As was always the case, geography played a role. The dense jungle of Panama posed a major geographical obstacle for those going overland; it’s the one place in Latin America uncrossed by major highways even today. Goods traveling from Panama to Colombia almost always go via container ships. In the Andes, llama caravans carried many commodities through the highlands where the llamas had ample supplies of fresh grass. Llamas could go up and down mountains and as far as the Peruvian coast, but because of the lack of grasslands at sea level, they couldn’t travel along the coast for long. The only
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