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Welcome to the Panama Weekly News Roundup! Here’s the latest.

Panama Canal Welcomes Largest Ship to Date – MV Valparaiso Express

Last week, The Panama Canal on authority welcomed the largest capacity vessel to-date to transit the expanded locks – the 10,589 TEU neopanamax containership Valparaiso Express.

The vessel began its transit at the Pacific-facing Cocoli Locks Tuesday morning after calls in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. After completing its transit through the Atlantic-facing Agua Clara Locks, the ship will stop at Manzanillo International Terminal in Panama before ontinueing its route to terminals in the Dominican Republic, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
The containership measures 333 meters in length and 48 meters in width, and is the first of five new vessels in Hapag Lloyd’s new 10,500 TEU class which are specifically being built to take advantage of the additional capacity of the expanded Panama Canal.

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Back in the Ocean, Hokulea Departs For Panama

Hawaiian ship Hōkūle‘a is preparing to depart Key West, Florida. The voyaging canoe will spend the next week and a half sailing across the Caribbean Sea to Panama. We caught up with crew member Brad Wong as part of our ongoing series Hōkūle‘a: Voyage of Aloha.

“We’ve been traveling for a couple days from Miami. Canoe looks ready to go. The crew has had a good time together, everybody’s getting along really well.
One of our friends that’s been helping us along the way up and down the East Coast, he gave us some good Christmas things for us to have, some candy canes. Several of us got some Santa hats, we’ll wear them around for the day.

We’re just trying to get familiar with the rigging, get familiar with each other. We spent the past couple of days going along the Florida coast. It’s been fun, a lot of good weather. We’ll be hanging out here in Key West until tomorrow when we take off for Panama.”

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Escaping the Winter in a Quiet, Panama-Highland Retreat

Nestled in the Panamanian mountains along a rocky road, off the paved highway, is the home of Dr. Dave Ahrend. To get there, you drive up a newly constructed freeway for about 45 minutes before turning off onto a paved road that takes you up into the mountains.

In 2001, Dr. Dave, a licensed chiropractor from West Virginia, took an adventurous path to discover alternative health medicines. Suffering from several sports injuries he was determined to find more natural remedies. “I wanted to find a haven where I could discover herbs for healing,” he says. His interest in herbal medicines saw him living in Mexico for several months after which he took a trip to Peru where he studied under various shamans and laymen.

Then he visited Panama and there he discovered his land of enchantment. He explored several mountainous regions, looking for a home to buy or build. Dave hadn’t yet reached retirement age…he was still a young 60, but his dream was to establish a healing community in Panama, where visitors could learn about healthier, more natural ways to deal with illnesses.

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First time in Panama for the holidays? Here’s a primer!

Let’s get ready for the holidays, and not let them stress us out. Here’s how to do it in Panama.

The holiday season is upon us, and it’s a busy time of year for many people all over the world, including here in Panama. Spending the holidays in Panama, whether for the first time or an annual tradition, can be a rewarding, fun, and exciting experience. It can also be a stressful one. Regardless of whether you’re a tourist, a retiree, or a full-time expat in Panama, you’ll find that the holidays in Panama are full of things to do, places to go, delicious food to eat, and lots of shopping.

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