Santa Marta, Columbia
80% of USA imported flowers come from Columbia. Unbearably hot and humid. How they can do any physical work like unloading coffee sacks is unimaginable. No drugs lords or coffee pickers riding donkeys  came to visit   

San Blas Islands Panama
San Blas Islands are a group of hundreds of small island jus offshore of Panama self ruled by the mainland educated multi- lingual very very short aboriginals. Society is matriarchal even to the extent that mothers pick husbands for their daughters. They sell their handicrafts especially intricate molas which are bright colored reverse cut fabric squares.  When Joan gestured to take an elderly woman's picture for the customary dollar and thanked her with "Gracias" the woman answered "No problem" 

Panama Canal
What can you say. 500 lives lost per mile from heat and disease during construction. 50 million gallons of gravity fed fresh water needed for each large ship transit. Fee for our cruise ship transit was $205,000  Very well organized. Two Panamanian pilots of bow and one at stern of each ship.  Largest ships to transits were two WWII battleships with only one foot clearance either side. Most custom sized freighters have two feet clearance, we had four feet. Not even a close to scratching the paint on the raw concrete walls. 

Panama City
 Panama City reflects cultures of French, Spanish, Americans aboriginals and slaves that dominated city since 1500's. Modern part is home to thousands of Americans and Canadian retirees because of low costs and excellent health care. Guide told us that you could pay the outlandish sum of $350,000 or perhaps as much as $500,000 on a top floor ultra modern condo. This is partially because construction tradesmen are amongst the highest paid in the country at approximately $5.00 per hours. Minimum wage is $1.35. Food and other costs reflect these low wage expectations