Page 216 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

214 Chiriquí and Veraguas Península de soná and Isla CoIba
5 THE PENAL COLONY ON COIBA
For almost eighty years Coiba was synonymous with fear and brutality, as horror stories of
forced labour and torture, political assassinations and gang warfare leaked from the island.
designated as a penal colony in 1919, it was intended to be an open prison, staffed by
civilians and aimed at reforming serious offenders – hence the inclusion at the main camp of a
school, rehabilitation centre and church. but with up to three thousand prisoners on the island
at one stage, scattered around sixteen different camps, most offenders were unable to access
these resources, and the planned civilian custodians never materialized. Instead, prisoners
worked twelve-hour shifts on farmland and forest on only one meal a day, suffering violence
from gangs and guards, malnutrition, poor sanitation and scant medical care. a peek inside the
decaying high-security block is sobering. Here ten to twenty people used to share a humid,
windowless cell no more than 3m across, with nine bare concrete “beds” and a hole for a toilet,
incarcerated for 24 hours a day, with no exercise, no visitors and little chance of release.
unsurprisingly, escape attempts were frequent but usually failed as those who managed to
get through the island’s dense undergrowth, avoiding the crocodiles and snakes, generally
came to grief in the shark-infested waters and strong sea currents.
Far from the public gaze, the island also gained notoriety during the military dictatorships
of omar Torrijos and Manuel noriega as a prime location for “losing” political opponents, some
of whose tortured bodies were unearthed in around 180 graves discovered during President
Moscoso’s Truth Commission investigations. The penitentiary finally closed in 2004; the only
former convict still remaining on the island is “Mali-Mali”, now the park’s most famous ranger
and much-sought-after tourist guide.

west coast at Santa Cruz. You’ll need to engage one of the park wardens as a guide
(see opposite); if you have your own boat, you can hike the trail one way (2–3hr) and
arrange a pickup time to be ferried back to the MIA station – but factor in the extra
fuel needed for this.
South to Bahía Damas and beyond
Just south of Punta Damas is the main camp of the former penal colony (see box above),
whose crumbling, eerie buildings are slowly being reclaimed by nature – though some
parts have recently been “cleaned up” for the tourists. Further south, across Bahía Damas,
the aquamarine reef-filled shallows of the eastern coast provide many of the prime diving
and snorkelling sites. Panama’s last remaining nesting site of the spectacular scarlet macaw
is at the south of the island, near Barco Quebrado, though these magnificent birds are
more easily heard than seen in the forest canopy. Some tours take a plunge in the
invigorating thermal springs at Punta Felipe or venture into tangled mangroves at Boca
Brava, or at Punta Hermosa, on the less-explored west coast.
arriVaL and deParTure Parque naCiOnaL COiBa
Day-trips from Santa Catalina Day-trips from Santa Coiba from Santa Catalina can take anything from 90min to
Catalina can be both costly and a little disappointing since several hours, depending on the weather conditions and
the lengthy journey plus the unavoidable tramites the boat; make sure you establish your itinerary and pickup
(bureaucracy) at the ranger station mean that by the time times beforehand, and check that any boat has a decent-
you actually venture into the rainforest any animal or bird sized engine, and preferably a roof to stop you frying.
with sense will be hiding from the heat and humidity. Multiday tours Because of the limitations of day-trips, it
However, should you want to go for it, it’s straightforward pays to spend at least one night on Coiba with a boat and
enough – fishermen on the beaches will probably do the guide willing to take you out at first light. It’s therefore
return trip for around $60/person (assuming a group of worth splashing out the extra for a hassle-free multiday
six), or more if you want them to take you round the island deal with a tour operator; particularly rewarding are those
to some of the sights, which are inconveniently spaced out that include some beach camping away from the ranger
along the eastern coastline (see p.213). Each journey to station (see p.211).

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