Panama hat mountain range. Hat weaving and wearing grew steadily in Ecuador through the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1835, Manuel Alfaro, a man who in many ways can be considered the grandfather of the Panama hat, arrived in Montecristi to make his name and fortune in Panama hats. He set up a Panama hat business with his main objective being exportation. Cargo ships from Guayaquil and Manta were filled with his merchandise and headed to the Gulf of Panama. His business prospered as more and more Gold Rush prospectors arrived and passed through Panama needing a hat for the sun. One
Geography of Panama all, there are some 1,000 islands off the Pacific coast. The Pacific coastal waters are extraordinarily shallow. Depths of are reached only outside the perimeters of both the Gulf of Panama and the Golfo de Chiriquí, and wide mud flats extend up to seaward from the coastlines. As a consequence, the tidal range is extreme. A variation of about between high and low water on the Caribbean coast contrasts sharply with over on the Pacific coast, and some up the Río Tuira, the tidal range is still over . Nearly 500 rivers lace Panama's rugged landscape. Mostly unnavigable, many originate