Malik Watkins's Bloglines

The quality of a sound ‘Strategic Plan’ is dependent upon its production process.  The basis of this process is rooted in information characteristic of in depth analysis, appropriate broadness of consideration, and an awareness of the nuances of structure and culture.  Thus, it begins with discovery.  Consequently, I have the task of spending the next few weeks immersed in Panamanian culture….its community, economy, neighborhoods, and governance.  Whew!  What is a man to do!  Somebody must do it!  🙂

This is Panama….So, let’s go to the Panama Canal!  We are heading to highest peak in Panama City.  From this peak, we can see everything…the new city, the old city, the canal…its gate…but on the way, we stop at….

Mi Pueblita – meaning ‘My Little Town’; it is an example of how some live in the country side…the village with the church at the center of the village, look at the architecture….

We stopped to check out this site on our way to ANCON Hill, ANCON represents Asociación Nacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza; basically, the National Association for the Conservation of the Nature….I may have the context of Naturaleza wrong, but you get the drift 🙂  ANCON Hill is the highest site to view Panama City.  On its highest site, is the National Flag…had to take a picture to represent for all my new Panamanian Friends!

It is rainy season here in Panama so the clouds are thick and heavy…basically, it rains every day.  Never-the-less, you can tell…this isn’t just some place where big boats float through to get to the other side.  Indeed, we are talking about a major city:

That is the new city, changing directions from ANCON Hill, we can see the old city.  Will show more of the ‘Old City’ later, but it is reminiscent of Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC…we will get to some close ups soon:

Discovery is a difficult task….especially when it has to be experiential 🙂  On the Pacific Ocean…behind me resides the entrance to the Panama Canal….this is called the Bridge of the Americas…. whew…this work is hard! 🙂

Turning to the other side of ANCON Hill, past the Canal de Panama Administration building sits the opening to the gateway to the West…the Atlantic Ocean…where it opens up at Colon.  Looking past the ‘Bridge of Americas’, we get to the first cranes and storage areas for the containers carrying trade and prosperity from all over the world:

Keep in mind…we are in the middle of a rain forest…so the green and the moisture is intense!  This is another shot at the cranes and transfer areas:

Heading up a bit further up the Canal de Panama….we see the first locks…because of the focus on optimal logistics…at this point there is also a railroad to Colon, an airstrip, and warehouses and assembly companies nearby to assemble multiple components for further product development.

Looking at the locks…adjacent to the hill on the left, is where the expansion is taking place.  Scheduled to be completed by 2014…this is where the locks will be large enough for the next generation container ships to come through…serious work taking place here…making this area…and Ciudad de Panama…one of the more significant trade and economic points of interest in our continually globalizing society.

Next Stop…The City 🙂

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