Panama
There is so much more to Panama than the magnificent canal - it is a paradise for wildlife enthusiasts, diving and snorkelling are excellent on both Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and the isthmus is home to seven different indigenous communities who strive to preserve their unique and colourful traditions.
Watching huge container ships and cruise liners making their stately progress through the Panama Canal from a tropical jungle clearing, while a freight train rumbles by on the parallel railroad, is a bizarre and humbling experience. On either side, rainforest echoes with the calls of tropical birds - hinting at the amazing biodiversity beyond.
Panama has some of the best-preserved rainforest in Central America, home to rarities like the quetzal and harpy eagle (Panama’s national bird), and extravagant macaws, parrots and toucans. Mountains, cloud forest, wetland and mangrove support a huge variety of fauna from tiny tree frogs and monkeys to big cats.
The archipelagos of Bocas del Toro and San Blas (run by its native Kuna people) are incredibly beautiful - turquoise seas, white sandy beaches shaded by coconut palms, and coral reefs swarming with fish. Panama City is well worth visiting for its striking contrasts of old and new - quiet cobbled squares and faded colonial buildings against a skyline to match Manhattan.
Highlights
Here are some of our Panama highlights
The Panama Canal
The most famous of Panama's sights is the iconic canal and no trip should miss a visit here. An amazing feat of engineering, it is bound to impress. Transit through the canal itself, or travel the length by train on the Panama railroad.
Urban jungle
The cosmopolitan capital of Panama City is a city of contrasts - the old 'Casco Viejo' peninsula with its colonial facades and the modern high rise financial district, justifying its nickname of the 'Miami of the Americas'.
Tropical archipelago
Bocas del Toro on Panama's Caribbean coast has some wonderful uninhabited islands. Spend a day relaxing on one of the tranquil beaches under swaying palm trees or explore the vast, emerald underwater world with a mask and snorkel.
Our very high expectations were comfortably exceeded. We particularly appreciated the very successful translation you worked out of our likes and wants. Each place we visited had very much its own flavour, so in hindsight we have very clear demarcations of where we have been and what we felt about it all. Without exception the local reps were a pleasure to be with.
- EB