JTOG Day 60: From Panama to Colombia’s Karibana Resort!

Monday, December 9th was the first day I set foot on the South America continent. I was forced to leave Torch behind in Panama City due to mechanical problems (suspension) and the complicated logistics of taking her on a ferry across the Caribbean Sea to Colombia. I left her in the good hands of Diego Poma, the owner of the Infiniti dealership in Panama City. I am hopeful she will be restored and be cared for like the classic beauty she is! CLICK here for JTOG Day 59: Saying Good Bye to Torch in Panama City, Panama Traveling through the Panama City airport was a breeze—no baggage fees, no extra charges or hassles. It felt a little weird traveling without Torch. My golf bag weighed in at 10.35 kg and my roller bag was 20.40 kg. My backpack was fairly light. I shared a taxi to the airport with a nice American couple and asked them to take some of my golf books back to the States for me. She was for it and willing but he refused noting that they could be drugs! It was a "flat flight," a total of 49 minutes at fairly low altitude and reminded me of one I was on between Oakland and San Francisco back in the corporate days. Interesting enough we traveled low over the Darién Gap, a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest. Consequently there is no road connection through the Darién Gap connecting North America with South America and it is the missing link of the Pan-American Highway. It was the main reason I was flying in the air to Colombia instead of traveling on the ground with Torch. I thought it would be a good humanitarian story if I was able to drive through the Darién Gap which is reportedly subject to the presence and activities of the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has committed assassinations, kidnappings, and human rights violations during its decades-long insurgency against the Colombian government. I met President Andrés Pastrana Arango of Colombia at the La Reunion Resort in Guatemala. Since he negotiated with the FARC during his 1998-2002 presidency I was hoping he could support my Drive through the Darian Gap proposal but never heard back from him. Looking down over the Darian Gap, I also smiled when I thought back to meeting some NPR and CNN Espanol reporters at the Intercontinental in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I hadn't realized that there was an election going on while I was there and then they told me there was a coup during the last one. They suggested I didn't hang around to find out so I went out to Roatan and when I came back headed out of Dodge and went to Nicaragua. What really made me laugh was when I told them about my Darian Gap idea. They thought I was crazy and I countered that they should write a story about the "Journey to Olympic Golf." They said that they don't do golf. Then I pressed that if something happened to me would they write something about it so my sons would know what happened. We went back and forth and finally they agreed that if something happened to me that they would at least submit something to their editors but no guarantee that it would be published. I liked Columbia the minute I arrived. Karibana, the golf resort I would be visiting just outside the ancient walled city of Cartagena sent a driver to pick me up. It's always a nice welcome when there is a person with a sign that has your name on it. The Karibana Resort is now officially part of the PGA TOUR TPC golf network as the TPC Cartagena at Karibana.  Joseph Mildenberg and his family is the name behind Karibana. Since March 2015, Karibana has hosted two Web.com tournaments won by Andrew Landry and Brad Fritsch. Joseph and the Mildenberg family could not have been nicer to me during my stay at Karibana and later in the week in Bogota. Great people with a love for golf and a passion to make Karibana one of the top golfing destinations in the world. At the time there was no hotel on site so they hosted me next door at the quite nice Estelar Grand Playa Manzanillo by Occidental Hotels and Resorts. The hotel on site at Karibana will be a five-star, 270-room hotel managed by Conrad, Hilton’s luxury brand and is scheduled to open soon. It will include a 1,000-person convention center, meeting rooms, restaurants, a pool, world-class spa, and rooftop bar. The day continued to get better and climaxed with a round on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at the TPC Cartagena at Karibana. The pictures in the photo gallery below does not do the course justice. It is so beautiful—sculptured and confined with graceful yet edgy at times white sand bunkers. The first nine meanders through a natural forest with six lakes while the second nine seeks and eventually finds the Caribbean Sea. The short par-3 17th is spectacular with the massive thatched roof beach club beyond the green and the Caribbean edging into play as well. Actually the best and most historic part of the day was an evening ride into the ancient walled city of Cartagena for dinner at Andante Allegro Vivace with Joseph and his General Manager Carlos Abuchaibe. Actually the best and most historic part of the day was an evening ride into the ancient walled city of Cartagena for dinner at Andante Allegro Vivace with Joseph and his General Manager Carlos Abuchaibe. After a fine Italian dinner we walked around the streets of the designated UNESCO World Heritage Site which was founded in 1533. My first day on the continent of South America could not have been better or more memorable! Please enjoy the gallery of 47 pictures from throughout JTOG Day 60 and the 58 pictures in the second gallery from playing my first round at TPC Cartagena at Karibana with Joseph Mildenburg! The 58 pictures from playing my first round at TPC Cartagena at Karibana with Joseph Mildenburg!