It was on 2 Nov 1502 that Cristóbal Colón found refuge in the fair harbor that he called Portobelo. There were four vessels in his fleet. It was Colon's fourth voyage.

One week later the fleet set out to the east and were forced in again by bad weather to an open harbor. The open harbor is believed by many scholars to be the protected waters by Isla Grande.

Swimmers, snorkelers, kayakers, paddlers, sailors, holiday-makers take note. Last month in the Bay Islands of Honduras the Tourist Department and others sponsored a regatta to mark the 500-year date that Cristóbal Colón and fleet anchored there. Now it is our turn. The dates that Colón sailed the Costa Arriba in 1502 were in early November.

On 2 November 2002 you are invited to mark the voyage in the same waters visited by Colón. Some of us will swim, paddle, kayak, or row across the entrance of Portobelo harbor. We will start near the police station before Portobelo and go to the beach in the cove opposite Isla Drake. The distance is 2000 meters.

At the Isla Grande area on 9 November 2002 one can swim from La Guayra to the playa blanca on Isla Grande, 900 meters; kayak, paddle or motor around Isla Grande; or do the same from the Panama Canal Yacht Club Annex area of Puerto Lindo to the Black Christ at Isla Grande (4000 meters?) or the other way around. Use fins, snorkels, paddle boards, kayaks.

The weather may well be the same for us on 2 and on 9 November as it was for Colón --- rainy and windy. We will be in those waters rain or shine.

Judy Collins and Juan Gallego
Email: kh6gc@winlink.com (Costa Arriba)
or jnjcollins@yahoo.com (Panama)

I may be wrong but Mireya may have a lovely coffee estate near Cerra Punta.

When I was a teenager I traveled by horseback from Boquete to Moniche's Farm (strawberries you wouldn't believe) and Arnulfo's Coffee Plantation-Estate. Mr. Moniche (I believe) designed and perfected the original locks gate mechanism.

My girlfriend's parents had just bought the Pop Wright's Boquete Inn, and we went up to Boquete for the Easter Break from BHS or the Junior High. If Arnulfo did not sell this property, Mireya probably owns it now.

Peggy

(Editor's note: I think you're right. The president still has the coffee farm in Chiriqui, or did at the time she was elected in 1999.)

I just found your excellent site through various Volcan sites, which I found by logging into Alta Vista search engine, "Volcan Panama." We live in Arizona desert country and are very interested in relocating ("out of harm's way") from our 'idiot-Bush' regime of which we are horrified! You won't believe how many Americans are feeling 'helpless' from the Bush-"Asscroft" agenda. Panama looks really good --- at this point in time!

We are looking at the Volcan area and really appreciate your paper ,which makes for a great way to communicate with Panamanians-native expats. I really feel Panama will GROW quickly, with this new terror-fear-factor. so write accordingly, if you will, about various Panama items, like the "road through the park." I side with your lady President Moscoso, as I see the tourists wanting to drive through the forest and am sad that it destroys the forest, but it should provide more local jobs via tourism, I guess. It also provides a link to Boquete via a half-moon-tour drive for tourists, starting from David. Progress for jobs may have to be the new agenda, if I am right about the "fleeing masses" theory.

Dale 'Dawk' Mc Farlane

Well Eric Jackson.

You have finally got back to the news of Panama. You shot a few more of your chumpo statements since our last e-mail but you seem to have came around to becoming a real periodista instead of a writer with a hiddden agenda. Since you threw a few of your own anti-white messages since we last talked, I will throw one back. When the US CREATED Panama the only people here were Latinos, Indians, and White Spaniards, and White Americans.

I bet you can not guess where I am at now? The answer, Balboa! Where I seem very welcome and allowed entrance to anywhere I want to go. The Panamanians seem to like a white man spending American dollars, not Balboas in the local establishments. One thing confused me, you do not seem to like white people but Panama seems to like my money. Maybe the reason you do not like us is because Panamanians do not like you. All of the racatacos and piedreras are chumbos. How many white ones have you seen on the streets in Panama lately.

This is the end of the chop busting. Keep your paper the way this last one was and keep the world affairs to the letters section. Tell us about Panama.

Shannon

(Editor's note: Well, Shannon, I guess you mean that the foundations of Portobelo's slave market, which are to be found near the public high school in that community, are just a big lie, and that black slaves didn't build the fortifications at Portobelo, Fort San Lorenzo, Panama Viejo and the Casco Viejo. Also, I suppose that you believe that the Panama Railroad was built not by West Indians, but by highly efficient blonde-haired, blue-eyed Aryan workers. You will no doubt find some Panamanians who share your racial theories, but not any serious historians.)

Dear Eric,

Although I do not hold your reporting about our former organisation in Panama and myself in high esteem, I always try to give credit where credit is due.

Your editorial on the "War With Iraq" provides one of the few examples of clear vision of what is occurring with Operation "Scapegoat" as part of the never ending War On Terrorism.

Marc M. Harris

As I sit here this morning.Today is the day our mother as passed on. Being that she was from Panama, we, her family of seven girls and three boys, never got to know her family in Panama that well.

She came to the states and never went back to her home. Her wish was to go back and meet up with her family, but as time passed and she talked about going back she never had the chance to go back to her country she loved so much.

She talked to us about her country and how proud she was to be from there. Well, she has passed on and we, a large family, would like to know who her family was and where they are now.

The History of our mother is that she married a soldier that was in the Army and moved stateside. Being that she did not speak English when she came to the states she lost contact with her family in Panama. But as life went on she told us stories about her country and how it was for her when she was there. Now that she is gone, we wonder about her family.

Her wish was to find her sisters who still live in Panama. We not asking for much, but to let them know she has passed on and left seven daugthers and three boys.

Yes it is sad that we never got a chance to meet her family and see her country. But as her daughter I will not rest in peace --- just like the rest of us --- until I let them know that my mother has left us. In her heart and soul she was proud to be from the country she loved so much. History was always important to her, and most of all family. She was a strong woman, who taught us that edcation was important. She made sure we all finished school and never smoked or drank. And we all are still standing today and proud to still be healthy.

We would like the people to know that my mother, Eladia H. Ortega, from La Chorrea In Panama, was a woman who loved her country so very much, and her wish was to let her family know she did not forget them in her heart and soul.

Christine Guidry
771 Sawtooth
San Antonio, Texas 78245

My name is Virginia Guidry-Calkins and my sister Christine wrote you. We are a large family and I do know some information concerning my mother's family in Panama but not much. My mother had 10 children, 20 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Her father's name was Jesse Ortega and her mother was deceased. My mother's name was Eladia Herrera Ortega and she was born May 19, 1930 in Chorrera, Panama. She had 14 sisters and no brothers. My mother married a man in the Army there in Panama on March 9, 1951 and my sister, Nelys Herrera Guidry was born December 24, 1950.

Just before my mother died, her and I were planning to visit Panama. We suppose to go to Panama together since she was saving money I was sending her since I was in the military. Well, it never happened and the hope never came, but I did promise her before she passed away I would take that trip to Panama for her and find her relatives and let them know about her. It brings sadness to our family knowing she always spoke of going back, every year since she came to United States, and never made it there. She was so proud of her country she refused to become an American Citizen. I hope in my heart you will know of someone that can help us find her.

Virginia D. Guidry-Calkins
JC57BC47@aol.com

© 2002 by The Panama News All Rights Reserved - Todos Derechos Reservados Individual contributors retain the rights to their articles or photos For information or problems with this page contact: editor@ThePanamaNews.com
News Business Editorial Opinion Letters Arts Reviews Community Fun Travel Galleries Calendar Outdoors Dining Science Sports Español Front Page Archive