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Hound Dog

Nov 3, 2009, 3:53 PM

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Another Day in Paradise

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THis afternoon I awoke from an afternoon nap and at about 5:00PM the crystal November air reminded me of why, the minute I had an opportunity to retire and move to the tropical highlands from even the splendid California climate to which I became accustomed over some 30 years , I was here in a flash. I am beginning to wonder about the wisdom of the Brits and French who settled on the cold and forbidding north and let the damnable Spaniards rape the tropical highlands to the south while they raped the frozen tundra when the tropical highland south was the place on the planet where the weather was fine and the growing season endless and the air as sweet as imaginable and the corn and turkeys and tomatoes and tropical fruits abundant and sweet and there they were competing with the indigenous for bearskin jackets in Ontario when they could have been competing for jockey shorts and fine feather hats in Mexico and I will never understand the Brits from whom I am descended but at least they had the good sense to build retreats in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia and around Mount Kenya in East Africa and at highland Bangalore in India so why the hell didn´t they exploit highland Latin America? An eternal mystery.

wendy devlin

Nov 3, 2009, 7:14 PM

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Re: [Hound Dog] Another Day in Paradise

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Those years of exploration are interesting when you consider, who ended up, controlling/ exploiting what real estate.

Was surprised to learn that the Spaniards actually explored by land, inland in the Pacific Northwest, around the Okanagan Valley before they gave up the quest for the 'Seven Cities of Gold' or some such fables. They also were ahead of the Brits on the western Canada/U.S. coastal waters, and many of the islands in our neck of the woods, have Spanish captain names, Texada, Gabrioli, Valdez, Hernando but no gold...no go.

A friend published a book last year, called 'The Darien Gap', which people might enjoy, about his 14 months living in quite a unique geographical area with its indigenous inhabitants. In the historical background in the book, Martin writes about several ill-fated expeditions by Scots to colonize the area. Seems like, like some Scots, caught the gold/riches fever a little late in the game. And the Darien was one of the few areas left 'unclaimed' by the Europeans.

As it turns out, for some very good reasons.

Hound Dog

Nov 3, 2009, 8:22 PM

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Re: [wendy devlin] Another Day in Paradise

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Interesting, Wendy.

As memory serves me, the Darien Gap is that area in Panama accessing Colombia that has historically been considered impassable on the Pan American Highway and I have long believed that that impassable area has been politically convenient to U.S. administrations and some Panimanian officials to prevent overland passage to Colombia because of its drug cartels. Here is an interesting aside. I hear that Panama was actually a part of Colombia stolen by the United States in the 19th Century so they could build that canal.