My name is Panama - IPAT's Tourism Commercial

     The video that I post was Panama’s first tourism commercial that I remember. It was created to promote the tourism for the Miss Universe beauty pageant in 1986, celebrated on July in Panama City.
     I remember at that time, the responsible authority for tourism in Panama was IPAT (Panamanian Tourism Institute), today, ATP (Panama’s Tourism Authority), and the government was under the dictatorship of General Manuel Antonio Noriega.
     "My name is Panama" or "Mi nombre es Panama" was the promotional slogan of tourism which is now a trademark that sells Panamanians items such as molas, woven on clothing; cartoons alluding to Panamanian folklore and culture, and printed on t-shirts in multiple colors; and national handicrafts http://www.mynameispanama.com/.

     Venezuelan contestant Barbara Palacios Teyde, in her response to the jury at the Miss Universe in 1986 said: "We must highlight the great work that Panamanians do when they have foreign people in their land, as in our case, we, the misses of this pageant. I think it should be emphasized at all times that they not only have beautiful lands, but the Panamanians are people, beautiful people, who always offer a lot of warmth. I think that is very precisely that slogan that says: My name is Panama!!!”

Birdwatching in Panama: IPAT's Ad.

     The following video is about birdwatching in Panama. In the video appears Rubén Blades, Panamanian singer and tourism minister in 2004-2009 period, and IPAT’s head (Panamanian Tourism Institute). In 2009, IPAT changed its name to ATP (Panama's Tourism Authority).
     Our country is internationally recognized as one of the countries with more bird-watching and bird-counting, which I can assert, because every morning I wake with birdsongs from my window (ooohhh!).
     Below, you can see some photos of two birds that I took from my balcony. I don’t know their breed because I am not a birds expert.
     I'm also pasting in this post a brochure about bird-watching in Panama with photographs of birds can be found in the wild.

Panama: The path less traveled (3). Casco Antiguo.

     “El Casco Antiguo de la Ciudad de Panamá” (Panama City’s Old Town) is now Humanity’s Heritage, proclaimed by UNESCO. It’s the Panama City’s site that preserves the oldest buildings.  Its construction began, after pirates destroyed what is known today as “Panama La Vieja” (The Old Panama) in 1671.  During the military dictatorship, the buildings were neglected. But thanks to democracy that exists today in the country, governments have been invested in its reconstruction and maintenance for future generations.