A Publication of the Palenque Press

Isle-brary of Congress Number 877-212-6253

2010, Isla Palenque, Chiriqui, Panama

Table of ContentsThis book invites you to take an explorers journey: one that leads to our incomparable island, allows you

to experience its enchantment, and helps you envision its future. This is your guide, your travel journal to a

captivating place that will continually call to you afterward. Once youve experienced Isla Palenque, it is

forever a part of you.

The Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Follow in our footsteps as we travel to and through Panama toward Isla Palenque.

The Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Revel in a naturalists exploration of the wilds of Isla Palenque.

The Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32See inside the mind of the designer and the guiding principles behind the resort.

Departure & Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46We depart the island, already planning our return.

An Invitation to Explore

- 2 -

- 3 -

Not all that wander are lost. J.R.R. Tolkien

- 4 -

Washington D. C.

Montreal

Toronto

Miami

Orlando

Atlanta

New York

Newark

Dallas

Houston

Los Angeles

Bogota

Lima

Mexico City

Aruba

Caracas

Guatamala City

Managua

San Jose

P A C I F I CO C E A N

The Journey Begins

Tokyo

Hong Kong

Bangkok

Singapore

Jakarta

Buenos Aires

Santiago

Melbou

rne

Mumbai PANAMA

- 5 -

Valencia

Antwerp

HamburgManchesterAmsterdam

Timbuktu

Rio De Janeiro

Madrid

A T L A N T I CO C E A N

Manc

heste

r

Hamb

urg

Antwe

rp

Valencia

Dubai

Timbuktu

Cape Town

- 6 -

If you had to choose one word to describe Panama,

it would be diversity. Its part of the fascinating and

contradictory character of this country that each time

you turn around, you see something new.

Panama began as a land of diverse peoples, over a

million of which made up the several dozen tribes that

lived here before Spanish colonization. Today, eight

indigenous tribes still survive in Panama, many of them

living much as they did thousands of years ago.

Centuries of colonization by the Spanish, and even

a brief attempt by the Scottish, further diversi ed

Panamas culture. The long French and U.S. presence

during the building of the Canal added their in uences,

as well as those of the Chinese and Afro-Caribbeans

who came to bend their backs to the punishing work.

Yes, dozens of indigenous tribes and hundreds of years

of colonialism have made the population and culture

richly diverse, but that just scratches the surface.

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2500 BC-AD 1538 Pre-Columbian Period

1538-1821 Spanish Colonial Period

16712500 BC 1501 1502 16731513 1519

Panama Diversity

BALBOA

EMBERA WOMEN DANCING

- 7 -

Panama boasts 5,000 animal species; including 950

species of birds and hundreds of species of butter ies.

In the jungles live monkeys, sloths, armadillos, ocelots,

fox and tapir. The ocean is home to whales, dolphins,

manatees, sea turtles and of course, hundreds of

species of sh. In fact, Panama loosely translated means

land of many sh.

Panamas diverse attributes have been appreciated by

everyone from Christopher Columbus to Balboa, from

the infamous pirate Henry Morgan to Sir Francis Drake,

from Abraham Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt

a veritable whos who of Western Civilization. Today,

after centuries of colonization and the in uence of

nations big and small, the Republic of Panama exists

free, independent and democratic the steward of all

the treasures it has to offer the world.

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1821-1903 Columbian Period

1815 18521821 1855 1862

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE IN HISTORIC CASCO VIEJO

TRADITIONAL PANAMANIAN POLLERA

- 8 -

1878-1902 French Canal Period

1903-2000U.S. Canal Period

2000-PresentPanamanian Expansion

1878 1882 1889 1902 1903 1904 1915 1939 1968 1977 1989 2000

U. S. S. L

ouisiana,

At Sea, No

vember 20

, 1906

Dear Kerm

it,

Our visit

to Panama

was most

successfu

l as well

as

most inter

esting. Wh

en on Wedn

esday we

approache

d

the coast,

and the

jungle-co

vered moun

tains loo

ked

clearer an

d clearer

until we

could see

the surf

beating on

the shore

s, while t

here was

hardly

a sign of

human ha

bitation,

I kept thi

nking of

the four c

enturies

of wild an

d bloody r

omance

which ha

d made up

the histo

ry of the

Isthmus.

. .I

could see

Balboa cr

ossing at

Darien, a

nd the wa

rs

between t

he Spania

rds and t

he Indian

s, and the

settlemen

t and the

building

up of the

quaint

walled Sp

anish tow

ns; and t

he trade,

across the

seas by ga

lleon, and

over land

by pack-t

rain and

river cano

e, in gold

and silv

er, in pre

cious ston

es;

and then

the adve

nt of the

buccaneer

s, and of

the Engli

sh seamen

, of Drak

e and Frob

isher and

Morgan.

Theodore R

oosevelt

At once both colonial and contemporary in mood and setting, this burgeoning city of around 750,000 people is the most sophisticated metropolis between Miami and Maracaibo. - National Geographic

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