About This Site
Welcome to The Lost Paradise. My name is Timothy Davis, and I’m the host of this blog. I’m a family man, traveler, and writer. I chose the title because of my keen interest and love for the country of Panama. This blog won’t be exclusively about Panama, but I do hope to post many stories and pictures to give visitors a realistic flavor of what it’s like. My wife has dual citizenship, and my three children have cedulas. I live mostly in the US, but I travel to Panama often, so this will not be a place for day-to-day news from Central America. There are other sites for that.
There are numerous injustices that take place in the Americas, things that you’ll never read in a newspaper. There are many people a part of the underground that are fighting right now to free the oppressed. My wife lost two cousins along the Panama – Colombia border, killed by narco-terrorists. Sometimes we need to take a stand, whether it’s losing our land due to a bad judge’s ruling, or the tearing down of a historic building.
I also like to write. Please check out Copper Penny on my website. Through the winding, cobblestone lanes and quaint parks of Casco Viejo, Panama, Copper Penny materialized. I watched the street vendors, especially the raspadors as they served snow cones or cold drinks to anyone that had the money. You never knew who would be stopping by. It might be the President of the Republic, a General, or a peasant. Mostly, it was the poor. The one thing they all had in common was the price. The rich paid with nickels and dimes. The “shirtless ones” paid with copper pennies. There was always loose talk on the streets, and one raspador in particular seemed to know when the next riot would start–or even a coup d’etat. If he stopped selling early, especially with ice left over, you knew something explosive was about to happen.
My first trip to the Republic of Panama was when I was assigned to the US Army Airborne Rangers. I viewed the jungle from 1200 feet as I prepared for a parachute jump from a C-141 jet. The thick trees looked like broccoli stalks bunched together, covered with a layer of steam. We passed over a field and I was given the command to jump. As I floated down under my large canopy, I remember seeing other rangers disappear into the tall elephant grass and I wondered, what’s in there? I soon found out. It was the rainy season and there was water—a lot of water—and thick, sucking mud. Three short weeks of jungle training and a visit to Colon and Panama City was just enough to get me hooked on Panamanian culture. A year later I returned for an assignment with an Airborne Company in charge of canal security, and I became thoroughly entrenched with an amazing country.
This is an open travel blog, so please feel free to comment any time. Thanks for stopping, and check back again soon.
I just came across your blog and it looks very interesting. Like you, I live outside Panama right now but I own a home there and visit often. My daughter was born in Panama and is two and a half years old now. Please check out my blog and if you find it interesting consider adding my link to your list. I have already added yours.
Thanks for the comment.
I really enjoyed your blog on panama. My family is from Rio Hato,Panama we try to go back every year. I found your blog full of interesting facts and places to visit next time we go back. we will be making a trip here in december, and if you have time to email me and let me know which places you enjoyed and recommend to go see, i would appriciate it. My name is Aylisa, and i’m 22. i haven’t been able to enjoy the beauty of the country from which i’m from. Thank you, god bless
Thank you for your comment Aylisa. I will send you some suggestions on a few places to visit. There are so many to choose from.
Hi Timothy,
Thank you for setting up this blog. I found it informative, interesting and entertaining and very enjoyable to read.
I am considering Panama as a place to settle and live. I speak fluent Spanish and am accustomed to living in 3rd world countires and enjoying the benefts they offer and doing my best to ignor the annoyances.
I am writting for your opinion on Cerro Azul as it is somewhere that from my research, on paper appeals to me. An hour from the city, cool climate, nature on your door step, peaceful. Any down side you can bring to my attention? or other suggestions for a pleaseant location to live but within easy access of the city and the ‘western world’ facilitles for whenever one has a relapse and a need for a mall?
Any advice appreciated.
Thank you again,
Mark.
Mark, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Cerro Azul, at least for now, is not for your average person. Although it has some very appealing things, for some, it’s still a big question mark…lack of infrastructure. But then again, that might be exactly what a person such as you is looking for. Most tend to go west of Panama City. Boquete, in the western highlands near Costa Rica is definitely Gringoville. However, there are a couple of places worth looking into. In about the center of the isthmus is a town called Santiago. North of Santiago, in the mountains, is the village of Santa Fe. Closer still to Panama City, in the mountains north of Bejuco, (which is near Coronado on the Pacific), is Altos del Maria. It’s not as crowded, but a little more established.