive. For example, a painted hat with 16 rounds can cost from about 150 to 500 dollars.

In the rural countryside other types of hats are made using different materials, such as the white hat in the central provinces, the reed or cream colored hat in Veraguas, Los Santos and Coclé and the hat from the spinning palm, in northern Santa Fe de Veraguas.

The hats are divided according to how they are colored, or painted. The Mosquito style has many black spots on the braids. The Blanco, also known as the "ñopito" hat is totally white, and according to the taste of the buyer, may have a small black coloring on one side of the crown. The Junco is very durable, named so because it is made naturally with rush fiber. The Pintao is one of the most popular, named not because it is made in the town of La Pintada, but because it is decorated with a combination of white and black colors.

The hat known as Pepita de Guate is woven by inserting the black bellota fiber in between the white bellota strands.

The Talco style is similar to the "pintao," but the difference is that the former has a double row of black decorative fibers instead of one. The so-called Tumba Hombre, perhaps referring to the swirling women's skirt that dizzied men, has a combination of round black spots on the base, crown and brim.

In addition to these, there are other types of hats, such as the Reatilla, Talco Plumilla and Talco Encontrado.

These hats have managed to become an important part of typical dress for male Panamanians. Our women also use them, for example when wearing the common dress of the pollera Montuna, as well as when they get dressed up to attend the cantaderas, festive singing and performing parades.

There are no protocol parameters for its use, as it can be used both as a garment for a gala occasion, and also for daily use, without disrupting the custom or folk pattern for use of the traditional hat.

The way to wear the hat and fold its brims reveals a cultural expression, as well as the mood of its user, according to the following peculiarities:

1. Fold the front and back brims of the hat: a characteristic made famous as the Pedra style of wearing the hat, which attributes the wearer to being a successful person at a stage of splendor and pleasure in his life, and also synomynous with masculine charm and fighting skills.

2. Fold only the back brim of the hat: its wearer is considered an intellectual person with vast knowledge in a certain area of science or knowledge.

3. Fold only the front brim of the hat: indicates that he who wears this style is a ladies' man, ready to conquer a woman.

3. No fold on the hat brim: no particular interpretation is ascribed to this style, which is used during outdoor work to protect from sunlight.

4. No fold, with the front part of the hat tilted forward: the person wearing it is feeling low, dismayed, distressed, and is very commonly used by those in grieving.

Visit Coiba: Granito de Oro Island

A small islet off the northeastern coast of Isla Coiba named Granito de Oro has emerged as one of the most popular stops for visitors interested in snorkeling the abundant waters of Coiba National Park and picnicking on one of the most pristine beaches in the world.

Its steep volcanic outcropping forms a structure which holds the beautiful white sand in place and creates a reef structure which shelters a large variety of beautiful marine life. It is the aquarium of Coiba, offering easy access to eels, turtles and large schools of fish.

Granito de Oro offers the casual snorkeler a diversity and volume of marine life that many avid scuba divers spend their lives trying to see. The waters surrounding it have been called one of the top 10 diving destinations in the world

Contact Us

Video: Old Quarter

Guided Fishing at the Panama Canal

Fishermen are always impressed by the abundance and variety of fish in Gatun Lake at the Panama Canal. This lake is home to species such as peacock bass, tarpon, snook, and many others. Since these fish are so plentiful, there are no limits or restrictions.

One of our fishing guides will take you and your party on a private guided tour of the lake and show you the best spots.

Surrounded by the peace and tranquility of lush tropical forests, this is a great tour for friends, families, or individuals to enjoy the bounties of nature that Lake Gatun Panama offers.

Book It 

International Access Code to Phone Panama

How to dial Panama Tourism & Travel ?

International Access Code to Phone Panama To Dial internationally, you must first dial your country's special code to access international phone lines. Each country has a specific code. It doesn't matter where you are dialing around the world, to get "out" of your country you must first dial your country's international access code. For example, To call from the USA or Canada to Panama Tourism & Travel dial 011 first: 011 (507) 6694-11-09 How to Dial from inside Panama From inside Panama you can call us by dialing 6694-11-09 only. List of International Access Codes to dial any international phone number For your convenience, here is a list of countries and their international access codes. Country Name IDD International Prefix Afghanistan 00 Albania 00 Algeria 00** American Samoa 011 Andorra 00 Angola 00 Anguilla 011 Antarctica Antigua 011 Argentina 00 Armenia 00 Aruba 00 Ascension 00 Australia 0011 (Voice calls) 0015 (Fax calls - Telstra) 0018 (Telstra special rates) 0019 (Fax calls - Singtel Optus) Australian External Territories 00 Austria 00 Azerbaijan 00 Bahamas 011 Bahrain 00 Bangladesh 00 Barbados 011 Barbuda 011 Belarus 8**10 ( written as 8~10) Belgium 00 Belize 00 Benin 00 Bermuda 011 Bhutan 00 Bolivia 0010 (ENTEL) 0011 (AES COMMUNICATIONS BOLIVIA) 0012 (TELEDATA) 0013 (BOLIVIATEL) Bosnia & Herzegovina 00 Botswana 00 Brazil 0014 (Brasil Telecom) 0015 (Telefonica) 0021 (Embratel) 0023 (Intelig) 0031 (Telemar) British Virgin Islands 011 Brunei Darussalam 00 Bulgaria 00 Burkina Faso 00 Burundi 00 Cambodia 001 Cameroon 00 Canada 011 Cape Verde Islands 0 Cayman Islands 011 Central African Republic 00 Chad 15 Chatham Island (New Zealand) 00 Chile 00 China (PRC) 00 Christmas Island 0011 (Telstra) Cocos-Keeling Islands 0011 Colombia Comoros 00 Congo 00 Congo, Dem. Rep. of (former Zaire) 00 Cook Islands 00 Costa Rica 00 Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) 00 Croatia 00 Cuba 119 Cuba (Guantanamo Bay) 00 Curaçao 00 Cyprus 00 Czech Republic 00 95200 (Discount carrier) Denmark 00 Diego Garcia 00 Djibouti 00 Dominica 011 Dominican Republic 011 East Timor 00 Easter Island 00 Ecuador 00 Egypt 00 El Salvador 00 144+00 Telefonica Ellipso (Mobile Satellite service) 00 EMSAT (Mobile Satellite service) Equatorial Guinea 00 Eritrea 00 Estonia 00 Ethiopia 00 Falkland Islands (Malvinas) 00 Faroe Islands 00 Fiji Islands 00 Finland 00, 990, 994, 999 France 00 (France Telecom) 40 (TELE 2), 50 (OMNICOM) 70 (LE 7 CEGETEL), 90 (9 TELECOM) French Antilles 00 French Guiana 00 French Polynesia 00 Gabonese Republic 00 Gambia 00 Georgia 8**10 (written as 8~10) Germany 00 Ghana 00 Gibraltar 00 Global Mobile Satellite System (GMSS) 00 Globalstar (Mobile Satellite Service) 00 Greece 00 Greenland 00 Grenada 011 Guadeloupe 00 Guam 011 Guantanamo Bay 00 Guatemala 00 130+00 Telefonica 147-00 Telgua Guinea-Bissau 00 Guinea 00 Guyana 001 Haiti 00 Honduras 00 Hong Kong 001-- PCCW0080 -- Hutchison 009 -- New World Hungary 00 ICO Global (Mobile Satellite Service) 00 Iceland 00 India 00 Indonesia 001,007 017 Voice Over Internet (VOIP) Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean - East) 00 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean - West) 00 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean) 00 Inmarsat (Pacific Ocean) 00 Inmarsat SNAC Note: Inmarsat plans to shift all other codes to this Single Network Access Code by 2009. 00 International Freephone Service N/A International Shared Cost Service (ISCS) Iran 00 Iraq 00 Ireland 00 048 to Northern Ireland (this special arrangement is much cheaper than dialing through the UK using country code 44) Iridium (Mobile Satellite service) 00 Israel 00 (default selected carrier, not available from public phones); 012 (Golden Lines); 013 (Barak LTD); or 014 (Bezeq LTD) Italy 00 Jamaica 011 Japan 001 (KDD) 010 (MYLINE/MYLINE PLUS) 0061 (Cable & Wireless IDC) 0041 (Japan Telecom) Jordan 00 Kazakhstan 8**10 ( written as 8~10) Kenya 000 006 to Uganda 007 to Tanzania Kiribati 00 Korea (North) 00 Korea (South) 001, 002 00700 (Speed/ SKTelecom mobiles) Kuwait 00 Kyrgyz Republic 00 Laos 00 Latvia 00 Lebanon 00 (To dial Syria From Lebanon, you may use "02-xx-number", where xx is the area code in Syria.) Lesotho 00 Liberia 00 Libya 00 Liechtenstein 00 Lithuania 00 Luxembourg 00 Macao 00 Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Rep of.) 00 Madagascar 00 Malawi 00 Malaysia 00 Maldives 00 Mali Republic 00 Malta 00 Marshall Islands 011 Martinique 00 Mauritania 00 Mauritius 020 Mayotte Island 00 Mexico 00 Micronesia, (Federal States of) 011 Midway Island 011 Moldova 00 Monaco 00 Mongolia 001 Montenegro 99 Montserrat 011 Morocco 00** Mozambique 00 Myanmar 00 Namibia 00 Nauru 00 Nepal 00 Netherlands 00 Netherlands Antilles 00 Nevis 011 New Caledonia 00 New Zealand 00 Nicaragua 00 Niger 00 Nigeria 009 Niue 00 Norfolk Island 00 Northern Marianas Islands (Saipan, Rota, & Tinian) 011 Norway 00 Oman 00 Pakistan 00 Palau 011 Palestinian Settlements 00 Panama 00 Cable & Wireless 088+00 Telecarrier 055+00 Clarocom Papua New Guinea 05 Paraguay 002 Peru 00 Philippines 00 Poland 0**0 Portugal 00 882 Rubicon/BT "GeoVerse" Puerto Rico 011 Qatar 00 Réunion Island 00 Romania 00 022 to Moldova (this special arrangement is much cheaper than dialing through Moldova using country code 373) Russia 8**10 ( may be changing to 00) Rwandese Republic 00 St. Helena 00 St. Kitts/Nevis 011 St. Lucia 011 St. Pierre & Miquelon 00 St. Vincent & Grenadines 011 Samoa 0 San Marino 00 São Tomé and Principe 00 Saudi Arabia 00 Senegal 00 Serbia 99 Seychelles Republic 00 Sierra Leone 00 Singapore 001 - Singtel IDD 002 - MobileOne IDD 008 - Starhub IDD 012 - Singtel FaxPlus (Fax over IP) 013 - Singtel BudgetCall (Voice recommended only/Fax possible) 018 - Starhub I-Call (Voice over IP) 019 - Singtel V019 (Voice over IP) Slovak Republic 00 Slovenia 00 Solomon Islands 00 Somali Democratic Republic 00 South Africa 00 Spain 00 Sri Lanka 00 Sudan 00 Suriname 00 Swaziland 00 Sweden 00 Switzerland 00 Syria 00 (To dial Lebanon from Syria, you may also use ""06-xx-number"", where xx is the area code in Lebanon.) Taiwan 002 Tajikistan 8**10 (written as 8~10) Tanzania 000 000, 005 to Kenya 006 to Uganda Thailand 001 (to call Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar from Thailand, dial 007-60 +Area Code)008, 009 Voice Over Internet (VOIP) Thuraya (Mobile Satellite service) Timor Leste Togolese Republic 00 Tokelau 00 Tonga Islands 00 Trinidad & Tobago 011 Tunisia 00 Turkey 00 Turkmenistan 8**10 ( written as 8~10) Turks and Caicos Islands 011 Tuvalu 00 Uganda 000 000, 005 to Kenya 007 to Tanzania Ukraine 8**10 ( written as 8~10) United Arab Emirates 00 United Kingdom 00 (including ISDN) United States of America 011 US Virgin Islands 011 Universal Personal Telecommunications (UPT) Uruguay 00 Uzbekistan 8**10 (written as 8~10) Vanuatu 00 Vatican City 00 Venezuela 00 Vietnam 00 Wake Island 00 Wallis and Futuna Islands 19** Yemen 00 Zambia 00 Zanzibar 000 Zimbabwe 00

New Panama Canal Administrator

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Board of Directors announced the appointment of engineer Jorge Luis Quijano as the new Panama Canal Administrator. Mr. Quijano will succeed Alberto Alemán Zubieta, who has been at the helm of the Canal for the past 16 years and whose term will end on September 3, 2012.

Jorge Quijano´s professional career at the Panama Canal began in 1975 and after several promotions he was appointed Maritime Operations Director in 1999. The Operations Department is the largest one within the Panama Canal and it is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure and equipment of the waterway.

Since September 2006, Quijano is the Executive Vice President of the Engineering and Programs Management Department in charge of the Panama Canal Expansion Program. He heads a group of about 500 professionals which is specifically responsible for contracting and managing the Locks Design and Construction contract, the Atlantic and Pacific entrance channels dredging contracts, the contracting of four dry excavation contracts to create a new 6.1 kilometer inland channel in the Pacific end of the Canal, the Lake level dredging to be performed by ACP´s workforce and other smaller contracts. As such, Quijano leads an integrated program management team made up of a consultant and ACP’s own professionals who have the responsibility to direct the execution of the entire Expansion Program.

FAQ: What’s the basis for the Panama’s economy?

Panama is a primarily service-based economy. Services include the Panama Canal, logistical services, tourism, the largest free trade zone in the Americas, and an international banking center with over 100 banks. Because of the high quality of life, many companies are making their Latin American corporate headquarters in Panama. There are also tax incentives and special economic zones for businesses and corporate headquarters.

Bananas, shrimp and coffee are the major agricultural exports.

FAQ : Is Panama a typical Latin American country? What’s the Ethnic makeup?

Panama is not typical at all. Don’t expect to see mainly the typical mestizo (descendants of a combination of Spanish and Indian) population like in the rest of Latin America. There's saying that Panama was "born globalized." The population of 3.3million people has diverse origins: Spanish descendants, blacks (brought in from the Caribbean to build the Canal), indigenous cultures, and important immigrant populations from North America, Europe, China, India and Middle East.

Of special note and a a tourism attraction are the are seven living Indian cultures: Gunas in the Guna Yala Islands on the Caribbean, Embera and Wounaan in the province of Darien, Ngobe Bugle in the provinces of Chiriqui, Bocas del Toro & Veraguas; and Teribes & Bokotas in Bocas del Toro province.