Panama, holds keys to the universe!
Since its discovery in the early 1500's, Panama was considered the center of the universe because of its strategic location in the new world. Somewhere along its shores there must be a route to the other side and the big southern ocean and riches beyond imagination. This fascinating narrative from a chapter of a new book about Panama can be found on the USA Today website.
I can't help but find some similarities in the Spanish quest for gold 500 years ago and many of their decedents continued efforts to strike it rich by plunder and guile rather than hard work today.
CHAPTER ONE
"THE KEYS TO THE UNIVERSE"
What had motivated the voyages that led to the discovery of the New World was exactly what the Panama Canal would eventually deliver—a through passage to the East. On his fourth voyage, in 1502, Columbus, by then embittered and sickly, sailed all along Panama's northern coast, obsessively searching every tiny cove for a "hidden strait." At one point he anchored in Limón, or "Navy," Bay, now the Atlantic terminus of the canal. Even after Columbus's failure to find an open passage to the East, the idea died hard. In 1507, the first map ever printed of the New World optimistically showed an open strait about where the Isthmus of Panama is located.
