Rows of ships, vessels and cargo ships from all over the world wait every day to cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific and vice versa. It is 80 km that connect two oceans. On the same day you can have a pineapple, tamarind or papaya chicha for breakfast by the Pacific and watch the sunset under the Atlantic breeze while tasting a plantintá , an empanada filled with ripe plantain, nutmeg and cinnamon.

After a nine-hour flight from Spain, the newcomer is immersed in a veritable paradise. Panama is a tropical paradise with a strategic location. The nexus between North and South America, this narrow strip of land is home to tropical forests, marshes, lakes, volcanoes, islands and dream beaches.

Fifteen national parks, both land and sea, protect the most sensitive areas, as well as the enormous biodiversity : 10,400 species of plants (700 ferns, 1,400 orchids, 2,500 trees) and a fauna that includes around a thousand types of birds, as well as amphibians, peccaries, tapirs, otters, monkeys, alligators, sloths, jaguars, pumas… Panama is everything. Panama is total.

the “Latin American Manhattan”

Tocumen Airport is the main gateway to the country. This place, which connects with more than 70 destinations in America, Europe and Asia, is the beginning of a journey that exudes nature, but also culture. Leaving behind this swarm of planes and small planes, the largest and most populated city in the country awaits us; the one that bears its name . It is a thirty-minute drive that immerses the traveler in a territory that knows no middle ground. 

Suddenly, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, like in a futuristic film, the skyline of Panama City bursts into view, filled with skyscrapers. It is not surprising that it is nicknamed the “Manhattan of Latin America.” We have arrived in a country and a city of superlatives. Everything is big. Everything is out of proportion. It is also the only capital on the planet that has a tropical forest within its urban limits. 

Bridge of the Americas

Before touring the great city, it is worth visiting one of the greatest engineering works in the world: the Panama Canal, the famous interoceanic “shortcut”. At the Miraflores Locks you can learn about its history. They say that the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa dreamed of this passage between the two great waters. Who knows? What is certain is that it was not until 1880 that Ferdinand de Lesseps, architect of the Suez Canal, led the French project to open this ford. The works were abandoned after almost a decade of hard work, the United States took up the plan in 1904 and, three years later, George W. Goethals completed the feat.

The steamer Ancón completed the first crossing on 15 August 1914 , but newspaper archives document that the Alexander La Valley crane had already traversed the locks a few months earlier on routine operations. ” But don’t write that down, sir ,” the museum guide tells me.

history and nature

A visit to the Miraflores Locks is an unmissable date with history and human expertise , where you can experience first-hand the interplay of gates and water conduits that allow the movement of ships from one ocean to another. However, this titanic display of engineering cannot hide the hypnotic green surroundings. The canal was opened in the middle of the tropical forest and the emerald thicket is still there . A half-hour drive away along a road that struggles with vegetation, is the Soberanía National Park, located next to the Gamboa Rainforest Reserve. 

Located just 30 km from the capital, this park reminds us of the green soul of Panama’s forests and woodlands. The trails of Soberanía invite silent observation and restless walking. There are two paths: the Camino del Oleoducto and the Camino de Cruces, paved in colonial times to transport treasures and provisions from Peru, Chile or Baja California. Accompanied by expert guides in botany and fauna, and equipped with binoculars, we enter the home of more than 500 species of birds – in 1996, in just 24 hours, 525 were counted – white-tailed deer, raccoons, rodents called ñeques and occasionally a jaguar roam through this jungle. But the loudest are the howler monkeys, which orchestrate a unique symphony of cries. 

Nearby is a sloth sanctuary run by the Pan-American Conservation Association . I walk there with Iker Lorente Aizpurúa, a historian and naturalist guide at the park. Of Spanish origin, he tells me that this enclave is a fusion of nature, biodiversity and history. Suddenly, he stops, falls silent and points to a bird in the top of a tree. “ It’s a motmot. It makes a very particular sound. It’s a low call: uuuup .” Then he changes his tone and completes his reflection: “ We are in a place of great natural diversity and great historical importance .” And he explains to me that, right here, the Chagres River once served as a connection between the north and south of the country, was a passageway for pirates and played a crucial role in the construction of the canal.

sunset between skyscrapers

It is dusk and a good time to return to the city. We return by car to a city that shines in the night. “ This city does not know how to sleep ,” the taxi driver tells me. The illuminated skyline of its skyscrapers gives it a futuristic appearance. When a traveler visits the archaeological site of Panama la Vieja, he understands that this is a “phoenix city,” forced to reinvent itself. Founded in 1519 by the politician and military man Pedro Arias Dávila (also called Pedrarias) and declared a World Heritage Site, the grounds of Old Panama contain remains of buildings, palisades and bridges that help to understand the geopolitical importance it had from its very foundation.

A strategic point for the transit of gold, precious objects and provisions, the first Panama City was the starting point for numerous expeditions , such as those against the Inca Empire. The Welsh filibuster Henry Morgan, knighted by Charles II of England, sacked and destroyed it in 1671. About 10 km from the archaeological site, the “new” city was built in 1673. Today it is no longer new and houses an old town that is also a World Heritage Site.

old town

The San Felipe neighbourhood is the old town, which is packed with churches, convents, palaces and mansions, as well as boutique hotels, hostels and restaurants of all kinds. When night falls, you must experience a stroll, enjoying the sea breeze, along the sea corridor that surrounds the colonial enclave and reaches the Amador Causeway. There, walking along its three islands (Naos, Perico and Flamenco), created with the rocks extracted during the excavation of the canal, the traveller fits together the pieces of the puzzle of a city that is a whole world. 

an abundant country

After two hours on the road, we enter the Anton Valley . Once again we are surrounded by untamed nature , which would explain why, for some, Panama means “abundance of fish” and, for others, “abundance of butterflies.” It is irresistible to sit and contemplate the 26 m Chorro de Macho waterfall and then relax in its natural pool. As we walk along its paths, the guide comments: “ With luck we will see some golden frogs ,” endemic to the country. Near this paradise, we take the path of the square-trunked trees ( Quararibea asterolepis ), whimsical and unique. The journey continues after a stop to see the petroglyphs of the giant rock of Piedra Pintada – 8,000 years old – and haggle in a market full of baskets, Panama hats, ceramics and coffee. 

Chiriqui Province

An hour’s flight separates the Panamanian capital from the airport in David, in the province of Chiriquí.  The city of Boquete, 40 minutes away by car, welcomes us with a varied collection of coffees and Dracula orchids , which only bloom at night. This region, considered the country’s breadbasket , is crossed by rivers and streams surrounded by intense greenery. The area is home to mountains that stand out in the landscape: the Horqueta, Azul, Pata de Macho, Respingo, Estrella and the Herculean sphinx of the Barú volcano (3,475 m). 

province of bocas del toro

From the pleasant fresh wind of the mountains, the journey heads towards the gentle breeze of the coast. We enter the province of Bocas del Toro, territory of the Bribris, the Naso and the Ngäbe Buglé , three of the seven indigenous ethnic groups that inhabit Panama. The orchards multiply as we approach the Panamanian Caribbean.

On the western border of the country lies one of the natural treasures of Central America: the International Friendship Park, a 400,000-hectare tropical forest shared by Costa Rica and Panama and declared a World Heritage Site. It is a haven of natural power where it is possible to observe big cats (puma, ocelot, jaguar), sloths and up to 600 species of birds, such as the harpy eagle or the sacred quetzal.

The sea adventure begins in the city of Almirante. In this town with an Afro-Antillean atmosphere, a collective boat is taken to Isla Colón. Local families, backpackers, artisans and school teachers board a boat that soon takes them to the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, Bocas, as they call it here. It includes 9 islands, 52 keys and thousands of islets that can be explored by taxi boat, the usual means of transport. And although many visitors spend the night in Bastimentos, Carenero or Isla Colón, it is possible to stay on nearby islands, whose palm-lined landscape recalls tales of castaways, recalls novels of filibusters and corsairs, and evokes an unknown Eden. There are everything from hostels and inns to hotels and private mansions. 

And suddenly, among the movements of the sea, dolphins emerge, escorting the boats, and then, just as suddenly, disappear. In its piers, markets and squares, visitors once again encounter that mix of cultures so typical of the Caribbean . Indigenous communities, people with African roots, businessmen from all over and locals who decided to seek out a calmer and more enjoyable rhythm in these Antillean-style villages. On foot or aboard speedboats that connect the islands, it is possible to discover a territory that hides unusual secrets. 

the quiet Colon Island

At the beginning of the 20th century, the simple village of Isla Colón became a flourishing and prosperous city. The banana industry brought abundance. England, Germany, France and the United States opened consulates. Up to three newspapers were printed in English. And one of the first racetracks in the southern hemisphere was built. Then, a fungus devastated the banana plantations. The hustle and bustle of big business disappeared. And until today, the tranquility of the purring of canoes and the therapeutic sound of the waves hitting the pillars of the stilt houses and the docks of a lovingly disordered port settled in. ” Now we are better, calm; we live slowly ,” says Antonio, a fisherman, father and son of fishermen, while he eats a plate of rice with coconut. Here life has a different tempo . And time, a different flavor. Upon arrival, visitors must hide their watch, forget the time and go with the flow. These are the rules of the Caribbean universe. 

the authentic paradise

So far, the logbook of this trip brings together very disparate enclaves: a futuristic city, a canal that unites the world, an almost urban jungle, nature reserves, titanic bridges, a volcano, many hills, a railway that connects two oceans… There is one enclave missing, remote but unavoidable. Luis, a Panamanian businessman, tells me that it is easy to describe: San Blas is paradise. Or the other way around.

To get to the Guna people’s garden, the best way is to fly back to the capital and then take a sailboat, plane or all-terrain vehicle to Cartí, the main town in the area. After that, there are as many options as there are islands. And, in all cases, you will have to travel by boat and face a complex challenge: choosing. 

The traveller must choose his destination in an archipelago of tropical islands whose native name is Guna Yala. But this marine Eden has some insurmountable rules. It has owners, guards and inhabitants with solid customs and firm convictions. The Guna people manage this collection of paradisiacal lands. There are 365, an island for each day of the year, but only 50 are inhabited. Installed in a wooden house surrounded by palm trees and on the shores of a sea that collects blues, it is irresistible to walk barefoot on the sand, dive in to contemplate the marine life or rent a boat and enjoy a sunset at the water’s edge, seasoned with the memories of a fisherman who looks at the stranger with mystery and curiosity. 

The hardest part: deciding the day of return

Then, a captivating routine unfolds. Every afternoon, boats arrive loaded with lobsters and fish; women dressed in colorful costumes and molas (fabrics sewn together to form geometric figures and designs); artisans displaying their work in wood, stones and mollusk shells. “ One dollar ,” a woman sitting on a log tells me and repeats. Only companies accredited by the Guna General Congress through the Secretariat of Tourism Affairs are authorized to organize visits. And on each island, the community and its council of elders rule.

Luis, a Spanish friend, an anthropologist and journalist, tells me that he wanted to document initiation rites and that he spent a week waiting on one of these islets until access was authorized. But for us tourists, it is much simpler. We arrive, we enjoy ourselves, and the difficult part – the most difficult part – ends up being choosing the day of return; understanding that, sooner or later, we will have to leave this paradise , thinking about when we will be able to return.