As an avid traveler I was recently invited to visit the country of Panama by a Panamanian who promised to show me around the "local Panama" that wouldn't be seen by traditional tourists.
Panama is a wonderful country with tropical terrain and a thriving economy. I hiked though mountains, saw waterfalls, visited great shops, ate amazing food and it has a very similar feel of many other Spanish speaking countries with the exception of one item: the complete absence of Captain Morgan Rum.
No Captain Morgan Rum?
As my local contact explained to me, Panamanians hate Captain Morgan. And the reason is that Captain Morgan burned Panama City to the ground in the 1600s. I was shocked to learn that Captain Morgan was real much less a destroyer of cities! Obviously, my lesson in Captain Morgan was just beginning.
In the 1600s, Panama was a part of "New Spain" and Panama City was the wealthiest of all of New Spain. When Spain conquered the Aztecs they would transport the riches to Panama to be shipped to Spain in Europe. Captain Henry Morgan, an Englishman and a privateer (that's the nice word for pirate), knew this and decided to attack Panama and steal it's wealth.
The summary of the story is that Captain Morgan burned Panama to the ground, killed and tortured the inhabitants, and sailed away with as much treasure as he found. The ruins of what was then Panama are still there to this day. As you can imagine, most Panamanians don't care to celebrate to anything involving Captain Morgan. However, there is another element to this story.
Captain Henry Morgan and the legend of the Golden Altar
Captain Morgan did not make off with as much gold as he thought he would. Many of the people received warning of his arrival and hid much of the wealth in a Spanish ship in Panama Bay. However, a local church had a treasure that could not be moved: a 3 story golden altar.
Since this altar was in a church and not guarded it fell to a local priest to protect it from the oncoming marauders. With little at his disposal the priest painted the altar with black paint to hide the gold inlay. As the legend goes, when Captain Morgan arrived and demand the altar the priest explained that a previous pirate had stolen the altar and all they had was this wooden copy. The priest then pleads that they are trying to make another church altar and actually convinced Captain Morgan to give a donation. At which Captain Morgan then replied, "I think you are a bigger pirate than I am."
After researching the story, it turned out most of what I was told was true. The legend of the priest and speaking to Captain Morgan may or may not be a true element of the story but the altar is real and still in Panama to this day. I visited it at the Church of San Jose in Casco Viejo and included a few pictures of the site (it was amazing to see in person). So visit Panama and experience this legend for yourself. Just don't forget to bring your own Captain Morgan Rum.
Andrew Postell - null
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