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Travel Related
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WHERE TO GO |
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Some two-thirds of Panamá's population live in the narrow corridor
on either side of the canal, most of them in the capital, Panamá City,
or in the well-developed Pacific coastal plain west of the canal. The
rest of Panamá, east of the canal and north of the rugged mountain chain
that runs like a spine down the length of the country, is heavily
forested and sparsely inhabited, a virtual wilderness.
Cosmopolitan and contradictory, Panamá City is perhaps the most exciting
capital city in Central America, combining the intrigue and frenetic
energy of its international banking centre with the laid-back street-life
of its old colonial quarter and the antiseptic order of the former US-controlled
Canal Zone towns. Surrounded by some of the most accessible tropical
rainforest in the Americas, it is also the best base from which to
explore the rest of the country. Without doubt Panamá's best-known
attraction for visitors, the monumental Panamá Canal can easily be
visited from the city - you can watch mighty ships being raised and
lowered through the locks or, even better, take a cruise yourself. Also
within easy reach from the capital are the colonial ruins and pristine
Caribbean coastline of the province of Colón. East of Panamá City
stretches Darién , the wild, rainforest-covered frontier between Central
and South America. Stretched out along its beautiful Caribbean coastline
is Kuna Yala , the autonomous homeland of the Kuna, who live in
isolation on the coral atolls of the San Blas Archipelago, accessible by
light aircraft from the capital.
West of Panamá City and the canal, the Carretera Interamericana to Costa
Rica runs through the Pacific coastal plain, Panamá's agricultural
heartland. Densely populated in comparison with the rest of the
interior, and with a decent road network, the attractions of this region
include the folkloric traditions and coastal nature reserves of the
Azuero Peninsula and the protected cloudforests of the Chiriquí
Highlands , close to the Costa Rican border. The Caribbean coast west of
the canal is virtually uninhabited except in the extreme northwest
corner, in the isolated archipelago of Bocas del Toro , fast emerging as
one of the most popular parts of the country amongst visitors thanks to
its virtually unspoiled rainforests, beaches, coral reefs and unusual
population of indigenous and West Indian-descended inhabitants.
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