CONTADORA, PANAMA

Contadora's Famous Visitors

From previous posts you know I did Panama and the canal on a small 100-passenger ship. On the Pacific side of the canal we played around in the Pearl Islands for a few days before transit.

The 22-foot tide on the Pacific side of the canal made berthing  very difficult, but each day the captain managed to find a lovely deserted sandy beach for us to enjoy a swim in the warm waters. One day after lunch we dropped anchor off a gorgeous sandy beach at Contadora Island  and were ferried ashore by skiff. After thoroughly enjoying a swim in the warm, calm, clear water, we did a little beach combing along the beautiful white-sand beach. When we had had enough several of us donned tee shirts over our suits and wandered up into ‘town’. I was sure glad I had packed my Tevas!

During World War II the military built an air strip on Contadora that is still used today by small planes. We walked up to it while we were ashore. In 1955 the bases were closed and the military turned everything over to Panama who eventually sold the island to private investment. In recent years Contadora has become a resort area and a get-away from the bustle of the city, but you won’t find any big resort hotels. It has also become a popular retreat with Spanish and Canadian visitors. Since several desalination plants were not working fresh water on the island was a scarce commodity.

The Shah of Iran stayed on the island during his exile. Jimmy Carter has been seen walking the deserted beaches.  Because of city distractions, Costa Rica’s President Arias and the negotiators of the Panama Canal Treaty retreated here in 1977. During the trying times in 1983 between Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador the Contadora Group  also retreated here. The group met to deal with the military conflicts which were threatening to destabilize the entire Central  American region. The initiative drew international attention to Central America's conflicts and pressure for a softening of the militarist stance of the  United States in the region. The peace plan was supported by the General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council  and many regional and international bodies.

 Contadora was fun to wander around and certainly would offer a nice respite from a busy big city life.