Wreckdiver in Panama

[wreckdiver1715]

It's been a while since I posted here, so I thought I would drop on in and bring ya'll up to speed on our travels. About four months ago we set out from our home in Florida on a journey back into Central America and this time we headed down to Honduras with the intention of a long term stay. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned and after three months we were forced to abandon the Honduras research project, at least for the time being.

About three weeks ago we packed up and headed down to Panama, and have set up our operations at the old Howard AFB (now known as Panama Pacifico), just west of the Panama Canal and Panama City. I plan on doing a bunch of diving down this way as soon as the boat gets here with all my gear. In the mean time we are playing tourist and exploring this absolutely beautiful country.

The cost of living in Panama is comparable to the US, and the dollar is the primary currency used and that is very convenient. However, with the cost being so high in comparison to Honduras we have to tighten the purse strings a little bit in order to stay on budget.

Yesterday we visited the ruins of old Panama City, now known as Panama Viejo. This town was destroyed by the pirate Henry Morgan and his pirate army of 1,200 men, who went up against this entrenched Spanish garrison with 3,600 troops.

 

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[old man]

Great Pictures, thanks for sharing.

 

[ARC]

Well did ya metal detect at all?

 

[wreckdiver1715]

I'm sure they would take issue with me metal detecting this UNESCO World Heritage site, that and the ol Excalibur is on the boat with my dive gear and they should arrive in another week or so. However, I will be scooping out a few sites to take the metal detector when she arrives.

 

[Red_desert]

I'm sure they would take issue with me metal detecting this UNESCO World Heritage site, that and the ol Excalibur is on the boat with my dive gear and they should arrive in another week or so. However, I will be scooping out a few sites to take the metal detector when she arrives.

Wow! What a most interesting historical area to explore wreckdiver.

 

[ARC]

So what are the laws there concerning finds?

 

[Peyton Manning]

how can a pirate army of 1200 men attack a city and it not be on CNN?

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Like most countries down here in Central America, they are primarily concerned with the export and sale of pre-columbian artifacts. Sadly, Panama has also signed onto the UNESCO Underwater Cultural Heritage convention so that makes any kind of shipwreck salvage basically taboo. Of course the best course of action is to never admit to finding anything.

I did hit the beach near my apartment today, can't wait for my Excal to make it into port.

 

[Mackaydon]

wreckdiver,
Is that Perlas off your shoulder in the distance?
Don...

 

[wreckdiver1715]

[h=1]Yep![/h]

 

[crzhors]

If you make it up to Bocas Del Toro, drop a line....JD

 

[ARC]

Good luck man... rooting for ya.

 

[Red_desert]

Didn't they recently find a shipwreck in Panama, while dredging out in a canal?

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Will do Crzhors!

Si, but not while dredging the canal. A team believes they may have found one of Henry Morgans ships that crashed into the reef on the Caribbean side during the raid on Panama City. While Captain Morgan was one hell of a pirate, he appears not to have been a real good navigator.

I just returned from a 5 day expedition in eastern Panama that I often refer to as the "Forbidden Zone", because you need special authorization from the Government to enter the frontier along the boarder with Colombia. It is officially known as the "Darien Province" and often referred too as the "Darien Gap", due to the the 60 mile gap in the Pan american highway that would have connected South America with Central America.

We went there in search of several lost Spanish settlements dating back to the 1600's. While we came back empty handed this trip we are planning several more trips into the region.

In the pictures below: 1) Me at the first SENAFRONT checkpoint just inside the Darien Province. 2) Ran into a bunch of guys from the SENAFRONT (Boarder Patrol), heading out on patrol hunting members of the Colombian FARC and Narco Traffickers that operate in the frontier.

 

[TheRingFinder]

Thanks for sharing your adventures, always interesting! Keep us up to date when the boat and detector arrive.......

 

[doc-d]

Enjoy……..The borders of Columbia seem all all sides to have trouble……….cuidado…...

 

[Red_desert]

"We went there in search of several lost Spanish settlements dating back to the 1600's"

Well, good luck....no sharks on land, but some of those snakes they have down there, not to mention the spiders and diseases. Snakes, scorpions, spiders, don't bother me, it's just the thought of sharks.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Good news, my dive gear and metal detector have finally caught up with me down here in Panama. My treasure hunting trunk spent much of the last month on a slow boat from La Ceiba, Honduras and a trip through the Panama Canal, and were just released from customs this last week. The hunt is on...

 

[crzhors]

After you get through the layer of Balboa bottle caps,you may get lucky!

 

[Red_desert]

Good news to hear, keep us posted with your finds.