It Does Exist!

by Mary Biedrzycki (United States of America)

I didn't expect to find Panama

I didn't think I was the type of person who had to see something before I believed it was real but I guess I am. Recently I had the opportunity to go to Panama with a friend who has a brother living 30 minutes outside of Panama City. This brother David is a super interesting guy in his own right and has been living in Central America for over 10 year and currently is working as an investment broker. He has some land on the Caribbean coast of Panama and wanted to show it to us and ask our opinion on marketing strategies. It was a little remote but do we want to go? Absolutely, sounds like a fun adventure! Our journey set out with a 2.5 hour car ride to a remote town of Miguel de la Borda where we hopped on a supply boat and headed west on a wild sea ride in the Caribbean. We ended up at the small isolated community of Playa De Belen to unpack supplies for the locals, refuel and assess the sea to see if we should attempt to get to our destination as the winds picked up and the waves were getting quit large for our little boat. Because of the remoteness of the land we were going to visit, if conditions are too rough, there is no way to get a boat safely to the shore to disembark. It was decided that it was too risky to attempt heading out to the land that day, we were going to stay in Belen for the night and see what the wind and sea were like in the morning. Staying in Belen was amazing. This tiny community that is made up of maybe 50 people was warm and welcoming. There was the rainforest on one side and the lovely Caribbean Sea on the other...BUT wait then I saw it! On this desolated Caribbean coast that is said to have been visited by Christopher Columbus was sea garbage! I am not talking about a just a little trash here and there, I was looking at a line of garbage, mostly plastic products, that stretched along some of the most gorgeous blue waters I have ever seen! I had to ask Roberto, who's place were were staying, was this from the small group of people who lived here? No, it wasn't, this was a problem from ships/boats just dumping their waste overboard and it stretched as far as I could see. I walked and walked both ends of the beach that day and was saddened and sickened by the plastic, Plastic bottles from every industry that you can think of, plastic shoes galore and even old empty fuel tanks. It was such a rustic, idealistic place we stayed that night, with low full moon at our open window and the sounds of the waves on the beach but the vision of so much trash in such a secluded, lush area haunted me. In the morning I took one last walk on the beach away from the line of garbage trying to pretend it wasn't there. We then packed up and boarded the supply boat for a 45 min ride to check out the land. It was still was quite rough on the sea but the locals driving the vessel were going to attempt to get us to an area where we could get to a beach. The experience of getting in/out of a supply boat in high and extremely rough waters plus hiking in the rainforest for a mile in not the correct footwear is another story itself, but as soon as I got out of the water and on to the beach I saw it again. Yes, on a coast only accessible by boat or sea plane was the line of sea garbage/plastics. It followed the shore of this small beach like a virus, spreading toward the land with each crashing wave and high tide. Plastics are a problem and I want to be part of the solution.