By Tania Millen, BSc, MJ

“Do you want to run?” Chrissy asked. “Sure,” I said, as her spunky little grey gelding shot off up the road. El Capitan — the lanky, gaited part-Peruvian Paso gelding I was riding — followed. As we clattered up the hard-packed dirt road, I stood in the Western stirrups and gave him his head. I was on a two-week vacation in Panama and this was my second day riding with Horseback Panama near Santa Fe, 300 kilometres west of Panama City.

I’ve been fascinated by Panama and its globally important canal for years. So, when I was looking for a winter break from Canada’s snowy north, riding local horses in Panama fit the bill. The trip was a purposeful escape from the freneticism that permeates North American culture; however, immediate immersion in 29 degrees Celsius, 80 percent humidity, and a new language was challenging.

El Capitan is a gaited part-Peruvian Paso gelding, typical of today’s lean Panamanian horses standing about 14.2 hands. Photos: Tania Millen

Panama is a slim isthmus connecting North and South America, sandwiched between Costa Rica and Colombia. I stayed in Casco Viejo, the original 1600s port built by Spaniards when plundering South America’s gold. It’s now situated at the Pacific end of the 80-km-long Panama Canal. However, my five-day riding adventure started in a burgeoning tourist town in the foothills of the Continental Divide.

A 1930s-era mounted rider is shown in this photo at the Panama Canal Museum. The museum, established in 1997, is devoted to the history of the construction of the Panama Canal. Photo: Tania Millen

Colonial era stirrups and horseshoes at the Panama Canal Museum. Stirrups from the Spanish colonial era were crescent-shaped. Metal stirrups were used by the wealthy; wooden stirrups by peasants. Stirrups of the colonial elite covered most of the rider’s foot and were elaborately designed to illustrate status and social position. Photos: Tania Millen

To get there, I took an air-conditioned coach five hours west on the Pan-American Highway toward Costa Rica. If the bus continued another 7,700 km, it would reach Vancouver, BC. I hopped off at bustling Santiago, then rode a smaller local bus 57 km north to Santa Fe. The bus was a microcosm of local life. Accordion music played at ear-splitting levels while farmers and school children crammed the seats and aisles. Baskets of chirping chickens, sacks of animal feed, and groceries were stuffed in overhead racks and beneath seats. The driver carefully steered the overloaded bus around potholes, occasionally hit 50 km/hour, and urged the groaning beast uphill at walking speed. I found myself grinning. This is what I came for — a glimpse of everyday life in rural Panama beyond the glitter of the city, where the realities of rich and poor are miles apart yet collide every day.

I got off the bus at the end of the line, checked into a self-contained cabana, and reflected on Panama’s position as a global crossroads.

Panamanians have four main origins: Indigenous peoples from the great South American cultures prior to European contact; Africans brought to the region as enslaved people; Europeans (particularly Spaniards) searching for wealth in the Americas; and Americans constructing the canal. More recently, cold-climate retirees have settled there.

Panama’s culture reflects its people and geography. Indigenous beliefs are blended with Spanish language, subsistence farming, surfing, baseball, sea turtle nesting sites, coffee and chocolate exports, gentrification, the US dollar, one of the most important shipping lanes on the planet, and a bizarre penchant for pizza. But that’s today.

Panama formed about three million years ago when the volcanic chain of islands between North and South America rose and formed a land bridge. The newly formed isthmus affected global ocean circulation, creating the Gulf Stream. It triggered ice ages in the Northern Hemisphere. Plus, the narrow strip of land allowed animals to migrate between North and South America for the first time. The horse — a North American species — travelled south, along with bears, cats (jaguar, cougar), dogs (coyote, wolf), deer, and racoons. Porcupines and opossums, which still inhabit North America, travelled north.

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About three million years ago, volcanic islands rose between North and South America to form the Isthmus of Panama, reshaping ocean currents and helping trigger Northern Hemisphere ice ages. The new land bridge also allowed animals to migrate between the continents, with horses, bears, and big cats moving south, while porcupines and opossums travelled north. Photo: Tania Millen

Today, many Panamanian horses are gaited, lean, and smaller at about 14.2 hands. They’re primarily used by cattle ranchers to check and move stock, and as transportation between villages. Lots of horses have the angular look of Peruvian Pasos; some appear to have Quarter Horse influence. Mules aren’t as common, but are highly regarded due to their toughness, ability to travel all day, and lower feed requirements. They generally cost three times that of a horse. There’s a long history of horse use in rural areas, and local horse parades, or cabalgatas, are common.

On my first riding day, Lizzie — the owner/operator of Horseback Panama — picked me up at 5 am. We drove half an hour south of Santa Fe to a small cattle corral where the horses had stayed overnight. As morning dawned and pale light began filtering through the trees, my guides Jose and Chrissy tacked up the horses with Western saddles and curb bits, and we hopped on.

Lizzie, the owner/operator of Horseback Panama, riding the five-year-old Paso-type mare, MiniPali. Photo: Tania Millen

El Capitan keenly jigged down the red earth road toward our first objective — a tabletop mountain in the distance. We climbed and descended the steep rolling backroads, greeting locals with hola — one of my few Spanish words — while they humped their loads on foot.

The trees were bathed in orange light and the temperature ticked up as the sun rose. We crossed the belly-deep Santa Maria River, then rode steeply uphill. At a narrow, overgrown path, Jose hopped off his mule Big Red and whacked aside the fast-growing bush with his machete. We rode up to a shaded grove of trees, tied up our sweating steeds, and hiked to the top. The flat mossy tabletop offered spectacular views. Heat shimmered above the plains to the south. A jagged black tooth of volcanic rock rose out of the hilly jungle to the west. To the north, the foreboding cloud-covered mountains of the Continental Divide were transformed by a rainbow.

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Local guide Jose riding a mule. Mules here are highly regarded for their toughness and cost about three times that of a horse. Photo: Tania Millen

After a quick snack, we descended into the shade for relief from the heat. We crossed the river several times before arriving at another borrowed cattle pen where the horses stayed for the night.

The second day’s ride began at 6 am, crossing the river and following steep red earth tracks through the hills. We searched for a waterfall, but overgrown paths prevented us from seeing it. So, we rode south to a cattle ranch, intermittently walking and galloping for the sheer fun of it.

The horses were fit for the job, sure-footed, and impressively well-shod. They were unconcerned with barking and running dogs, motorbikes, cattle, and people carrying all different loads. Although the horses waded the rivers easily, they were also expected to cross narrow steel cable suspension bridges when water levels were high. These horses have good minds, and I’d be happy to have any of them in my barn. Finding good horses seven hours away by plane reminded me that horses cut across cultures, and good horsemanship can be found anywhere.

Panama’s traditional dress includes the elegant pollera for women — renowned for its intricate embroidery, gold jewelry, and elaborate hair ornaments — and the montuno for men, featuring an embroidered white shirt, trousers, and the distinctive sombrero pintado. A handcrafted pollera can take months to create and is considered one of the most beautiful folk costumes in the Americas. In this photo, the author is on the left. Photo courtesy of Tania Millen

But Canada and Panama share more than horse culture. The countries jointly support birds and mammals. Sandpipers breed in Canada’s Arctic, then winter in Panama. Arctic terns stop over in Panama during their migration between the Arctic and Antarctic. Humpback whales, seen spouting and leaping in the Salish Sea near Vancouver, breed and give birth in Panama’s waters. These animals simply don’t survive without both ecosystems.

The global economy also depends heavily on Panama; namely, on its canal.

The canal was built by Americans from 1904-1914, but was centuries in the making. Between 1531 and 1660, 60 percent of the gold and silver plundered from the Americas passed through the Panamanian isthmus on its way to Spain. There were two routes across the narrow neck of land: the Camino Real mule route and the Camino de Cruces mule and boat route. 

By 1867, the year of Canada’s Confederation, $1 billion worth of goods was transiting the isthmus by railway every year. In 1880, the Frenchman who had designed the Suez Canal started excavating a trench across the isthmus. The effort went bankrupt in 1889 after 20,000 men died of mosquito-borne yellow fever and malaria.

Enter the Americans. In 1903, the United States paid Panama — now an independent nation — $10 million plus $250,000 annually to build a canal and maintain a 10-mile-wide strip of land in perpetuity. The problems of yellow fever and malaria were solved by intense DDT spraying, which eradicated mosquitos from the area. A US engineer designed the canal system with dams to harness water flowing down the Chagres River, creating Gatun Lake. Six locks — based on a mechanism originally designed by Leonardo da Vinci¹, — raised and lowered ships at the north and south ends of the canal. The canal built over 100 years ago still operates in the same way, every day.

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Above: Miraflores is one of the three lock systems of the Panama Canal, where ships are raised or lowered 54 feet (16.5 m) in two stages as they travel to or from the Pacific Ocean. Vessels pass beneath the Bridge of the Americas, which links North and South America, before continuing to the nearby Port of Balboa in Panama City. Photo: Tania Millen

Above: The single-step Pedro Miguel Locks have a lift of 31 feet (9.4 metres), while the nearby Miraflores Locks vary in height because of the extreme tides on the Pacific side. The Pedro Miguel Locks raise ships from the Pacific side to Miraflores Lake, after which vessels continue across Gatun Lake before the triple-flight Gatun Locks lower them to the Atlantic Ocean. Tidal differences on the Atlantic side are very small. Photo: Tania Millen

In 1999, the United States officially transferred control of the canal to Panama, thanks to a landmark treaty signed by President Carter in 1977.

In 2016, an additional canal system alongside the original “ditch” was built to accommodate larger ships. Today, Neopanamax² ships carrying up to 13,000 steel containers pay $1 million to transit the canal in one direction. The canal operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week, supporting shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil, tourists, and myriad goods around the world. Its importance cannot be overstated. Crossing the Continental Divide via ship through the canal was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life.

MIRAFLORES LOCK COMPLETED IN 1913, OPENED WITH THE PANAMA CANAL IN 1914

 MIRAFLORES GATES CLOSING...

MIRAFLORES FILLING TO RAISE A SHIP...

The Miraflores Locks use massive steel miter gates and gravity-fed water systems, an engineering design that transformed global shipping. Miraflores is unique because Pacific tides can vary by more than 20 feet, meaning the amount by which ships are raised or lowered changes throughout the day. After passing through Miraflores, vessels travel beneath the Bridge of the Americas before entering the Pacific near Panama City. Photos: Tania Millen

The Bridge of the Americas spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, linking North and South America across the narrow Isthmus of Panama (in this photo, South America is on the left). Opened in 1962, the steel arch bridge became an important symbol of connection and trade, carrying thousands of vehicles each day high above passing ships. Photo: Tania Millen

On my third riding day, Lizzie picked me up at 11 am and we drove to her barn to load up two fresh horses for an afternoon ride. I would be riding MiniPali, a five-year-old, black, 14.2-hand Paso-type mare bred by Lizzie. It was MiniPali’s first year as a client horse, and she was still being ridden in a bitless bridle, which is how they’re started. Chrissy would be riding KitKat, a new chestnut 15-hand Paso-Quarter Horse-cross mare just learning her job.

The horses were loaded from an embankment into the back of an open-air pickup, and travelled with their heads into the wind, sightseeing on the way to a local cattle ranch. There, we unloaded the mares, tacked up, and helped the owner, Wilson, and his nephew push Brahman and Brangus (Brahman-Angus crossbred) cattle to new pasture. With the cattle happy, we walked and galloped through pine forests and logging blocks before doctoring a brand-new calf. The calf was roped, vaccinated, given a shot of vitamins, and had its tail hair trimmed while its worried mother bawled. With day’s end near, we rode up to a west-facing ridge to catch the sunset. As the sun dropped, the forests and pastures were bathed in soft orange light that gradually shifted to muted violet and blues. As darkness descended, we followed a cattle track back to the pens where our mares would stay overnight. It was a lovely day immersed in horses, and not so different from home.

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After being loaded from an embankment into the back of an open-air pickup truck, the horses travelled with their heads into the wind to the local cattle ranch. Photos: Tania Millen

Lizzie picked me up at 5 am the following day for a long ride along the flanks of Cerro Tute, a mountain in Santa Fe National Park known for birds, butterflies, orchids, and waterfalls. A few hours in, we stopped at a nondescript bit of countryside: tufts of grass, dry red earth, and occasional clumps of drought-resistant trees. There, swirling petroglyphs had been carved into large soft rocks. Apparently, the carvings historically indicated water, although there wasn’t any water in sight. Dropping off the mountains, we rode back to Lizzie’s barn, a fitting end to my last ride in Panama.

The swirling petroglyphs near Cerro Tute in Panama are ancient rock carvings believed to have been created by pre-Columbian Indigenous Peoples. The spiral and circular designs are thought to represent spiritual symbols, water, the sun, fertility, or maps of trails and rivers, although their exact meaning remains unknown. Similar petroglyphs are found throughout Panama. Photo: Tania Millen

The author riding KitKat, a Paso-Quarter Horse-cross mare just learning her job, with the Cerro Tute mountain in the background. Photo: Christiane Skiepko

The next day, we visited a local coffee farm where the 70-year-old owners grew, cleaned, roasted, packaged, and sold coffee beans for a living, all by hand and using carved wooden implements. Their operation was far from the shiny, colourfully branded coffee shops in Canadian cities, yet they produced magical-tasting beans that any coffee aficionado would cherish.

My time in Panama exceeded expectations, but there’s much more to experience: Indigenous cacao farms, 3,400 metre Volcan Baru, the striking quetzal bird, white sands of Bocas del Toro, sea turtles, sloths, howler monkeys, and more. Plus, there’s the unspoken part of Panama — the Darién Gap — one of the most dangerous places in the world, where desperate thousands risk their lives navigating the lawless jungle in a bid for a brighter future in the US, Mexico, or Canada.

Perhaps it’s not surprising that a country sitting at a global crossroads would have so much to offer, but I was surprised all the same. What I found was excellent riding, kind people, fascinating history, unique culture, and a land with unexpected connections to Canada. 

A worthy place to visit.

Want to do this trip?

Direct flights: Air Canada, Air Transat, Copa Airlines, WestJet 

Riding: Horseback Panama in Santa Fe, Veraguas Province

Recommended: BioMuseo; birding; chocolate; coffee; Miraflores Visitor Center; Panama Canal Museum; Panama Canal transit by boat.

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Main Photo: Christiane Skiepko 

Footnotes

1. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is credited with developing an improved version of the miter lock gate during the late 15th century while working as an engineer in Milan. He designed two large gates that met at an angle pointing upstream, forming a “V” shape that allowed water pressure itself to seal the gates more tightly. This innovation made canal locks stronger, safer, and more efficient for raising and lowering boats between different water levels. The basic principle of da Vinci’s miter gate design became foundational in canal engineering and is still used in major waterways today, including the Panama Canal and many locks associated with the Suez Canal system.
2. A Neopanamax vessel is a large ship designed to fit through the expanded Panama Canal locks, which were opened in 2016 as part of the canal’s modernization.