If you put your finger on the map of Panama, at the Caribbean mouth of the Panama Canal; and then slide your finger about 2 inches to the right (or east), you’ll see the city of Portobelo. In the middle of the seventeenth century, ships full of priceless treasures left those harbors regularly, en route to Spain.  It is suspected that the Portobelo Bay in the Caribbean Sea contains one of Christopher Columbus’ ships and at least 20 other shipwrecks.  At the ruins of Fort San Lorenzo, you’ll find what remains of the cobblestone route called El Camino Real (the Royal Road).  So how is this fort and the royal treasure road important to our story of Bala Beach?

What must first be made clear is that young Henry Morgan was a rogue, not a pirate! With members of his family on both sides of the war in Britain, he was doing the work of a privateer for England. This meant that he held a paper issued by a representative of the English government. The governor of Jamaica empowered him to fight the Spaniards on England’s behalf. His pay was in effect what he managed to steal from Spain.

Although today this might seem a dishonorable way for a government to conduct itself, in the world paradigm of the 17th century these were accepted means of conducting European naval war. Hence Henry Morgan was a sea-raider authorized by an English Letter of Marque, not an outlaw pirate.

Admiral Henry Morgan was a handsome 25 year old Welshman when he attacked Fort San Lorenzo. It’s at the mouth of the Chagres River, in the bay harbor of Puerto Bello (now known as Portobelo) on the shores of the Caribbean Sea.  He was an ardent young man, who had set aside some of the traditions of his family to go to sea for England.

As one of the fortunate few, he had found the love of his life at a young age….in Genevieve Graham. She was a courageous young woman who found joy in posing as the captain’s cabin boy, to the undisputed king of the buccaneers.  Because of her family’s deaths on shipboard in transit from England to Jamaica; the theft of the family valuables on ship, and her arrival without financial support; it had been necessary for her to learn very quickly to take care of herself, or surrender all.

She had learned aboard ship that her slight figure allowed her to masquerade as a young man, safe from the unwelcome affections of the crew. And with time, her pose became the only safe way for her to go ashore.  Outrageously, she was discovered the first time she went to shore in Port Royal, Jamaica. She literally ran into then Captain Henry Morgan and he knew instantly he had not run into the body of a man, so he wanted to know more.

In discovering her secrets from the past, he lost his heart to her, and when the Captain brought her aboard his ship, she was in disguise. From then on, she posed as the Captain’s cabin boy.  Only Jonathan, a lifelong Welsh friend and one of his closest companions was trusted with their secret.
 

Then the Captain received a huge surprise from his family, the Morgan’s were moving to Jamaica en masse and his Uncle Colonel Edward Morgan had made it his deathbed request that Captain Morgan marry his daughter, Mary Elizabeth.  With great ceremony, Henry did so, after sharing many tears with his beloved Genevieve.  Yet Genevieve was not willing to give up her berth as ‘Captain’s lad’ and beseeched Henry to be allowed to continue sailing with the ship. As usual, he conceded.

When Admiral Henry Morgan went to attack Puerto Bello, he was concerned for Genevieve’s safety. She’d had several close calls aboard ship during their most recent battles, and the challenges expected from the Spanish at Puerto Bello were great.  She was very unhappy as she was insistently shoved into a small boat and rowed to shore, a days’ sail away from Puerto Bello and left there with a complaining monk, a small detail of armed men loaded with supplies to camp on the beach and the courageous Jonathan. The rest of the ship’s crew went to attack Fort San Lorenzo with 9 ships in tow.

At the end of June, 1666 Admiral Henry Morgan’s ships were posed at the great harbor of Puerto Bello, on the northern coast of the Isthmus of Panama. In a daring attack he took the town, held its citizens for ransom and beat off 3,000 strong troops coming to the aid of the town from the city of Panama. But it took two weeks to control the surrounding area, and defeat the remaining troops.

It was Admiral Morgan who was horrified though, when after the attack he returned to the beach, halfway between Puerto Bello and Colon to find all of the small party from his ship, lying dead in the sand.  With Jonathan’s body closest to Genevieve’s, he could see that his friend had spent his last bullet - a silver one –to save her from an even more horrifying death by their angry native attackers. 

Genevieve’s body lay crumpled at the foot of a tree, and as he raised her into his arms to hug her one last time. Admiral Morgan saw the bullet that took her life, a mangled lump of silver wedged into the trunk of the tree, and remembered that he and Jonathan had molded a small number of those bullets from silver reals. 

Genevieve, Jonathan and their men had fought bravely for their lives, dug deeply into the sand and their bodies were surrounded by empty weapons and marks in the sand where native bodies had been drug away from the scene. They had fought with great honor.   The Admiral Henry Morgan wore that scrap of a silver bullet around his neck for the rest of his life in memory of a woman of strength and courage, whom he had loved without restraint, and a best friend who had given his all trying to protect her. 

And as he climbed the ladder to board his ship, he vowed never to return to the beach of the bullet. His crew (who had really known all along about Genevieve’s ‘secret’) passed his words along one to the other…calling that treasured cove of love, Bala Beach. Where the body of love may have died, but the spirit of love will always live on.

This post is tagged under bala beach | camino real | caribbean beaches | caribbean sea | christopher columbus | colon | henry morgan | Jamaica | Panama Paradise | pirate legends | pirates | pirates of the caribbean | portobelo | privateer | puerto bello | spanish new world | tropics
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The Caribbean Sea is possibly the world’s most beautiful body of water. It’s light color sands, lush jungle canopy cover, and its bathwater ocean temperature makes it the ideal setting for the famous Corona commercials. Yet, during a portion of the year the Caribbean is in a state of alert.

During the rainy season the majority of Caribbean beachfront lays within the Hurricane effect areas. Hurricanes cause numerous different emotional and financial headaches for property owners. Emotionally, residents during Hurricane season are continuously monitoring weather reports in fear of having to evacuate their homes. Financially, residents must pay increased insurance premiums and other additional insurance coverage associated with being in a high risk area. In both circumstances, owning a piece of tropical paradise is made a bit harder than it could be.

(affected hurricane areas)

But what if you could own that piece of tropical paradise without fear of a Hurricane? Well, Bala Beach is located on Panama’s Caribbean coast where there is no risk of Hurricanes. As a matter of fact, never in recorded history has a Hurricane struck Panama. Panama is located far enough to the south in which Hurricanes push towards the north making it one of the main deciding factors in favor of building the Canal here.

Bala Beach enjoys the natural beauty of the Caribbean while eliminating the financial and emotional anxieties. This makes Bala Beach affordable and worry free!

This post is tagged under caribbean beaches | Caribbean investment | caribbean real estate | cheapest places to live | No hurricanes in Panama | Panama investment | Panama Real Estate
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Adapted from:

“Actividad económica crece 9.48%” Diego Quijano of La Prensa, laprensa.com.pa

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

And

“Panama pierde liderazgo en crecimiento de AL” Marianela Palacios Ramsbott, laprensa.com.pa

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Economic Activity Grows by 9.48%

Panama closed 2007 with the highest economic growth rate in all of Latin America after registering an historic record of 11.2%. Now well into 2008, new information shows that the Panamanian economy continues to perform and expand at a high level.

While many parts of the world are experiencing job losses and economic stagnation, Panama’s economy is creating jobs and growing. The Index of Monthly Economic Activity (IMAE) in Panama registered an increase of 9.48% for the month of April 2008 compared to the same period last year. The overall increase in economic activity for the first four months of 2008 was 8.01%

The report published yesterday explained that the growth was witnessed in many different economic sectors including, construction, mining, hotel and restaurant services, transportation, warehousing, communications, real estate, and other public and private services without getting into many further details.

With positive growth taking place in a wide range of economic areas, Panama looks to develop further each year and utilize resources such as the Canal to solidify itself as an economic leader in the region.

Even though it maintained a strong economic growth rate of 8.4% during the first trimester of 2008, Panama lost its first place ranking in the region to Uruguay with growth of 11% and Peru at 9.2% according to official statistics. The economy of Argentina expanded at the same rate as that of Panama during the first three months of 2008.

These four countries rank far ahead of the Latin American average and some of the strongest economies in the region including Mexico (2.6%), Chile (3%), Brazil (5.8%) and Venezuela (4.8).

Even though Panama has fallen off from last year’s record numbers, the country continues to diversify, develop and expand. With many large scale infrastructure projects currently under works including the Panama-Colon Highway, the Panama City Cinta Costera coastal road and of course the expansion of the Panama Canal, the Panamanian government is confidently looking toward the future and understands the huge economic potential that exists within this small country.

As infrastructure and opportunities develop, market inefficiencies start to diminish and profit margins begin to increase. With Panama’s advantageous position at the center of the Americas and its world famous resource in the Panama Canal, the country is becoming every day more attractive as a strategic location to do international business. Panama is perfectly positioned to take on a greater role and significance within the new global economy.

This post is tagged under Add new tag | cheap places to live | economic boom | economic growth | economic value | infrastructure development | invest in panama | investment yields | latin american economy | panama airflights | panama canal | panama economy | Panama Real Estate
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