Attractions
Panama City Located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, Panama City is the country's capital and largest city. Founded by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama City's old town (Casco Viejo) still presents a snapshot of life during colonial times. Sightseeing highlights include the Plaza de Francia, the ancient Church of San Jose, and The Vaults (Las Bovedas), a former prison that now serves as a seaside promenade.
Gamboa Rainforest You'll explore this natural treasure during your visit to Soberania National Park. The park's 55,000 protected acres are home to a diverse array of wildlife, including colorful birds, lounging lizards and playful monkeys. The indigenous Embera people also live in the park, maintaining a hunter-gatherer lifestyle despite the pressures of the modern world. You'll visit the world of the Embera on an included visit to one of their villages.
Pearl Islands Thirty miles off Panama's Pacific coast you'll find the Pearl Islands, named for nearby oyster beds and the shiny baubles they produce. This archipelago is synonymous with plunder: one of the islands you'll visit, Contadora, received its name thanks to its designation as the spot where the Spaniards would tally the booty they were sending back to the Old World; another island on your tour, Taboga, was a notorious pirate hideout, and long-forgotten treasure troves were still being unearthed as late as 1998.
Portobelo Once an important port of call for the Spanish Treasure Fleet, Portobelo never recovered from the sack of 1668, when Henry Morgan and his English privateers looted and burned the city. But the ruins of the colonial forts that once protected this natural harbor still stand, and today, Portobelo is a sleepy community of about 3,000 people living in harmony with the past and the present.
Panama Canal One of the world's most daring engineering feats cuts through the heart of Panama. The Canal was a long-held dream, but difficult terrain and yellow fever turned back the French, who first tried to build a canal. It wasn't until an American doctor discovered the link between mosquitoes and tropical illnesses that work could begin in earnest. Today, the Panama Canal unites the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, allowing ships to shave thousands of miles off their journeys and making Panama a center of world trade.
