Colon Panama Hotels |

The Colon Province of Panama is now the fourth most populated province, with a population of just over two hundred thousand souls. Located on the Atlantic Ocean end of the Panama Canal, on the Northern shore of Panama, the seaport city of Colon was located on a spot which history records as Manzanillo Island.

When gold was discovered in California in 1848, it provided the impetus for building a method of fast transportation across the narrow Isthmus of Panama. With plans in progress for the Panama Railroad, Manzanillo Island was linked with the mainland by American entrepreneurs; including William H. Aspinwall. The engineers innovated a drainage plan to allow them to construct the railhead by first drawing off enough water from the swamps on and around the island to be able to build on it and connect it by bridge to the mainland.

The Panama Railroad asked for bids to construct the track from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific shore. The construction contract was awarded to a company headed by George M. Totten and John G. Trautwine, who sent an order to New Orleans to have a small pine board shack built and shipped to him. This was the first permanent structure in what became the town of Aspinwall which was later called Colon.

Due to the tropical diseases malaria and yellow fever; it is estimated that more than 12,000 people died during the construction of the Panama Railroad. The true numbers will never be available, because many of the people keeping records died too, some of them from cholera contaminated food or water.
The Panama Railroad is the most expensive railroad built in the world. Building the forty seven miles of track that inaugurated the first inter-ocean railroad cost - in addition to the lives of twelve thousand people - eight million dollars and five painstakingly muddy and mosquito tortured years of work. The workers who cleared the land and laid the track were from all over the world, but as they died by the thousands; those who survived stood apart.

Panama has developed the infrastructure to accommodate the nearly 300,000 annual cruise passengers who visit, including two ports in the Panama Canal: one on the Atlantic side of the Canal, Colon 2000; and near the Pacific entrance, Amador Cruise Ship Port.

These two brand new cruise passenger terminals represent an investment of $100 million dollars; and open more opportunities to offer dock services in Panama. It is estimated that during the cruise season 2007-2008, at least 192 cruise ships arrived at dockage in Panama with passengers, who will have graciously left at least 40 million dollars in their wake.

All these investments have resulted in the recognition of Panama as “Best Adventure Destination”. Panama is a wonderful place to visit. So there may be a new group of adventurers, who are cruise passengers landing in Colon or Panama City, doing cross country visits through the Panamanian highlands and beaches; then either join their ship on the other side of her canal transit, or fly home after extending their adventures overland. Read the rest of this entry »

Reconnect with your spirit of adventure at Meliá Panama Canal Hotel. Whether you are looking forward to spending your days venturing out in the tropical outdoors, visiting all of the attractions of Panama, or you are planning your next corporate business event, Meliá Panama Canal offers a lovely venue. Most all of the 258 rooms overlook the shores of Gatun Lake, just 10 minutes from the Free Trade Zone in Colon, and about 90 minutes from the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.

The Meliá Hotel was originally built as a hospital for WWII service people in the 1940’s and then was used as the School of the Americas, a military training facility, until 1984. It then remained empty until the late nineties, when it was renovated into the Melia Hotel. So if you have allergy issues, be aware that this is an old building in the tropics, and consider other lodging. Read the rest of this entry »