Mas de Cocoli

Escape To Panama Cocoli invites you to drop by the Clubhouse and enjoy a great time of socializing and reminiscing of those wonderful easy days of long ago… kick back, get comfortable the show is about to start... Here enjoy some world famous Cocoli Wontons with your favorite beverage. You will love them for sure! We are now open 24/7. Now here is a heads up, charge your glasses and meet us all at the Panama Canal Reunion in early August 2004. Do not miss this great opportunity to get together like we use to do at the Cocoli Clubhouse... Lets reminisce about Cocoli where the living was easy... Yes, nestle on the west bank of the Panama Canal, just past U.S. Naval Station Rodman off La Bruja Road lies the enchanting town site of Cocoli. Cocoli for many years was my home. In its hey day it boasted everything from a clubhouse to a clinic dispensary for common prescriptions. There were four family houses, duplexes, cottages, single apartments for the bachelors, and also 12 family units. It was a bustling town like those carved out of the jungle of the Panama Canal building days. Yes, living in Cocoli was fun! I can still see it in my mind’s eye as if it were only yesterday. The main part of the town was on a mesa surrounded by a series of low hills to the west that led toward K-9 Road and Miraflores Locks. A portion of the town dropped away rather sharply to the west past the Cocoli Elementary School... that is just for starters... You too have a story to tell... yes indeed.... Way beyond la Bruja Road lies Cocoli....Let the magic begin... Are you looking for Adventure? Then why not escape to Panama? When you get there go over to the best little town site in all the old Canal Zone... Yes go to Cocoli, where the living was easy... Cross over the bridge and you are on your way to Cocoli. The Chiva is flying now. There is the sign for Cocoli... Parada... Yo dije Parada. Yes, Senor bus stop! A shot of Cocoli arriving from Naval Station Rodman. The Chiva will make a quick right so hang on....Was the Chiva going to fast? Next stop the clubhouse! Everybody out... Here you see the Cocoli Service Center in 1940. It later became know as the Cocoli Clubhouse. Just think you didn't have to join a country club to become part of this clubhouse. The old clubhouse had everything from a movie theater, bowling alley, tailor shop, barber shop, shoe repair, soda fountain, bingo hall, and dinning area.The Cocoli Clubhouse began operation under the Special Engineering Division in 1940 and became a Panama Canal Clubhouse in March 1945. The clubhouse was transferred to the US Navy on March 1, 1953. Too Many Secrets This is a typical street found in most townsites in the old Canal Zone. In Cocoli we had some of these same streets. An interesting note is that J Street Johnny lived on Sago Street... I lived one street over on Tamarind Avenue closer to the Cocoli Grade School and gym. The Walkers lived on Nicobar Street. Yes, it was a fun place to live. Then in the mid 50's came the era of technicolor and super Kodak color. The whole world became all the colors of the rainbow. So Cocoli got a splash of color. We kids loved it! In Cocoli as in most other town sites in the Old Canal Zone there was always something to do. Here you see some kids getting some gun training before walking up to the Cocoli Gun Range. What kid would want to miss that?

Here the kids are getting some more hands on training.

Gun Safety was something we never forgot. The best part came when the Range Master would say, "Ready on the right, ready on the left, ready on the firing line... commence firing." I can still hear the echoes of the shooting on the Cocoli Gun Club Range on Saturday mornings. The US Navy has been part of the Canal Zone since the beginning... Cocoli for part of its history was a Navy town. Here is the battleship Ohio going through the cut in the Panama Canal in 1915.

To believe.....to reach.....to strive is to keep a dream alive. If you use each today as a chance to reach out, to learn something more of what life's all about....... If you follow your dreams, strive to make them come true..... Then life's sure to bring all the best things to you. -----Unknown

COCOLI... Land of Las Brujas... Enter at your own risk.

Escape to Panama

It has been a real pleasure sharing something more about my town Cocoli as I remember it. Feel free to check out other pages.....you'll be glad you did! So take care and drop by again. We will all be here, God willing. Hasta la Vista. See you on the flip side.