"Why Panama?" a Panama Travel Page by peggydaly

I just spent a month in Panama City, taking weekends for trips to cool places. I mean, Panama has jungles, fascinating indigenous people and villages, islands, wildlife, beaches, mountains, long coasts along tow oceans...and the list goes on.

I'm a big bird watcher and this place is a bird watchers mecca. Even in the city I woke up to a raucous round of squawks as parakeets battled for turf in the palm tree next to the apartment.

Panama City gets a bad rap mostly. It's a vibrant, diverse place with it's good parts and bad, as is the case with all HUGE cities. and it IS huge. Quieter quarters can be found and i suggest you ftake some extra time and them.

Coming from Oakland I appreciate diversity and this place has it in spades - afro-carib, mestizo, chinese, indian, girngos, everything in between and more. Truly a melting pot. Sit back and take a look at the future!

I'll have to come back and do the parts closer to CR like boquete and volcan baru and more islands. Like i said: SO MUCH TO DO.

I have lots of tips in the associated city page like Panama City, Portobelo, El Valle or Boca Del Toro. So take a gander there if you are interested.

So many options! This was taken in Soberania National Park, less than an hour from Panama City - home to the legendary Pipeline Road where the Audubon Society has recorded more bird species in a single day than any place in the world.

But then there is Darian and rare dwarf forests and more flavors of jungle than you can imagine. So if you like it green, come here!

Now for the surf... Whether on the mainland or one of Panama's 1500+ islands, one can find beautiful water, beaches and aquatic life, without the crowds! Here is the lovely bay of Portobelo, a place with beauty and history.

And there really is surf - SURFING. Lonely Planet, Panama has a good map of surfing spots. There is carribean diving as well as awesome big-fish diving around in the Pacific. Can't vouch for Coiba diving but i hear it's top-notch.