An article published in a local print media caused a stir in the country, because it says "you will have to ask permission to take pictures and videos on the coastal strip and Casco Viejo." The publication notes that in order to take pictures and videos on the Cinta Costera, you must first send a request to the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) and quotes Jaime Solé, Cinta Costera manager, who told the newspaper that the measure seeks to ensure that what is published shows the country is a positive aspect.

The lawyer Ernesto Cedeño said in this regard that it "is blatantly unconstitutional because the Constitution states what are the public access areas, beaches and parks where any foreigner can access them." Meanwhile a tourist said that's too bad because they come to the country to know the sights. However, we tried to get an official version from the MOP, but for now reigns an absolute secrecy.

With regard to the Old Town, historical heritage officials explained by telephone that there is no restriction for the media at this time to take photos and videos in that area. However, permission is required if you are intending to do a special publications such as books, advertising campaigns and events. Despite this, during a tour of the Coastal Strip, we met several tourists taking all the pictures they wanted without any restrictions. (TVN)

Editor's Comment: Once again, a ridiculous attempt to somehow control the media, and apparently anyone with a camera, including foreign tourists. The fact of the matter is legally speaking you can take photos or videos in any public space, with no restrictions. On several occasions I've had individual police officers try to tell me "you can't take photos of that" like at a crime scene, or at an accident, or what have you. Basically I just ignore them and go about my business. I have not had anyone try to force the issue or make me stop filming or shooting videos. In short, I'd like to see them try. Now, It's a whole different matter on any private property - and that's when you need permission or to be invited to cover an event. For instance, you're not supposed to take photos inside of a mall, as an example. Again, private property is the difference. People do it all the time, like snap a photo of their kid in front of the dinosaur at the Albrook Mall or what have you. But if they want, the owners can selectively enforce any restrictions they want to impose.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - While I was up in Bocas I set my video camera up on a tripod at dawn, pointed towards Isla Carenero. It ran for about an hour and a half, and then I compressed that video by 2000% down to a four minute time-lapse. There's a panga tied up to the floating dock in front of the Tropical Suites Hotel in the foreground. Right next door to the left is the water taxi stand, so there's a lot of traffic coming and going from there. A few more doors to the left is the headquarters of the National Police, and at one point they pull out with their big boat (and blow up a huge cloud of smoke). And then of course the sun is rising in the background, clouds are forming at dawn, and in general it's pretty cool. This is my first effort at time-lapse video so it's far from perfect. For example, when I first started recording the camera was fogged up from being in the air conditioning, but then after awhile it clears out. I knew it was happening but said "screw it" and let it run - you can see the camera acclimated at the 45 second mark. I also had to delete the audio track, because the air conditioning compressor running next to the camera sounded like honey bees on crack when sped up. Anyway, I like the way this turned out so I'll probably do more time-lapse experiments in the future. Enjoy!

Copyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Dixon Hamby sent another batch of photos - this time taken in the Casco Viejo area of downtown Panama City. He sent 19 photos in this batch, so I uploaded them to the Media Gallery and created an album for his work. All photos credits go to Dixon Hamby. In order to see the photos Dixon submitted, please click on this link which will take you straight to the slide show.

Copyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - In a perfect world, I would be a happy-go-lucky world traveler, with no responsibilities, and more money than bills. My pack would contain photography equipment and video cameras. I would make a wonderful and lucrative living as a professional photographer, and the nations of the world and the interesting people who inhabit them would be my subjects. Alas, my reality happens to be somewhat removed from the ideal. As it is, I happen to spend great deal of my time pecking away at a computer keyboard in my office, squinting into a computer screen to decide the proper way to translate this word or that from Spanish to English. My cameras tend to gather dust. Unfortunately I don't get paid the big bucks for taking images, and usually when I can get out and about it's because I have to snap a picture of a smoldering transformer that caught fire or something equally newsworthy. Maybe not so interesting, from an artistic point of view. And there's a reason why I don't make a living as a professional photographer. I'm not one. I can take some pretty good photos, and I've told I have a good eye, but "real" professionals like Dixon Hamby blow me away in the skill department. While I take happy snaps, he makes art.

A Chance Encounter: Last week I was sitting at a restaurant, eating lunch and watching the world walk by, when Dixon came up and said "hi." We've met before but I had not seen him in a couple of years. I offered him the opportunity to display some of his imagery on this website, and I'd link back to his webpage. He's going to be sending me some of his images and I'll be putting them up. Whatever he happens to feel like sending. Whenever. He's a skilled photographer who's been working as a professional for years. And I wanted to offer him the opportunity to get some increased exposure for his images. In return I get to populate this page with some better images. So anyway, here it is, photos by Dixon Hamby. All of these were taken at the Fish Market in Panama City. Hey Dixon - I know my readers - think "hot chicks in bikinis enjoying the summer dry season in Panama..." Just a suggestion (grin). Fish is good. Ice is good...

Workers unload blocks of ice at the Fish Market in Panama City, Panama. Under the administration of the Mayor's Office and the municipality of Panama City, thousands of people buy their fresh seafood at the fish market every day. And it takes a whole lot of ice to keep the fish fresh. The vendors who rent the stalls get all the ice they need to keep their products fresh, included in the base monthly price. Photo Credit: Dixon Hamby

Panama's fishing fleet sets off daily to scour the Pacific Ocean for the most tasty delights. Fresh octopus is a favorite, as well as shrimp and prawns, clams and mussels, and some things you might not have seen before. The cold currents from the deep waters of the equatorial Pacific rise toward the surface as the approach the shores of Panama, making the waters a veritable smorgasbord of seafood delights. The seafood in Panama is excellent. Photo Credit: Dixon Hamby

It takes a happy man to sell good fish. I go to the fish market all the time, and some really interesting "characters" make their livings there. You can just see the personality bubbling out of this guy as he displays the catch of the day. Photo Credit: Dixon Hamby

Clear eyes, caught this morning. When the fish are fresh you can still see how clear the eyes are, like these. If it's a day or so old, then the eyes will get "milky" or glazed over. These are fresh, very fresh. Photo Credit: Dixon Hamby

The big fish caught every day by the fishermen get reduced down to manageable parts and pieces. Almost no one wants to buy the whole fish if it's more than 20 pounds or so. I wonder how many thousands of tons of fresh seafood have passed over that chopping block, under that knife, cut apart by this guy. Photo Credit: Dixon Hamby

Copyright 2012 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - After I put up the image of Ninel Conde yesterday, almost immediately I received an email with her name. She's a famous Mexican actress, and exceptionally hot. But I got this response practically within seconds. How? The guilty party cheated. I didn't even know you could do that. He explain how he cheated, saying "I have to confess! I cheated! FYI, (snip) and it can tell you who is in the picture with eery accuracy. I imagine that is what a majority of your readers are doing because no way that many people know who is Jordana Brewster. So that´s it, my guilt got the best of me! I confess and beg for mercy!" And here I thought there were all kinds of really smart people out there who know about Jordana Brewster, or Ninel Conde. OK, here's an ethics test. If you can name the girl in this photo, then good for you - you have great taste in bikini models. If you know about the trick used by this reader to quickly and easily identify the model, then please put (cheated) next to your answer. I mean, either you know it off the top of your head (not likely), you figured it out the old fashioned way (hard work, looking through dozens of photos of chicks in bikinis), or you cheated. I mean, I really don't care all that much if you cheated or not. It's not like I'm giving away an IPad or anything, right? This is nothing more than a cheap gambit to toss up photos of sexy chicks in bikinis to drag more traffic through the door, right? Hey, it is what it is. And for the record, today's entry is sporting hooters because I didn't receive a single request from you ladies out there for a photo of a hot dude - not one. And considering I'm still unabashedly heterosexual, there's no way I'm doing something like that without a little plausible deniability. Anyway, next up is... ?

Copyright 2011 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Congratulations to Panama Guide reader CITaylor who was the first to submit a correct answer via comments on our "name that bikini chick" contest. Yes, that was Jordana Brewster, who was born in Panama City, Panama on 26 April 1980. OK, we've done Colombia and Panama. I thought Jordana Brewster was going to be tougher, but you guys were all over it with dozens of correct answers. Now I'm going off the beaten path a little. Besides being hotter than the sun, she's also famous. As usual, if you know who this is, first to submit a correct answer via the comment section wins the praise and admiration of your Panama Guide peers. And, a little feedback, please. Are there enough ladies out there who would like to see some hot dude on Saturdays? I mean, I'm only going to do it if asked...

Copyright 2011 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

#Panama - By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Yes, that sexy chick in the bikini was Sofia Vergara, the Colombian actress. The first guy to post her name spelled it "Sophia" - so close, but no banana. The system marks your answers with a time hack, so I can tell who got it right first, but I'm not going to post the answers right away, because you don't know if you got it right, or if you were first, and I want to leave it open for others to participate as well. Anyway, this one his harder. I'm tempted to give a clue or two but I'm going to let it run for at least 24 hours to see if anyone can figure it out. So, have you seen this woman before. Do you know who she is? Post your answers in comments.

Copyright 2011 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Last weekend I was at the Superbook VIP Sports Club to watch some football. It was a great day, made special by Tony Romo's "greatest choke in the history of the NFL." As a fan of the NY Giants, it's always good to see the Cowboys lose, and it's even better to watch their franchise quarterback melt down like a 12 year old girl. Then the Giants managed to pull off an ugly win, but hey, they put a "1" in the "win" column so I'm not complaining. The Giants were "clutch" while the Cowboys were "choke." Perfect. Anyway, while I was there someone stopped me and said "hey, when are you going to put up more girls in bikinis?" Good point. Normally I'll throw up a photo of a hot chick in a bikini at the drop of a hat. You know, like "it's raining, so if you were outside in a bikini, then you'd be just fine." Or, "man, there was a bus accident in La Chorrera yesterday, so if you were wearing a bikini like this chick, you'd have been screwed." But no, this time I decided to up the ante just a little. Here's a photo of a hot chick in a bikini. However, she's famous. The first person who figures out who it is wins the "Kewpie doll" - and gets to send in the next image. Here's the first one. Who is this? If you know, the first one to put it in the comments section wins...

Copyright 2011 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I played "hooky" a couple of days this week. My wife and I took our daughter Sarah to the Decameron resort, just for one night, for a getaway and a break. I took the opportunity to play with my new underwater camera, the Go Pro Hero. As you might already know, I've been getting more and more into video lately, and the Go Pro is my latest acquisition. It can shoot full 1080p high definition video, and it comes with a waterproof housing. This was the first time I had a chance to play with it in the water. Now I think I'm going to strap it to the bottom of my car and drive around during a Panamanian downpour - that should be interesting. Anyway, without further adieu, here's a video of my family and I goofing off at the Decameron resort. If you want once you start the video you can select the higher 1080p resolution for playback, to see what the camera can do.

Copyright 2011 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Holy shit. This is a link to an amazing aerial acrobatics video, shot and produced by Colibri Productions, of Gary Ward in his MX2 and Fred Cabanas in the Pitts flying primarily over the former Howard Air Force base with the rest of Panama City as a backdrop, and AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" as a soundtrack. Would someone please hand me a box of Kleenex or a roll of paper towels or something -- this stuff is better than porn.

Click on the link above, crank up the volume to max, hit the "full screen" button, and enjoy. Great stuff. I can't decide what I like the most about this video, having to choose between the amazing flying and the skill of the pilots, the incredible cinematography and the skill of the producers, the background vies and Panama scenery (of my beloved former home base at Howard, where I logged more than 4,000 hours flying on C-130's), or the soundtrack music. Don't miss this video. And, I'm becoming a big fan of Colibri Productions.

Copyright 2011 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Welcome aboard to our latest link swapper - Panama Lens. From their website: "Panama Lens produces professional video tours and photographs for the real estate market in Panama. Our video and photo packages include an on-camera host, custom scripting, narration, and professional equipment. We have experience filming and photographing many different property types; from 1 bedroom rental condos on Balboa Ave to 335 hectare ocean side for sale properties, and everything in between (please feel free to view our portfolio on our website). It is our goal to differentiate the selling points of each property and, most importantly, drive qualified traffic to each listing we produce material for. Panama Lens enables anyone in the world to take a walk-through video tour of your property 24/7." Sweet. Professional photography services to help you promote your property in Panama - what more could you ask for? Hey, a walk though video tour of my apartment 24/7? Sometimes I'm on the John, ya'know ... that would be embarrassing. Anyway, these guys are smarter than me, and smart enough to participate in our long standing link exchange program. If you've got a website about Panama with English language content you might want to sign up as well.

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

September 6, 2008 - e-flux The Sweet Burnt Smell of History, September 9th - October 21st 2008. Museum of Contemporary Art – Panamá. http://www.bienalpanama.org. Francis Alÿs, Abner Benaim, Enrique Castro Ríos, Donna Conlon, Sam Durant, Aurélien Froment, Mario García Torres, Jonathan Harker, Joachim Koester, Jonathan Monk, Roman Ondak, Rich Potter, Sean Snyder, Michael Stevenson, Mungo Thomson, Humberto Vélez and Ramón Zafrani Curated by Magali Arriola - When entering the territories of the former North American Canal Zone in Panama, many questions arise out of the living memories and remains of place whose identity has still to be negotiated on a daily basis. What used to be known as the Canal Zone – an area that was simultaneously a military reservation, a company town and a colony that has only recently started to show the first symptoms of local re-appropriation – seems to exist today as an apocryphal memory nourished by the nostalgia of those who occupied its lands, and as a geographical ghost that embodies Panama's colonial and post-colonial history. Eight years after Panama recovered complete sovereignty over that controversial piece of land, the 8th Panama Art Biennial deals with the former American Canal Zone as a historical marker, triggering a reflection on its recent social and political history through the lenses of contemporary visual arts. (more)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - A couple of months ago I got kinda knocked on my butt unexpectedly, and lately I've been getting back more and more into my normal routine. One of the things I've been neglecting is my camera. "Normally" I don't leave home without it, but with the operation and recovery it's just been a heavy bag to haul around, and I've been leaving it behind. Thankfully now I'm recovered enough to where I feel like hauling the thing around with me again, and today I had to run down to Santa Ana to see a guy about a thing, and I had my camera with me. We parked the car and presto, I was presented with the warning above. Good thing for he I had already gone before I left the office. Anyway, for what it's worth...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

The photo albums "broke" during a recent server upgrade, and I have them running correctly again. I'm also starting to collect some special images of Panama in an album called Creative Photography. Most of the images I take are for work, to document an event or news story. Usually there is some level of human suffering involved, and I have photos that I'll never show anyone. Those serve to support the story or document the event but there's little joy involved. What I really enjoy is the creative and artistic side of photography. These photos are uploaded "full size" so to get the full impact be sure to click on the image to pull it all the way up. Now, if I can just get an artistic photo of a fish drinking a beer while playing golf, I'll have just about all of my hobbies covered in one shot. In any case, Salud.

I've been a photographer my entire life and now I never go anywhere without my cameras. I've taken literally hundreds of thousands of pictures and every now and then one just strikes me as being "nice." Yesterday morning I was up at the crack of dawn to feed by 3 month-old baby daughter and I caught view of this sunrise from my apartment. The golden sun pouring through the new highrise construction seems to appropriately mark this moment in Panama's history - growing like crazy. Anyway, I liked the photo and wanted to share. Cheers.

Have I mentioned lately how much of a fan I am of dealante.com? What a job. Can you believe these guys get paid to go to news conferences about modeling agencies? Like this one about INforma Models, a company that is now bringing international talent to Panama from places like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. I bet they even had a buffet. Well, of course they had a buffet, but I mean the kind with food. Whatever. It's late...

My thinly veiled excuse for posting pictures of a gorgeous babe this time is the photo session for the RPC Calender, correctly documented by the righteous bro's over at www.dealante.com. You should tell your friends. You should send them this link. If you don't send this to ten people you love right now, you won't have good luck for sixty years of the pig. You know what you need to do now... get busy buster.

Have I mentioned recently what a great fan I am of dealante.com? This is one of the "party" sites that gets most of their traffic by sending photographers into the clubs and discos to take pictures of the girls who are dressed to the 9's. Looking great in a club is a spectator sport in Panama and these guys do a good job of providing another insight into the Panamanian culture. It's about the art, folks. Art appreciation. Quality photography. Yeah, that's it... Like I said, I'm a fan.

Early this Sunday morning I took a wander around Marbella. Actually, I walked all over, around, and through Marbella with the goal of documenting the neighborhood. I'll be doing one area of Panama City at a time. I've posted all of the raw images, which can be seen in this slideshow on Coppermine. The next article I'm going to wrtie (right now) will be a description of the area from a photo-journalistic point of view. There are now more than 1,000 photos in the albums. Enjoy.

The other day I did a walking tour of Casco Viejo with Clyde Jenkins. I took a whole bunch of other photos that I didn't use in the article and posted them to the photo albums:

• Casco Viejo Slideshow
• Photo Albums Homepage

Several new malls have opened up in Panama City in about the last four years. The first to open was the Multicentro in Paitilla. Shortly thereafter the Albrook Mall open next to the bus terminal and the Multi Plaza Mall in Punta Pacifica. I took some pictures at the Multi Plaza the other day and posted them to the photo albums in case you're interested. It's about like every mall in the United States and is currently going through an expansion. Here are links to:

• The Multi Plaza Slideshow
• The Photos Home Page

There are currently 765 photos posted and I'm working to expand that so check back often.

Please welcome aboard the most recent link swapper - Dixon Hamby, a wonderful photographer who specializes in travel and music photos.

The Panama Guide photo albums are coming back on line. The software is running just fine and I'm working on putting all of the pictures back up. I put up all of the photos from the Artisans and Crafts Fair (Slideshow) and a recent outing on the Cheers. More on the way...

I was driving around this morning and noticed a big column of black smoke rising from the area of Chorillo. Where there's smoke there's usually fire so I headed over there. Sure enough, someone had set fire to a large pile of truck tires probably just to get rid of them rather than having to pay to haul them to the dump. The fire was at the end of Ave. De las Poetas in Chorillo right down by the water. The fire department showed up a few minutes after I did and hosed down the trash fire. No big deal, but since I got the pictures I might as well put them up. Salud...

Every once in awhile the Pacific high tide converges with an offshore storm, producing some interesting wave action against the sea wall on Avenue Balboa. This only happens maybe ten times a year so it's relatively uncommon. This morning at 8:54 am the Pacific ocean was at a 15.5 high tide (http://www.pancanal.com/eng/eie/radar/balboa-tides.pdf). That's really not an exceptionally high tide, but there's a large storm brewing in the Pacific off of the coast of the Azuero penninsula near Pedasi. The storm is almost 50 miles wide and is moving west with the intertropical convergence zone but is still churning things up. Photos below...

The Fundación Albatros Media is presenting an exhibition of 40 large-format photographs and videos called "Treasures of Coiba" from 20 April to 20 May 2006 at the Mall Multiplaza Pacífico in Panama. The goal of the exhibition is to raise awareness of risks to Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The exhibition occurs at a crucial time for Coiba National Park, as a tourism and management plan is currently under development with UNESCO. This initiative is supported financially by the United Nations Foundation and the Global Conservation Foundation. The exhibition was made possible by Conservation International, Credicorp Bank, Mall Multiplaza Pacífico and TVN Noticias. http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/312

MIAMI -- A 300-foot cargo ship was badly damaged Monday when it slammed into a seawall leaving the Miami River on its way out to sea. The ship the Hybur Star, registered in Panama but owned by a company based on the Miami River, was left with a gaping hole in hits hull. No one on board the ship was injured. Crewmembers were able to shut down the ship's compartment hatches to prevent the ship from sinking, but the freighter did take on some water. The Coast Guard said the ship's bulkhead was designed to withstand just this type of collision. Coast Guard crewmembers and port officials were evaluating the damage, and Atlantis Marine Towing Company was on scene to assist. Officials said that it is likely that the company that owns the ship will have to offload its cargo of frozen chickens onto another ship. The ship was bound for Haiti when the accident happened. http://www.local10.com/news/9148578/detail.html

You're going to be seeing the name "Mauro Endara" more often. He's a Panamanian photographer who has recently released a CD called "The Most Beautiful Pictures of Panama." There are more than 1,000 photos on the disk from all over the country - Bocas del Toro, Boquete, Colon, Cocle, David, the San Blas islands, Los Santos, Herrera, Carnival, the Panama Canal, and Panama City. He's letting me use his photos in the articles I publish on Panama Guide, and in retun I'm helping him to promote his CD. The CD is available Panama City in CD Place, and other points around the city. If you'd like to buy one, see below.

I don't have it totally locked in yet, but it looks like DoIt Center is going to sponsor the 2006 Panama Guide Photo Contest. The decision maker has given me a green light, but I have to work out the details with their PR guy, who is up in Chiriqui to open the new store there. I'm going to announce new sponsors as they sign up, so keep those photos coming. Remember, only three per person (max) this time for the contest, and feel free to send me other images of Panama to put in the albums if you'd like. Good luck...

I'm starting to receive a few submissions for the photo contest already. Remember, feel free to send in a bunch of photos, but one three per person will be accepted for the contest and judging. All other photos I will just put in an album to share with everyone else, but they will not be participating in the contest. In looking at the first submissions, I can tell this is going to be a good one. Also, I fixed some problems with the coppermine gallery software, so it should be working now. Please let me know if you're still having problems getting in. Thanks. (See pics below) Also, as usual I'm not going to reveal the names of the photographers until we get to the finals.