Ghost Resort

A couple of months ago, one of my good friends decided to spend a week on a beach to celebrate her birthday. She asked me to join her and we decided to meet halfway in Central America. She booked a place on an island in Panama and off we went!

Isla Contadora is one of the Pearl Islands off the west coast of Panama in the Pacific. It’s less than a 30 minute flight on a tiny plane from Panama City – a huge, modern city, quite different from where I’d been staying.

The island itself isn’t very big and the short runway seems to head directly into the ocean. Fortunately, my pilot stopped the plane on solid ground!

The island was charming and full of beautiful beaches. We spent most of the week beach-hopping and snorkeling.

Who Doesn't Look Hot Wearing a Snorkel & Mask?

Panama is beautiful and Isla Contadora is a small, but gorgeous place to get away and enjoy the Pacific!

I enjoy a “beach vacation” as much as the next guy. But, what made this vacation unique was the abandoned resort we came across on the largest beach on the island.

It was fascinating to wander through the ruins of a huge, formerly beautiful posh resort and picture what it must have looked like in its heyday. We wandered the grounds and took lots of pictures. Then I did some research on the internet to find out more.

Isla Contadora was purchased in 1960 by a wealthy Panamanian. He personally financed the construction of the infrastructure for the island: water, sewers, electricity, roads, etc. He then built a small, fancy hotel with 60 bungalows which became incredibly popular with the rich and famous of the time. John Wayne, Mickey Rooney, Julio Iglesias, and Joe DiMaggio all vacationed at the Hotel Contadora.

In 1974, the owner expanded the property to be a full-blown resort with over 200 rooms on a huge white sand beach, two outdoor pools, even a mini-zoo with ocelots, spider monkeys, and peacocks as well as deer and other animals freely roaming the property. The resort included an outdoor disco, 3 restaurants, 5 bars, and a casino. From the internet pictures I found, it looked beautiful!

Sadly, when the visionary who created the Hotel Contadora died in 1981, the resort started its slip into decline. The corrupt Noriega government attempted to run the hotel, but sold it to a Japanese company after two years of mismanagement. In 1992, it was again sold to a Colombian operator who, sadly, used the hotel as a front to run drugs.

By 2005 the hotel was consistently getting poor reviews due to poor service and aging amenities, but it remained in operation until fall of 2010 when it shut its doors for good. At that point, the owners told the locals to take whatever they could use from the property – and they did. When we were there in the spring of 2011, this “ghost resort” was eerie – the structures were still in place, but the ruins looked as if they had been abandoned for years. The locals made use of everything, from drywall to murals from the reception area!

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History Revisited

I’ve written several times about meeting people from or learning about indigenous cultures in other countries on my travels. Indigenous is defined as: “originating or occurring naturally in a particular place, native.” I thought it only fitting to write a bit about indigenous Americans, especially after spending some time in the western United States.

First, a bit of history: by the mid-1870’s the US government policy of relocating Native Americans to “reservations” had been mandated and Native American tribes had been ordered to relocate to these designated areas. Many of these people did not want to forego their way of life and refused to acquiesce. Accordingly, the US Army sent troops to force the remaining free Indians onto the reservations during the Great Sioux War – one of several “Indian Wars” that took place as “the west was won.” The stories of this time (and associated memorials) offer a prime example of how history is written by the victors.

On June 25, 1876, George Armstrong Custer, leading approximately 600 soldiers of the 7^th Cavalry in the Montana Territory (now southeastern Montana) came upon a settlement of roughly 7,000 Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho along the Little Bighorn River. The cavalry attempted a surprise attack but were met with resistance from approximately 1,800 Native American warriors. The resulting battle, the Battle of Little Bighorn (or the Battle of the Greasy Grass to the Indians involved), was an overwhelming Indian victory – with the 7^th Cavalry suffering 52% casualties (including Custer and his entire five companies) while the Indian combatants suffered fewer than 50 casualties.

After the battle, the dead soldiers were buried where they fell while the Indian dead were removed by their families for a traditional burial.

In 1879, the Secretary of War preserved the site as a US National Cemetery to protect the graves of the soldiers and a temporary monument was erected.  In 1881, the 2^nd Cavalry erected a permanent granite monument and reinterred the soldiers’ remains near this monument. However, they left stakes in the ground marking where each soldier had fallen. In 1890, marble memorials were placed on each of these spots.

These marble blocks dot the fields of the battleground indicating where each soldier fell in the battle.

In the 1940’s, the National Park Service took control of the site and named it “Custer Battlefield National Monument.” It wasn’t until much later that the indigenous perspective of this battle was considered.

In 1991, George H.W. Bush signed a law changing the name of the monument to “Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument” and calling for the creation of an “Indian Memorial” to be built near the army memorial on Last Stand Hill. This memorial includes the names of each of the Native Americans killed listed by tribe, quotes from many who were in the battle, and an artistic representation of warriors heading off to the battle.

On Memorial Day 1999, red granite markers honoring the Indians who died at Little Bighorn were added to the surrounding fields and hillsides alongside the white granite markers honoring the soldiers, giving a more complete picture of both sides of the battle, and, in a small way, both sides of this part of American history.

The Indian markers give the name (in both their native language and English) of the warrior, their tribe, and the text: “A Cheyenne warrior fell here on June 25, 1876 while defending the Cheyenne way of life.” I was moved and a little saddened by this beautiful choice of language.

It is too easy to visit other countries, learn about other cultures and then make judgments on their treatment, in both the past and present, of indigenous societies within their borders. But I think it’s best to remember that there are precious few examples of “modern” societies handling indigenous people well.

At the very least, we should always look at history from BOTH perspectives, that of the victors, and that of the vanquished.

There are lessons to be learned from both sides. While I don’t have any easy answers, I suggest that we strive to both remember and act on those lessons.

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America the Beautiful. . .and Bizarre

After leaving South America (and en route to South Africa) I stopped in the United States to spend some time with family and friends before the next leg of my journey. While there, my dad talked me into a father-daughter cross-country road trip to visit family in Montana and my childhood home in Ohio. 

For my return trip from Ohio to Chicago, I took the bus.

I spent hundreds of hours on South American buses so I’d like to see what North American buses have to offer. Overall, I’ll give it a good review. No food, blankets, or movies – but I did have a comfy seat and a working bathroom!

More importantly, I got to spend a week on the highways of the USA remembering how beautiful my country is. It’s so easy to forget, when traveling around the world and seeing amazing places, that the United States is full of so many diverse and beautiful places as well. There’s a reason (actually many) that inspired the song “America the Beautiful" -- spacious skies, purple mountains, amber waves of grain. . .I was lucky enough to see just a few of those reasons during my road trip.

While driving along I-94 through North Dakota, all of a sudden, you find yourself surrounded by fields of sunflowers. Stunning.

The plains of eastern Montana sometimes feel like a step back in time.

The mountains and rivers of western Montana are always near and dear to my heart. The beauty of these tree-covered mountains rival any others I’ve seen.

Western Montana is also home to a quiet grove of huge cedar trees. Standing over 175 feet high and many around 8 feet in diameter, these 200 year-old trees will make you feel the size and  timelessness of nature.

My Two Favorite Guys Dwarfed by a Cedar Tree

Somehow, there’s even beauty in a lake created by an open pit copper mine in Southern Montana. This lake is a half-mile wide and nearly 1800 feet deep and filled with heavily acidic water full of heavy metals and dangerous chemicals. And yet it makes for a beautiful, if toxic, sight.

The Badlands of South Dakota are otherworldly with their craggy peaks and ribbons of colored rock. Photos don’t do them justice!

In Minnesota and Indiana, even wind turbines, with their slow graceful motion, are soothing and quietly beautiful. Like an army of thin, white soldiers standing at attention.

But, of course, one can always count on the US to mix a whole lot of beauty with a little bit of bizarre. In southern Minnesota, in the town of Blue Earth, we saw a sign advertising a 60 foot Jolly Green Giant. What? It turns out that this town grows corn and green beans for the Green Giant label and are proud of the work they do. 

In 1978, Interstate 90 (the longest interstate in the US, joining the east and west coasts) was completed. They were building it from the two coasts and it met right here in southern Minnesota. To commemorate the completion of Interstate 90 this giant homage to the world's "largest" vegetable fan was erected. Only in America!

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