By Fundación Almanaque Azul
All contributions will be collected until November 24, 2015
Almanaque Azul is a travel guide to get to the more amazing bits of Panama, those that are not shown on postcards. Hundreds of volunteers visit the most obscure and interesting corners and together with artists and scientists develop the visual and informational map that gives us access to those less explored destinations. This effort allows people to get to incredible spots and get to know the local culture, promoting the efforts of local communities to control tourism in their land.
It took more than four years of work to complete the first edition of Almanaque Azul, which became a point of reference for hundreds of foreigners and locals curious to get to know the real Panama. In little over a year, with limited distribution and almost no advertising, the 2,500 copies we printed were sold out. Now, with all we have learned, we want to make an even better guide, more updated, more curious, more useful, so that there are no more excuses to fully explore this country.
.
Since 2005, when we published the first article in our website, we have visited more than 200 destinations and we created a collection of 15,000 images. More than 300 volunteers have taken part in research, including editors, photographers, explorers, activists and artists.
Many didn’t manage to grab a copy of the first Almanaque Azul. Those who did were very happy:
“I had just arrived to Panama and felt a physical need to explore Panama. The same day I arrived I saw a sign about the first Almanaque Azul and I felt an almost cosmic connection. On my first trip, and in all that followed, I always had the Almanaque with me.”
Martín Proaño Filmmaker. Productora Animal
“Almanaque Azul elaborates and digs deep where other guidebooks just look at the surface, and it does it with humor, irreverence and honesty. If you want to know Panama beyond the most tired paths and the official tourist attractions, Almanaque Azul is the guide for you”
Jonathan Harker Visual artist
“Almanaque Azul is the travel guide that Tintin would bring in his bag”
Rodrigo Guardia Architect
Now we are almost ready to publish the new Almanaque Azul, more beautiful, with more illustrations and pictures, more maps, places we hadn’t visited before, with more collaborators, more complete and in two editions: in English and in Spanish.
We need your support to translate and to print this new edition of Almanaque Azul, which we want to publish in the beginning of 2016.
We’ve been working on this for two years, exploring new places and updating others. From the mountains of Darien to the bars of Calle J in Panama City, our team has gathered more stories, more paths and more pictures to put in this beautiful book.
We appreciate your support, that is why we have prepared beautiful rewards that you can obtain through this campaign.
A beautiful limited edition Almanaque Azul sticker and a big note of thanks!
You will receive a copy of the book (in English or Spanish), a special edition for funders, fresh out of the printer’s! Your name will be listed on a special section of all books.
You will receive two (2) copies of the book (in English or Spanish), special edition for funders, fresh out of the printer’s! Set of five 6” x 4” postcards with pictures from the book by Sergio Ochoa, Alegre Saporta and Fernando Bocanegra and a limited edition Almanaque Azul notebook. Your name will be listed on a special section of all books.
Three (3) special edition books,one for you and two to give to your favorite people, plus access to the digital edition of Almanaque Azul for tablet, mobile or e-book,which you can copy and pass on to your friends. Plus a special invitation to the book launch party (in Panama City).
An exclusive Almanaque Azul t-shirt, specially designed for funders. Plus three (3) special edition books, one for you and two to give to your favorite people, plus access to the digital edition of Almanaque Azul for tablet, mobile or e-book,which you can copy and pass on to your friends. Plus a special invitation to the book launch party (in Panama City).
A beautiful framed limited edition map of Panama, designed by our cartographer, approximate size 100 cm x 60 cm. Plus three (3) special edition books,one for you and two to give to your favorite people, plus access to the digital edition of Almanaque Azul for tablet, mobile or e-book,which you can copy and pass on to your friends. Plus a special invitation to the book launch party (in Panama City).
A 10” x 14” print of a photograph from the book by Alegre Saporta. Plus three (3) special edition books, one for you and two to give to your favorite people, plus access to the digital edition of Almanaque Azul for tablet, mobile or e-book,which you can copy and pass on to your friends. Plus a special invitation to the book launch party (in Panama City).
Dinner in a restaurant in Panama city with your favorite Mir from the video. Plus three (3) special edition books, one for you and two to give to your favorite people, plus access to the digital edition of Almanaque Azul for tablet, mobile or e-book,which you can copy and pass on to your friends. Plus a special invitation to the book launch party (in Panama City).
Sunset in the Bay of Panama on a beautiful sailboat for you and 10 friends with drinks. Plus three (3) special edition books, one for you and two to give to your favorite people, plus access to the digital edition of Almanaque Azul for tablet, mobile or e-book,which you can copy and pass on to your friends. Plus a special invitation to the book launch party (in Panama City).
A weekend trip on a sailboat with whale watching (July-September) to the Las Perlas Archipelago for you and five friends, with a book for each (7 total). Plus access to the digital edition of Almanaque Azul for tablet, mobile or e-book, plus a special invitation to the book launch party (in Panama City).
***Shipping outside of Panama is extra!
We need more than what we expect to get in this crowdfunding campaign. Even though our project depends on the work of lots of volunteers, making this book is expensive. The biggest cost is printing, which we estimate to be around 30% of the sale price of the book. Since we started the second edition in 2013 we have spent every year about $5000 in research to pay for explorers to go round the country. The English translation is estimated to cost about $10,000, the same for editing and design: equipment, payments to writers, creating the template, color correction, fonts and so on.
In addition to your support we are doing other forms of fundraising. According to how much we manage to raise we will print more copies of the book. Conservatively, we could print 3,000 copies, but we would like to print 10,000. With the sale of the book we expect to recover some of the expenses. The budget looks more or less like this:
$20,000 printing $15,000 research $10,000 translation $10,000 editing and design $7,500 administration $6,000 distribution $2,000 marketing
Estimated total: $70,500
The Fundación Almanaque Azul is a Panamanian organisation that works on protecting the natural and cultural diversity of Panama through promoting sustainable tourism.
Almanaque Azul is a unique and very special project: it is a travel guide for Panama made by local volunteers that promotes a form of travelling based on the nature and local cultures of this country.
We want to get people to go out and know and explore Panama and to look beyond the official narrative of business, real estate, skyscrapers and all-inclusive hotels. We believe that responsible tourism, when controlled by local communities, can be of great help to protect the natural and cultural treasures of Panama. We know how to research and educate about this place and now we want to share it with more people, by printing and distributing more books.
To contribute, you must first choose one of the rewards shown to the right, pick your payment method (credit card or bank transfer) and fill in your information to complete the payment. After this, you will receive a confirmation mail and your contribution will be immediately reflected on this website. Additionally, if you wish for your contribution to be anonymous, you can choose not to publish your name when selecting your payment method.
Banco General
Checking Account
Name: Costeame
Number: 0371010916600
IMPORTANT: once the transfer has been completed, please send the confirmation voucher (you can take a screenshot of the transfer confirmation) to info(a)costea.me
Credit Card
Before making your contribution by credit card, please check with your bank that your card is not blocked for online transactions. Many banks block online credit card transactions by default for security reasons. It only takes a phone call to inform them that you will be carrying out this transaction and for your card to be enabled. If you have any questions or doubts, feel free to write us at info(a)costea.me