Lots of things to do this January

by Eric Jackson

It would seem that in the past year Panama has seen somewhat fewer business visitors, but more people coming to Panama on cruise ships and a steady stream of pleasure travelers who take a bit more time to enjoy Panama's various attractions. Notwithstanding New Year's Eve flooding, this is the dry season, when we get the most visitors.

The less fortunate visitors will see little more than the canal. Sure, it's one of the engineering wonders of the world and this country's most famous feature, but there's so much more to see and do and get to know in Panama. It seems that there's even more this January.

Starting on January 5, a bunch of major league baseball scouts will be among the visitors who come here specifically to watch the National Junior Baseball Tournament. The first round schedule is in our calendar. You get a true taste of the popular culture when you take in a ballgame in the interior, or at RM Bula Stadium in Colon. You get a safe, modern, comfortable and beautiful baseball experience at the National Stadium.

Panama's original sports attraction for foreign tourists, the fishing, appears to be good this year. The billfish are reportedly hitting at Piñas Bay and off Coiba. There are many other saltwater species worth catching in Panama's Pacific and Caribbean waters, and the peacock bass fishing on Gatun Lake has its devotees as well.

The newer forms of eco-tourism are also good in January. On the upper Chagres and in Chiriqui the river rafting will be good through January, though the water levels will diminish as the dry season progresses.

Then, for the golfers, there's the annual Panasonic Open, at Coronado from January 18 to 21.

IPAT does try to publicize the various local fairs, at least once tourists get here. January's best known is the Boquete Coffee and Flower Fair, from January 12 to 21. If you can find a vacancy during the fair, Boquete's good selection of rooms at the hotels, motels and pensiones provide ideal bases from which to stay a few days and get to know the Chiriqui highlands more intimately. If you are in Boquete for the first time and you have the time, you should explore Volcan Baru. You will need a four-wheeler to drive to the summit, but the most rewarding experiences on Panama's tallest mountain are to be had on foot. You should bring some warm clothing and a pair of binoculars.

The next best known of January's fairs is in Ocu, from the 18th to the 23rd. If you like tipico music, and are interested in the arts and crafts of the central provinces, Panama offers few better opportunities to satisfy these tastes.

East of Panama City, in Chepo's corregimiento of Tanara, the Ranchers' Fair is from January 17 through 21. To the west, in Churuquita, Cocle, the Orange Fair takes place from the 26th to the 28th.

Though the Aleph Café and other locales are late getting word of their specific January offerings to the press - the holidays tend to cause things like that - the local musicians will have plenty of work this month at such places. However, there are three big musical dates to remember:

• On January 14 at the George Westerman Center (Old Clayton Building 95), Repuesta Afro-Panameña will be putting on a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., featuring most of the important names in the local calypso, jazz and gospel scenes, and a number of quadrille dance troupes;

• Sting plays a benefit for conservation on January 20 at the National Stadium, with Los Rabanes and Son by Four as the warm-up acts; and

• Two days later, on the 22nd, it's Christina Aguilera's turn to play the National Stadium, with Son Miserables as the local band.

This is also Panama's school vacation, which means that the music camp in El Valle is going full swing and musicians from the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio are here. Our calendar lists a number of performances by students from Oberlin, the music camp or both.

The dance scene's main event of the month is the Nutcracker, performed by dancers from the National Ballet of Panama, the Butler Ballet in Indianapolis, and the Houston Ballet, at ATLAPA on January 4 and 5. Around town on any given night there will usually be a selection of tipico, tango and flamenco show at the bars or hotels.

Remember as well that Panama is a very diverse society, and this provides many attractions. Some of Panama's black people will be celebrating Kwanzaa as January begins, and many Panamanian Catholics of all races will be parading in honor of Don Bosco as the month ends. In between there's Chinese New Year, which is always celebrated with fireworks and dragon dancing on the streets of the Chinatown at the Casco Viejo's entrance.

This month's legal holiday, January 9, is a day when working people can go to the beach, but it's a solemn occasion, The Day of the Martyrs, during which the nation honors those who lost their lives in the 1964 flag protests.