Panama Inspires Tourists and Expats

Damn the distance round the Horn,
Violent sea and natures scorn.
Damn the tortuous sail so long,
Journeys end comes soon and gone.

Oh blessed passage through flowered lands
On a snake of water from carved by human hands.

From seas to sea in just day
Time saved, fewer lives to pay.

Alden Hewitt

It is hard to imagine a Canal and 90 years old locks being the inspiration for poetry, but such is the case when this unique combination is the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal, a long time ago

The world’s greatest shortcut has been inspiring artist and poets alike for nearly a hundred years. Paintings of scenes of typical daily life on the Canal decorate homes and public places throughout the country. Poetry such as the one featured above is too abundant to count.

The canal has inspired its own body of folklore as well. Every Panamanian has a story about their encounter with a fifty mile stretch of water that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific through one of the narrowest natural land bridges between any two oceans in the world.

Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal eliminates some 8,000 nautical miles of sailing. The shortcut also eliminates the need to risk the sailor’s lives sailing around storm prone Cape Horn. No wonder sailors for generations have been singing the praise of a passage that can shave months off of an east to west voyage

To research about real estate in Panama, click here.