City meets rainforest: Why Panama is perfect for an easy-going Latin American adventure
As the country celebrates 200 years of independence, there’s never been a better time to dip into its easily accessible nature and charismatic capital, says Sunshine Flint
Panama is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain. The country was making its way towards full independence ever since until the new millennium finally brought it with the US ceding control of the Panama Canal. But Panama has much more to explore than its famous canal and dense capital city of the same name. The country’s small size (roughly equivalent to the Republic of Ireland) means its rainforests and mountains are within easy reach from both its Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Here’s how to get the best of city life and natural wonders in a long weekend.
Day one: Panama City
In the past decade, the capital’s building boom has launched its skyline higher and denser – it now has the most skyscrapers of any city in Central America. But it’s also the oldest city on the Pacific Coast: founded in 1519 and sacked by pirate Henry Morgan then rebuilt a few miles away in 1671. The original colonial quarter of Casco Viejo, Panama Bay, is a Unesco World Heritage site with a mix of 17th-century ruins, restored palacios-turned-hotels and green squares.
Dishes such as octopus empanadas, yucca tostados with tuna carpaccio and short ribs risotto are served on plantain leaves – a literal feast for the eyes
Just 20 minutes’ drive away lies the Panama Canal –the modern marvel that took more than 30 years and tens of thousands of lives to complete, shortening the trip between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by 8,000 nautical miles. All that history is on view at the Miraflores Visitor Center but the real showstopper is simply spending a quiet hour watching a ship slowly move through the locks, rising as the water fills each one, then pushing ahead to the open waters of the Pacific or Caribbean. If you’re lucky, you’ll simultaneously catch a ship transiting the third set of locks – built in 2016 to accommodate the world’s largest container and cruise ships – for a double show.
Back in Panama City, Donde Jose (dreamt up by star chef Jose Olmedo Carles) is one of the country’s top restaurants, where you’ll need to snag a table weeks in advance. But his Fonda Lo Que Hay at the edge of Casco Viejo is a casual spot for lunch or dinner, while remaining just as laser-focused on fresh ingredients. The chalkboard menu changes daily but the elevation of simple dishes with bright flavours remains the same. Dishes such as octopus empanadas, yucca tostados with tuna carpaccio and short ribs risotto are served on plantain leaves, along with home-picked vegetables and salsa picante. The colours pop against the vibrant green leaf platters – a literal feast for the eyes.
End the evening with an expertly made cocktail or two at the airy lobby bar at the American Trade Hotel, looking out at the Plaza Herrera in the heart of Casco Viejo.
Day two
As you head out of town, it’s a thrill to know you’re driving on part of the Pan-American Highway – the longest road in the world that starts in Alaska and runs all the way down to Ushuaia, at the tip of Argentina. Your destination is El Valle de Anton, a town in Cocle Province about two-and-a-half hours west of Panama City. The region is incredibly biodiverse, rich in native birds and wildlife and thousands of plant, orchid, and fern species. A popular weekend destination for city dwellers as well as birdwatchers and hikers, El Valle spreads across the flat crater floor of an extinct volcano, circled by dramatic peaks covered in the dense, green foliage of the cloud forest.
Half way up one of the mountains is the Canopy Lodge, nestled under the spreading trees along a rushing stream. Book a tour of the canopy with one of its knowledgeable guides, venturing high above the lodge on an easy hike with built-in stairs and handrails. You’ll follow a bridge over the 115-ft Chorro El Macho waterfall and up vertical hillsides while sharp-eyed guides point out rufous-crested coquettes, squirrel cuckoos, tanagers and toucans – just a few of the hundreds of tropical bird species found here. The trail levels out at the lodge’s garden and grove of citrus trees, where the oropendola birds make their unique swaying nests.
Thrillseekers should opt for the Canopy Adventure, a four-stage zipline descending from the top of the hill and crossing over the falls at top speed to gently come to earth at the roadside entrance. Whether you’ve descended on foot or on a wire, cool off in the manmade stone swimming pool filled daily by diverting the river through a sluice gate.
Back at the Lodge, dinner and dessert is served family-style in the open-air dining room next to the observation veranda, where devoted twitchers sit with their binoculars waiting for dusk to bring the birds.
At the summit of Cerro Gaital, the ring of peaks around the crater is clear, as is the view south across the valley to the deep blue Pacific
Day three
The bird life in El Valle is overwhelming but don’t miss the sloths with their weird little Voldemort snouts and coarse, algae-covered hair. Early morning is the best time to see the three-toed variety as they creep their way to the treetops to chase the sun’s rays, easily spotted by your guide from the road. The area’s Hoffman’s two-toed sloths are harder to find, as they like to stay close to the rainforest. All the more reason to hike up Cerro Gaital, a dripping, moss-covered trail where flame bromeliads grow in the crooks of branches and tree ferns unfurl their ancient fronds above the forest floor with Jurassic grace. At the summit, the ring of peaks around the crater is clear, as is the view south across the valley to the deep blue Pacific.
After lunch, descend into the heat of El Valle town to get up close to Panama’s winged creatures at Butterfly Haven, where greenhouses are filled with glasswing, swallowtail and vivid, blue morphos. A few blocks away, the covered-roof Mercado Municipal dominates on Avenida Principal, the town’s main road, and sells fresh mangoes, pineapples and bananas as well as greens and produce from local farms alongside rows of souvenir and snacks stalls. The town is known for its plant nurseries and Sunday is the largest market day with people coming from other towns and Panama City to buy plants and orchids.
Day four
Drive back to Panama City on Monday morning to avoid the weekend traffic and tour the narrow calle (alleys) of Casco Viejo. The Metropolitan Cathedral, built in 1796, sits on Casco Viejo’s main square, Plaza de la Independencia – but more interesting are the 17th-century ruins of the city’s Jesuit and Dominican churches, with their brick arches and classic proportions. Many of the Spanish and American colonial style mansions around here have been restored, painted in candyfloss colours and housing new hotels and restaurants but here and there, unrenovated mansions offer up a glimpse of a weatherbeaten fan detail or slatted louvre doors.
Get your bearings along the seafront on Paseo Esteban Huertas atop the city wall, where the indigenous Cuna people sell their crafts under a long pergola covered in vines of bougainvillea. The esplanade has views of the jumble of modern skyscrapers and across the bay to Amador Causeway where you can’t miss the primary jumble of the Frank Gehry-designed Biomuseo and the huge ships lining up for their turn to enter the canal. Just around the corner from the sea wall is Bajareque Coffee House and Roastery, the perfect spot to sample Panama’s famed Geisha coffee grown in the Boquete region, the most expensive coffee in the world – a single cup costs $9 (£6.70), still half the price than in international spots such as New York. Even black it has zero bitter or sour notes.
Book in for dinner at Nueve by Andres Morataya. It is set in a former Catholic school for girls just off Plaza Herrero. The chef is all about the bounty of Panama’s seas, rivers and soil and uses ingredients such as the local culantro, a long, leafy herb, and serving dishes such as croquetas made with sun-dried beef, corvina ceviche with plantain chips.
Things get started late at The Strangers Club, so it’s best to land here after dinner. The curving bar, mimicking the three-sided street corner outside, has a lazy elegance underscored by palm fronds and ceiling fans and it’s easy to strike up a conversation with other patrons. The cocktails are as crafty as they come, made with skill and special Panamanian additions such as sugarcane fire water.
Travel essentials
No pre-departure tests or quarantine are required for UK travellers at present. Connecting flights from London via Frankfurt, Houston or Madrid to Panama City are available but operating a less-frequent schedule than usual.
Where to stay
In a restored 1917 mansion in the centre of Casco Viejo, the American Trade Hotel has high-ceilinged rooms, tiled patios and deep bathtubs, as well as robust air-conditioning. americantradehotel.com
The Waldorf Astoria Panama City is in a thicket of skyscrapers but has oversized rooms and an outdoor pool and terrace, perfect for moonlit swims among the tall buildings. waldorfastoria3.hilton.com
Canopy Lodge takes advantage of its rainforest location and keeps guests close to nature, with an open-air library, lounge and dining room and partially screened walls in the rooms. canopytower.com/canopy-lodge
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