I wish to highlight in order to contribute to refreshing the historical memory of the colonial Hispanic road network still largely lost in the nebula of time in our country due to still inexplicable reasons, our historians did not go to the jungle of the old Canal Zone to delve into the path of the mythical cobblestones hidden under the leaves of centuries. I am referring, for example, to El Camino Real, first from Nombre de Dios and then from Portobelo, towards the Panama of Pedrarias Dávila. Then, in a short time, the Camino Real de Cruces, with its two versions, the before and after of the pirate Henry Morgan. That of the Viceroy of Peru without mud and without rivers. The Gorgona path, the name given by Francisco Pizarro to the natives who lived on an island in the Colombian Pacific because of the abundance of snakes that he was able to observe, comparing them to the head of Medusa filled with horrible reptiles. Then we belonged to Nueva Granada, when the council of the city of Panama decided to hire a worker from Cruces named Marquínez with funds from the commune, paying him one hundred pesos to lay out the Camino de Chagres, as in fact he did.
Exploring some years ago in the company of fellow explorer Luis González, we decided to head east in search of exploration. Starting the adventure from the Demetrio Lakas road where it crosses the Dos Bocas River, today Kings School. After climbing a small hill and falling to the ground, we were perplexed to find a cobblestone that we called “unknown.” Its axis of march towards the east, leads us towards the facilities of the Panamanian Chinese School, and from there, crossing the Amistad road and with the same compass heading, we headed towards the Curundú river where there was a stone bridge that allowed the continuity of the path probably towards Panama la Vieja. Around the Las Mercedes neighborhood, towards Dos Mares. Passing through Bethania, the road was lost with the construction of the housing complexes. The Curundú River along its course had several names by which it was known. For the Spanish it was the Río Hondo. Then Río San José, Río del Puente, Río del Polvorín, Río del Zorrillo and Curundú, which in the Guaraní language means amulet. The map of cartographer Tomás Harrison from 1857 shows us the town of Curundú on the banks of the same river.
The doctor in archeology, Tomás Mendizábal, carried out the reconnaissance tour of the enigmatic path and was able to realize that the route is paved and that studies are required to determine if it comes from the colonial era or if its road network was part of a large area of cattle farms before the formation of the Canal Zone in 1904 and the return of the forests. We explorers speculate that it is a Spanish road from the time that connected the City of Pedrarias Dávila with the town of Guayabal on the Cruces road. But finally it is in the hands of the scientists of history and archeology to discover the truth.
The author is an explorer, conservationist and volunteer custodian of the colonial roads of Panama
