The Base Jumpers in Panama City

The Base Jumpers in Panama City

     When you are on the 34^th floor of a high-rise condo, you do not expect to see people going by when you look out the window. However, on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, that is exactly what we DID see.

     We had business in Panama City, and were staying with friends. It was overcast, and the dark, gravid clouds rolling in on the skyline looked ominous, threatening storms. This was not a day in which one would plan daredevil stunts.

     Upon seeing the first jumper, we grabbed cameras and went out onto the terrace. There was a drone hovering above us that we assumed was documenting this jumping event. The day before, there had been a cable connected from the top of the skyscraper next to us, running diagonally to a point below, but we had no idea why that had been installed until that moment.

     The jumpers would come out onto the roof of that building, connect to the zip line, and wait for their signal. Transit police below stopped traffic on Balboa Avenue every time the jumps were about to start. They would zip-line down to a flag, release, and parachute to the ground. Sometimes they looked like they would float right out into the bay, but we never saw that happen. 

The billowy parachutes were colorful, and watching them drift to the ground was mesmerizing. A couple of times it almost seemed as if the chute wasn’t catching the wind quite right and I felt a little queasy flutter of anxiety, but they always opened. Some of them did a little happy dance after they landed. Some of the jumpers were female!

     One time, right after a jumper zipped down, another one left from a floor a couple of stories down, somersaulting as he dove from the building, sans zip line. I’m glad his mother wasn’t there to witness that.

     Our friend went down to Balboa Avenue to take video of the jumpers, and you can find it on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxVSmyhcbo&feature=em-upload_owner   

     It was great fun to watch this event. When in Panama City, I have often sensed a sort of serendipity, and have felt like the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass, who said “Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."  Seriously, where else can you see yachts in the marina, wildly decorated and illuminated Diablo Rojo buses, base jumping from skyscrapers, and octopus for sale, all within a few blocks, and on the same day? And the price for all this entertainment? FREE!