Page 107 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Colón The Panama Canal and CenTral isThmus 105
arriVal and GeTTinG arOund ParQue naCiOnal ChaGres
Despite its proximity to Panama City, the reserve’s vastness and the lack of tourist development make access difficult if
you’re reliant on public transport. Most tourists visit with a tour operator (see p.76), generally bound for the western end,
round Lago Alajuela, around 35km north of the capital by road. There, several jetties serve as departure points for
kayaking, fishing or rafting excursions, or for visiting an Emberá village or hiking along the Camino Real. Other than die-
hard birdwatchers, few tourists head for the Cerro Azul entrance.
LAGO ALAJUELA CERRO AZUL 2
By bus Take a Colón bus from Albrook bus terminal, By bus Take any transport bound for 24 de Diciembre or
getting off at Mini Super Mario along the Transístmica, and Chepo from Albrook terminal, getting off at La Doña Super 99
walk the remaining 3km. (just before Xtra); cross the road to the bus terminal at the
By boat The jetties at Madden Dam, Nuevo Vigia and back of the shopping centre, where minibuses wind their
Victoriano Lorenzo, further round the lake from the park way up to Cerro Azul (6am–6pm; every 30–45min; 30min).
headquarters (see below), are the embarcation points for By car Head east along the Corredor Sur from Panama City;
visits upriver to Emberá communities (see box opposite). 6km past the airport turn-off, you enter the nondescript
By car The headquarters at Campo Chagres are about a district of 24 de Diciembre, where Cerro Azul is signposted off
40min drive from Panama City, possible in an ordinary car. to the left, just before Supermercado Xtra. The park office – not
the headquarters (see below) – is at the end of the main road.
inFOrmaTiOn
The park headquarters is at Campo Chagres (Mon–Fri 8am–4pm; no phone), a small headland jutting into Lago
Alajuela; there’s also a new visitors’ centre at nearby Nuevo Caimitillo and a park office (Mon–Fri 8am–4pm; no
phone) at the end of the main road that winds up from the Interamericana, in Cerro Azul. In theory you can pay the $5 park
fee at either the HQ or the park office – though the latter may well be unstaffed.
aCCOmmOdaTiOn
MIA camping Lago Alajuela and Cerro Azul. Both places Both prefer advance notice, since the park wardens may be
offer camping space by the park wardens’ office-cum- away. Go to the Áreas Protegidas department at the
bunkhouse. You can share their rudimentary bathroom and Ministry of the Environment head office in Panama City
kitchen facilities, but you’ll need to bring your own food. (see box, p.42) to make arrangements. $6
Cerro Azul has running water; Campo Chagres does not.

Colón
Situated at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, with a population of around
42,000, COLÓN makes it into few holiday brochures; for most Panamanians its name
is a byword for poverty, violence and urban decay. Sadly, most visitors come here solely
to shop at the Zona Libre, or Free Zone, a walled enclave on the eastern edge of the city
where goods from all over the world can be bought at very low prices – it’s the world’s
second largest duty-free zone after Hong Kong. Vestiges of the city’s former grandeur do
remain, however, and it’s worth exploring (by taxi, for safety reasons) for an hour or so
before heading out to several tourist destinations within striking distance. The people of
Colón, mostly descendants of West Indians who came here to build the Canal, are as
warm and friendly as anywhere in the country and just as fond of partying.
Brief history
As work began on the construction of the Panama Railroad in 1850, the settlement
now known as Colón began to mushroom on a low-lying lump of coral known as Isla
Manzanillo. Surrounded by mosquito- and sandfly-infested mangrove swamps and lacking
a source of fresh water, the location was so unfavourable that the workers initially lived on a
brig anchored in the bay rather than on the island itself. American historian H.H. Bancroft,
on his arrival in 1851, summed up the general view: “The very ground on which one trod
was pregnant with disease, and death was distilled in every breath of air”. Nonetheless the

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