The essence of travel

While the Spanish archaeologists they discover the historic port of Palos, abandoned for centuries, where the three sailed Columbus’s caravels On August 3, 1492, we used that mirror to underline the virtues of our ancestors at a time when our “tourists” qualified the picture on which the rainbow of their farce stood out with robust chatter and restrained actions.

A decade ago, a day earlier, we embarked on a reliable tourist walk to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the South Sea, leading the presidency of the APEDE tourist commission, an expedition to climb the Pechito Parao Hillin the Darien mountain range Majé from the top of which Balboa glance at the vast crystalline Pacific that September 25, 1513, a place he christens as San Miguel Bay.

Intense chatting preceded ours excursion. We are interested in how many ministers of tourism there are, the leaders of the effort or simple Panamanians my life repeated that trip, when we noticed that the strong enthusiasm disappeared when we approached the questioning of volunteers, thus proving a lack of affection for an experience that should be one of our greatest tourist attractions. That handful of executives, highlighting women, that if we go, we should look at history, because Palos was the genesis but Pechito Parao it is the beacon that illuminated the real boom in global trade.

The non-use of that place, complemented by the intense greenery that characterizes our Darién at a time when climate change, the product of our collective ignorance, destroys the essence of our future and the elementary existence of homo sapiens, is a slap to the intelligence of all our fellow citizens and a vulgar non-use of tourism that emphasizes transition, but not boiling reliable Alka Seltzer from our isthmus.

Taking that bait, in 97 days we set off on a three-week odyssey aboard the Cyclopean Encore cruise ship, the largest Norwegian cruise lineendowed with 20 decks, 2,043 cabins with capacity for 4,266 passengers and 1,731 crew members, rises from the city of Seattle, kissing the border of Canada’s west coast, where one can see Mount Rainier with a height of 14,410 feet, the highest peak in NOW mainland, headquarters Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing and Starbucks, Our greatest desire is to cross the new locks of the Panama Canal, disembark in Miami.

Halloween witches surprise us in town San Francisco, California borders the famous vineyards of Napa Valleywe anchor at Fisherman’s Wharf, where we will visit the penal island of Alcatraz, highlighting gang member Al Capone as the most famous inmate, with plenty of time to climb the hills of the city in its famous trams.

From there, the day of Muertos welcomes us in Los Angeles where its main street is Figueroa Street, was named after General José Figueroa, governor of Alta California who oversaw the secularization of its missions in 1835. Our visit culminates with a walk through Beverly Hills and the lofty mansions of Hollywood artists.

In beautiful and beloved Mexico, we are protected by a handful of Pacific beaches, starting with arid Cabo San Lucas where we make our way on the back of a camel for a real beach walk. Immediately after the crystal estuaries Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco and their divers. The warm and well embodied Aztec hospitality will never cease to amaze us, which we must more than imitate on the isthmus. Puerto Quetzal serves as a berth for a historical visit The very noble and very loyal city of Santiago de los Caballeros from Guatemala, baptized in 1542, better known as Antigua.

From there, after two days at sea, at the end of the second day we saw the buildings that tower over the Bay of Panama in its capital, the third largest collection of skyscrapers on the continent, behind New York and Chicago, where later An incredible day when we set out to cross the Caribbean via the new Cocolí and Agua Clara locks, which serve as a landmark for our journey.

Colombia welcomes us in its magnificence The tourist and cultural district of Cartagena de Indias, something similar to our Old Town, but with a lack of crazy public offices and a proud lineage that we should reproduce well, restoring, I would point out, its August tram from the first half of the 20th century, as a mode of transport in a completely pedestrian zone.

Crossing the Caribbean with a stop at Grand Cayman and its vast white sandy beaches, where we will survey the city of Hell to send a few postcards before disembarking in Miami, this 21-night odyssey upholds the essence of travel, visiting different geographies, impregnating minds with new ideas and stamping hearts with unforgettable memories.