In Europe, Panama is mainly known for 2 things:
- The papers
- The canal
Anyone who has ever had the chance to visit this Latin American country knows that this should be far from the only things this country is famous for.
Panama is located between Costa Rica and Colombia and has everything an incentive destination needs:
- Beaches along both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
- With Panama City it has a large metropolis full of skyscrapers
- With Casco Viejo, the country has an authentic city bursting with cultural attractions, where you can’t just feel the history, but also really breathe it.
- Add to that some tropical rainforest and the impressive architecture / technology of the Panama Canal and you won’t know where to start your programme first.
With a direct flight from Amsterdam of +/- 10 hours you land in Panama City, where you’re immediately immersed in the busy urban life of this capital city.
Our trip, however, begins outside the city, half an hour from Panama City on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean. An oasis of peace with a view of the boats that are ready to enter the canal.
This will be our base for 2 nights and 3 days, after which we’ll return to the hustle and bustle of the city.
During these 3 days we will explore:
- along the traditional train line that takes us all the way along the Panama Canal,
- … deep into the heart of the tropical rainforest where we visit a local tribe, play football together and follow a lesson from the “tribe teacher”,
- … we’ll party on a catamaran and visit an uninhabited island where we’ll have a BBQ with the whole gang,
- … local guides (admittedly former gang members) lead us through Casco Viejo, Panama City’s colonial quarter. We’ll meet quintessential Panamanian dancers, smoke locally rolled cigars and sample “Raspados”, a Panamanian delicacy consisting of shaved ice which tastes like that tropical weather,
We end our experience with a few nights in the hustle and bustle of Panama City where we
- taste the local beers,
- … watch 2 gigantic container ships pass through the famous lock complex
- … party in one of the skyscrapers of Panama City, where we take over the entire 70th floor / sky terrace
