G. Sidney Waits
Photos taken on our recent visit to the Republic of Panama
This is a photo of Balboa Avenue, one of the main streets in Panama City, Panama. This street is very near where our friends, Silvia and Jaime Lasso live in their condo 32 floors up in a 38 story building. This Avenue passes the Balboa Monument Park and the American Embassy. The Japanese sponsored Seafood market is also along this important throughfare.
Sr. Lazaro Gago Lopez and his wife and sons operate a very large modern packing facility for fruits and vegetables. Sr. Gago is retired but frequents the facility often. His sons actively manage the plant. It features a new packing machine manufactured in Spain and the first in this hemisphere. Now 150 of these machines are being manufactured for shipment to the States. Sr. Gago's firm "Gago and Sons" are importers and exporters of fruits and vegetablesin Panama. It is the largest cold storage facility in Panama. They can handle eighteen containers at one time. Sr. and Sra Gago are close friends of the Lassos and we were given a red carpet tour of the entire facility. We came away with a lovely complimentary assortment of fruits and vegetables.
At one of the City's new shopping centers Jaime and daughter Silvia take a break at the Food Center. Silvia lived with us and attended LBW College and also attended Troy where she graduated. She is very talented, has a good job as she speaks English and Spanish. She is the mother of three beautiful children. Jaime has friends all over Panama and very often even in remote areas he will be seen by someone that knows him well. Jaime loves his family and is a very good businessman. Retired now but he has investments in profitable real estate in several growing areas of the country.
The Lady of the House - "Mrs. Ribbon" (Lasso) as we all call her primps a bit after a short meal at the Food Court. Silvia is a bundle of happiness and joy. She loves her children and "grands". A day does not go by that they do not see one another or chat over the phone. The family is very close. She is an excellent cook and prepared many Panamanian dishes for us while we were their guests. She has served as President of her Womens Club, enjoys playing cards several times each week and always looks as though she has just come from the beauty parlor. She goes with Jaime on most of his daily erands and they are very close. She too has a host of friends in Panama.
Dr. Jaime Lasso, Jr., and his wife at their finca in the interior of Panama. Dr. Lasso is a well respected practicing physician in Panama. His office is in the up-scale Paitilla area of the City. Jimo as we all call him was educated in Panama's medical school and at the University of Pennsylvania. Medical services in this area of Panama are said by many to be almost on par with the USA. The Oschner Clinic has a Clinic in Paitilla.
While in Panama we visited the new Visitor Center and Restaurant alongside Miraflores Locks. The Museum part of the Center was not scheduled to open until after we departed Panama but we did get to see the operating model of the giant lock gates. Originally these locks operated with mechanical arms and very often they gave a lot of trouble. Panama has modified the lock gate mechanism to use hydraulic arms instead of the old mechanical. This display which is actually a part of the Museum, illustrates how the lock gates worked with the old mechanical arms and also the new more dependable hydraulic arms.
It is always fascinating to see a ship go through the locks at the Canal. While we were at the restaurant on one of the upper floors of the Visitor Center, several ships passed through the locks. It was about dusk and this photo was made after the lights had come on at Miraflores. The upper floor observation deck gave you a wonderful view of the entire lock operation. By the way, the food at the restaurant was excellent and very tasty. It has our recommendation!
This is a view of the financial district of Panama City from the Lasso Condo window. Many condos are in this area and there are excellent retail shops and high class restaurants.
Panama is fast becoming a favorite vacation spot in Latin America. Most of the Cruises just go through the Canal. Now they are stopping for a days shopping at new facilities on the Atlantic and Pacific sides. This is a photo of the shopping area that receives these visitors as they get of the Cruise Ship. It is a very attractive shopping area with diversified shops.