May 21, 2000

Corrections and additions: 

First of all, I thank Glenn Evans for pointing out that an earlier article of mine was misleading in suggesting that a thousand houses were for sale in the area of the old Albrook Air Force Base.  The number refers to the old Canal Zone as a whole. Albrook was simply a recent location at which the houses were available, mainly old officer's quarters.

Secondly, I got a caption wrong in my recent picture of the "new" Summit Golf Course.  The building visible in the picture is the maintenance structure, not the club house.  For pictures of the new club house, see the recent "picture of the week" in CZBrats.  I'm so used to the small scale of so many of the former Canal Zone structures that I drew the wrong conclusions.  It look like the "new" golf course will be a top of the line facility, even including global positioning system (GPS) for the golfers.

More news:

Thanks to Bill Fall for sending me copies of a news article from his local paper.  The title was "From Canal Zone to nature zone."  It tells about the development of ecotourism in Panama.  The new Gamboa Rain Forest Resort has guides to show people around in the jungle.  Costa Rica has been a model for the Panamanian authorities , who are aggressively promoting "nature friendly" tourism.  The Barro Colorado Island  facility of the Smithsonian Institution is also involved.  An aerial tram at Gamboa will give guests a tour through the jungle.  Fort Sherman is also being developed for ecotourists (as well as for people who prefer casinos).  A former radio tower has been redone as a Canopy Tower for bird watching.  The Audubon Society has designated this as 10 best places in the world for bird watching.

In other news, Bocas del Toro has been experiencing more and more growth as a tourist destination, especially since it is still relatively isolated and unspoiled.  This has resulted in some conflict with squatters.  When the land was not as valuable, they were tolerated.  Now people are being evicted, including illegal aliens.  It is ironic that some of the "illegals" appear to be from the U.S., an interesting case of the shoe being on the other foot.

Debate about the financing and location of a new high level bridge across the canal continues.  One of the controlling factors is that the structure must not interfere with the construction of a third set of locks at Miraflores and Pedro Miguel.  While not a done deal, the construction of these locks appears more and more likely.  There are simply too many super tankers and bulk carriers that wont fit through the current locks.  The bridge would also connect with freeways between Panama City and Arriajan.