Located in a remote area of the Guna Yala region of the Darien, is a tranquil Caribbean bay with a tragic, but little known history. Puerto Escocés (or Scottish Harbour) is the location of Scotland’s largest endeavor of colonization 320 years ago. Known as New Edinburgh, the endeavor was a colossal failure that bankrupted Scotland with a tragic loss of life for 2,500 Scottish settlers.
If you are able to visit the region by boat, as you slowly glide across the glassy waters of the bay, you can let your imagination go back to 1690’s and feel the thrill that the 1,200 Scottish settlers on the first five ships arriving must have felt after their months at sea. Unfortunately the undertaking was beset by poor planning and provisioning, devastating epidemics of disease, and collusion between the English and Spanish to keep the colony isolated from trade. Only 300 settlers made it back to Scotland.
Word of the tragic failure never made it to Scotland before another 1,000 settlers left for the doomed colony in Panama. Deaths on the ships, lack of provisions and disease after landing in the abandoned colony site also quickly decimated this second group of settlers. Only a handful survived to return to civilization.
We will never know of the lost stories of what tose settlers faced over 300 years ago in this tropical paradise. But please have a solemn cocktail at your hotel, and a toast to those brave settlers of three centuries ago.
Another amazing and unique Panama story.
Watch a wonderful video from Geographics HERE
