we’re sneaking up on my favorite tropical time of the year, winter - aka the green season, or the rainy season. i’ve been loving the gradual change in panama’s weather. around the second week in April, the harsh summer sun gave way to winter’s brooding clouds, violent downpours began to roll in from the pacific and flush panama city.
this change in panama’s weather is critical for the ecosystem and the panama canal. but there’s a dark side to the green season. about 3 am last night, a soggy tree branch, twisting in the topical breeze, came crashing down. that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but in panama, you always need to be careful about falling branches. this time the branch didn’t crunch a pedestrian wandering home drunk from the pub, it fell across the power lines on calle alberto navarro, killing all power on the street.
at the time, i was the chip leader in a $30 sit and go over on fulltilt poker. i had just raised from two seats off the button with K 10 suited, been called by two aggressive players, and had hit an unlikely straight on the flop. i think i woke the entire neighborhood with an obscenity laced tirade after my computer screen went dark. to anyone in my building reading this - i apologize, but you really had to be there.
without electricity, food spoils, the water doesn’t pump, there’s no air conditioning, and my beautiful high speed connection to fulltilt poker croaks. this doesn’t happen to me often enough to warrant a generator. but i do keep several jugs of water on hand to flush toilets, brush teeth, and make coffee.
the power on alberto navarro didn’t return until after 10 am this morning. by then the building’s pipes were dry, and i was out $30. a few hours with no power, no poker, and no water in panama city is only an inconvenience. but one of the more serious hazards of panama’s weather shift is dengue. dengue or “break bone fever,” is said to be resurgent in the tropics. every year there are larger, and more frequent epidemics.
dengue’s a nasty virus brought to you by the mosquito. you can easily recognize the dengue mosquito by its long legs. mosquitoes breed in pools of standing water. panama’s one big pool of standing water in the rainy season. and with increased urbanization, there’s more people living together, more garbage lying about to collect water, and thus a greater risk of dengue.
i live in panama city, and keep my windows open 24/7. i’d hate to live in a climate-controlled bubble like some of my neighbors. that puts me at risk. in the rainy season dengue mosquitoes come looking for me at dawn and dusk. if i was really worried i’d throw up mosquito netting around my bed. but i’ve only seen three of the nasty bleeders since my arrival in panama city. and i’ve never been bitten. (to put this in perspective - i get bitten literally hundreds of times by mosquitoes when i return to cape cod to visit with friends).
there’s a national campaign to eradicate dengue. trucks roam the streets spraying poison. citizens are warned about proper disposal of garbage, attempts are made to eradicate pools of standing water. still, prensa latina reports over 528 people in panama city get infected every year.
how do you know if you have dengue? symptoms include fever, bleeding gums, bloody diarrhea, blood in your vomit, cold, clammy skin, weak pulse, muscle and joint pains, a rash. if you think you’ve got dengue get to a doctor. this is serious, but it’s not usually fatal. for example, in rio de janeiro, there was a serious outbreak of dengue a couple of years back, it affected about one million people, only 16 died.
according to a recent prensa latina article -
Almost 1,000 cases of dengue fever and two hemorrhagic cases were reported in the course of this year in Panama, despite campaigns for cleaning and prevention fostered by local sanitary authorities, said official sources here Friday. The Panamanian Public Health Ministry (MINSA) said the most affected regions are Panama City (528 cases) and San Miguelito (120). Later there are Cocle (102), Colon (61) and Chiriqui (45).
panama’s in red. red is for the most affected areas -
Good article. Well written.
I think you write better when you’re off the juice.
Comment by Raul — April 27, 2007 @ 6:27 pm
yea raul, I understand there’s good money in childrens books
Comment by fastfreddie — April 27, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
Devil made me say it
Comment by fastfreddie — April 27, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
gee, thanks cojito. i’m sitting in the miami airport. i arrive tonite. can’t wait to get my fair share of abuse…
is rum an effective repellent? cigar smoke? the sweet smell of pretty brown-skinned…never mind.
hey vieja! get your boobs out of the oatmeal and come over for a drink…:)
Comment by marcopolo — April 28, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
I tell ya… tonight was the first night I really got nailed by the mosquitos and bugs, while walking around downtown PC. Maybe it was the white shirt I was wearing, or maybe it’s that my ass is sooo sweet. But the freaks (or bugs, in this case) are really starting to come out at night.
Comment by Raul — April 28, 2007 @ 9:49 pm
really? i just busted out of a holdem tourney over at the majestic casino. and i walked around punta patilla, and then el cangrejo a bit to wind down. i didn’t get bit once. but then, it’s almost midnight, and too late for mosquitoes.
Comment by cojito — April 28, 2007 @ 11:47 pm
god brian,
raul is correct. i might add “big bucks” in
religious and spiritual writing!
fellow bostonian
Comment by ellen munday — April 29, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
I was surprised, too.
We went to this little Cuban restaurant in San Francisco, called “Restaurante Mariachi” or something like that. Pretty good place. Just don’t order the Corona beer. It’s ‘imported’ and thus costs $2.75. Otherwise, the bill for two came to just over $20.
I’d have paid about triple if this were S.F., California.
Comment by Raul — April 29, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
that’s correct. beers at the ballpark are $9.00. dinners start at $16.00 at most restaurants. but the life is incredible.
Comment by rrroyo — April 29, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
Cojito, I notice you didn’t mention the hemorragic form. I assume that was to stop folks from bring kegs of ddt instead of beer to the party?
Comment by lakesdiver — April 30, 2007 @ 8:12 am
Also my favorite time of year in Panama. The bugs can be tolerated. With each heavy rain it seems a different insect decides it is time to swarm. Other than my 6 months in the city I have spent all my time in Panama in the country. Last year I did get dengue. Five miserable days of churning sromach, then fever and body aches. The rash that appeared confirmed that it was dengue and not the flu. All this seemed bad until the bone and joint pain started. I have always said that mosquitos didn’t bite me until this happened. Now I know better.
Comment by vieja — April 30, 2007 @ 8:15 am
marco, bienvenidos a Panama. I’ll be having a drink at the Terraza this afternoon. You’re welcome to join me there. I’ll be out hunting up a new apartment today and will need a refreshing beverage later. 6448-8303 is the number.
Comment by vieja — April 30, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
vieja — i just got this info at 10:45 pm. sorry i missed you. i’ll call tomorrow and no doubt you’ll regret ever meeting me…:)
Comment by marcopolo — April 30, 2007 @ 10:46 pm
Vieja,
Did you get the dengue while in the city or the country?
Sounds horrible.
Comment by Raul — May 1, 2007 @ 4:46 am
I got dengue while in the country. Since I thought mosquitos did not bite me I went hunting for some mango calidad in the bush one morning. I hear I had a mild case compared to some.
Comment by vieja — May 1, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
hat eto be the bearer of gad news but i have a friend here who got dengue this march and she lives in the city. she got treatment and is fine.
Comment by marcopolo — May 1, 2007 @ 7:13 pm
Hey!…my travel partner and I will be journeying to Panama for the first time in Sept. we will be doing a tour of South Am. starting in Panama. So listen, does bug repellent work or no?…… I don’t normally get bit by bugs…Not sure why… But, after hearing all the bug bite stories and all the nasty illnesses you can catch from the little critters… I was planning to bring a shit load of bug repellent and the most toxic bug killer spray I can find…. I have heard no one speak of using these things…does that mean that its a wast of time?… are these bugs extra special and the only way you can keep them off you is to shoot them or us a blow torch?
YeahDogg
Comment by YeahDogg — May 24, 2007 @ 2:03 am
yeahdogg - “extra special” bugs? well, in panama i’ve seen cockroaches the size of house cats. but really, i get bitten more by green heads, ticks, and mosquitoes on cape cod. i must loose at least a pint of blood when i go back every summer.
that said, sept is the rainy season in panama. the means the bugs are bigger, juicier. malaria, and dengue are problems in the rainy season. if you’re going to be hiking (or camping) rural areas, or the rainforest, you might want to bring some repellent, and mosquito netting.
i never use the stuff. except for some nasty tico fire ants, i’ve never been bitten by bugs in panama or costa rica. but right now i’m in the city, and i don’t spend much time in the wild during the rainy season.
really, i wouldn’t over-think this. you just can’t worry about it. and you’ll probably get bitten by a venomous snake, or catch an std from a hooker anyway.
Comment by cojito — May 24, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
YeahDogg
i spend 4-5 months here at various times. if u are in panama city you don’t need shit. if you go to the islands or the hinterlands, bug spray works. this is a great country. it has it’s assholes and it’s angels like everywhere else. but if u r a girngo who is sick of the buillshit, this is the place to be. if you are a superpatriot amerikan who wants to kill all the terrists then do us a favor and stay home — or better yet.. sign up for iraq or iran…
Comment by marcopolo — May 24, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
I don’t think so marco American super patriots feel the need to go anywheres Foreign other than perhaps Texas. No, that’s not me. And, I’ve never been to Texas… I’m also not too comfortable with the term gringo, the term implies cultural cluelessness and insensitivity. I have been to a few places round the globe and consider myself to be a bit of a savvy traveler. Indeed, on this trip my intention is to find a place to permanently hang my hat out side the USA. I am in fact quite sick of the Bullshit. Panama is just the first stop on a year long South American walkabout.. In the end I hope to find my little slice of heaven, whether it will be Panama or Chile, Brazil, Nicaragua, or some other Latin American location I cannot tell, but where ever I end up, I will be working hard to not get bit by snakes, infected by bugs, or come up with some life threatening, Latin American coochie clap. All my stuff is working fairly good so far…… I Aims to keep it that way!
YeahDogg
Comment by YeahDogg — May 26, 2007 @ 11:29 pm
I believe Dengue is carried by a mosquito that bites during the day. It is a black and white mosquito.
Comment by Tom — November 2, 2007 @ 1:10 pm