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(#1) Prisoners Were Called "Los Desaparecidos" Or The Disappeared
The penal colony on Coiba Island started housing criminals and political prisoners in 1919. As Panama's most severe prison, it was home to "los desaparecidos" - the men who disappeared from society after they committed some heinous crime or made the wrong political leader mad. Some of the prisoners were awaiting trial or sentencing, but the majority of men held on Coiba Island were there for specific amounts of time - or until they died.
During the dictatorships of Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega, prisoners sent to Coiba Island disappeared en masse, hence the name. After Noriega was ousted in 1989, the prison went back to being mainly a criminal institution.
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(#2) Guards At The Prison Would Torture Prisoners By Staging Mock Executions
The prisoners at Coiba were subjected to horrible treatment and torture. A Human Rights Watch report from 1992 indicated that prisoners were "severely and systematically abused by their jailers in 1991. Two inmates at Coiba who died in July are believed to have been victims of torture by prison officials, and more than 170 fellow inmates have complained of serious physical and psychological abuse."
When Chuck Holton visited the island in the late 1980s, he heard stories about how prisoners were subjected to both psychological and physical torture. When it came to new prisoners, "guards would take them into the jungle, blindfold them, line them up and have a mock execution. The would put guns to them, count down ‘three, two, one, fire’, intimidating them."
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(#3) The Penal Colony Was Made Up Of As Many As Thirty Camps
The penal colony itself spread prisoners throughout the island, with guards residing in small fortress-like buildings on the north side of the island. Prisoners were left to live in structures made out of natural materials or in cells with no windows, furniture, or bathrooms. At its height, the camp was home to about 3,000 prisoners living in some 30 camps.
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(#4) Prisoners On The Island Went Crazy From The Extreme Conditions
Parque Nacional Coiba #Panamá vivelo con #expedicioncoiba #fredycoiba #paraisonatural #coiba #islacoiba #coibaisland #ecoturismo #aventura pic.twitter.com/6n10dOBYHe
— Expedition Coiba PTY (@ExpedicionCoiba) October 31, 2016The cells on Coiba Island were so barren and small that the prisoners in them lost their minds. During the late 1980s, visitors to the island found a man who had been in his cell for seven months, having only been fed through a small space in his door with no other human contact. When the man was taken out of the cell, they discovered he "was living in 8 inches (20cm) of his own filth. He was rolled up in a ball, screaming and demanding to be put back inside as the sun hurt him."
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(#5) Dead Prisoners May Have Been Fed To The Sharks Surrounding The Island
The prisoners that died at Coiba were either buried in unmarked graves - and there are many cemeteries on the island - or were dismembered and thrown to the sharks.
With sharks swimming in the waters around the island, prisoners had very little hope of escaping but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Conditions on the island were so brutal, however, that even when prisoners did try to escape to freedom, guards wouldn't pursue them. The guards figured the island or the waters around it would take care of the prisoners for them.
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(#6) At Least One Mass Grave Has Been Discovered On The Island
With the slow exploration of Coiba Island, there remains much that isn't known about its past and its present. Almost 80% of the island is made up of "virgin" forest. During the 1990s, Panama sent in several explorers who "stumbled across a large, recent mass grave where it’s believed guards had been killing prisoners for sport and throwing them into a pit." The investigation ceased, however, because of the harsh conditions on the island. Weather and threats from plants and animals alike continue to hinder efforts to go deeper into the forests to see what mysteries they hold.
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(#7) All Of The Prisoners Worked And Some Even Got Paid
The majority of the prisoners on Coiba Island worked manual labor jobs, usually farming or animal husbandry. They would have had to clear the land, or use the land cleared by previous inmates, but received no compensation. If a prisoner had a particular skill or craft, he might receive some payment for his work, albeit a small sum.
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(#8) After Prisoners Left, Mutant Creatures Soon Followed
When prisoners finally left the island in 2004, the livestock they had tended for years were left behind. As a result, those animals began to breed with various indigenous mammals, creating hybrid and genetically unique creatures. Visitors report seeing "mice the size of watermelon, deer with short legs, strange lizards you don’t see anywhere else, as well as gigantic bats."
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(#9) There Are 17 Kinds Of Crocodiles And 15 Types Of Snakes On The Island
Worlds Cheapest Flights: https://t.co/7GLAWdIdu1 #panama#hermitcrab#coiba#islacoiba#coibaisland#memories#nature#ex… pic.twitter.com/2DO7yd9ckW
— Travel Deals (@TravelDealsInt) October 19, 2015Because of its isolation - the result of geography and the presence of the penal colony - Coiba Island has developed a unique ecosystem. When scientists set up cameras in 2008, they found 17 kinds of crocodiles, 15 types of snakes, 30 species of bats, and 70 types of ants.
The waters surrounding Coiba Island are equally full of unique creatures, including numerous species of sharks, whales, and a thriving coral reef.
Many of the species found on the island were unique to Coiba and not found anywhere else in the world. This is both good and bad - the animals on Coiba have been able to develop without outside interference but, in the words of one visitor, "everything on that island wants to bite you, everything is poisonous."
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(#10) Water Dripping Off Of The Trees On The Island Can Burn You When It Rains
During his many visits to Coiba Island, former US Army Ranger and adventurer Chuck Holton has experienced the dangers and pain it has to offer. According to Holton, "there are trees that when it rains, as the water filters down it produces an acid that will burn you if you’re standing underneath."
This kind of unique flora doesn't just mean the trees on Coiba Island are distinct and deadly. On an island that is over 100,000 acres in size, much of it unexplored, the existence of 1,450 different plant species poses a potential threat at every turn.
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(#11) The Ghosts Of Coiba Island Continue To Haunt Visitors
There are several stories of paranormal activity on Coiba Island, not just from visitors but also from former prisoners and guards. One prisoner tried to escape the island because he was haunted by spirits, not because of his punishment. A guard once recounted chasing what he thought was a prisoner, only to find that it wasn't a man - it was an odd, "not of this world" creature. The guard later killed himself. Other stories about the spirits on the island include "ghostly apparitions and blood curdling screams echoing from the prison... the sounds of rusty cell doors slamming shut, footsteps and voices."
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(#12) The Island And Its Uniqueness Is Under Threat By Drug Dealers And Poachers
The skeleton crew on Coiba Island has to live with the possibilities that something - anything, really - they come upon on any given day may kill them. More recently, they also have had to face poor funding and external threats. Poachers illegally kill sharks for their fins and fish in the reefs. The remoteness of the island also lends itself to drug runners, who use it as a stop-off point as they move drugs throughout the region.
Individuals that want to visit Coiba Island have to get permission, but Panama is interested in the tourist opportunities it holds. Who knows what that waiting list will look like.
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About This Tool
Isla Coiba has all the characteristics of a deserted island, with clear and translucent waters, white and delicate beaches, and dense primitive tropical rain forests. It is hard to imagine that this island had a dark history, it was once a notorious prison island for nearly a century. It is said that the most dangerous criminals will be sent here, and political prisoners will disappear here.
The island is full of venomous snakes and insects and is surrounded by shark-infested waters, thousands of prisoners are destined to have nowhere to escape, so the island is also called Los Desaparecidos. Our generator can help to know more about the insanely dangerous iland jungle.
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