A land of vibrant colors, a curious mix of colonial vestiges, modern architectures, and languid Latin rhythms. Its inhabitants feel and describe it this way, although this Central American small state, discovered in 1501 by the conquistadores Don Rodrigo de Bastiadas and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, is mostly known for the Canal, a marvel of modern engineering.
But the name “panamà,” in Amerindian, means abundance, perfectly fitting for this rich and lush paradise of nature, which surprises with the wild beauty of the landscapes, the tangled tropical forests, the extraordinary biodiversity, the enchantment of the lagoons and Caribbean beaches, the richness of sites of historical interest, and the modernity of a capital, Panama City, that never sleeps.
For this reason, the tour operator Ruta 40 invites you to take part in an exciting tour, which begins right in the capital, allowing you to discover both the sparkling skyscrapers and the Old Town, where the ruins of the first settlement dated 1519 survive, plundered by the pirate Henry Morgan, and the Casco Viejo, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then you cross the Canal aboard a characteristic transoceanic train, which takes you from the Atlantic to the Pacific, reaching the historic port of Portobelo, from where Spanish galleons loaded with gold set sail.
For the Parque Nacional Chagres, the journey continues along the namesake river aboard motorized canoes, into the heart of the rainforest, also discovering the Gatùn dam, which gave life to the Canal. This is the area where the Panamanian ecosystem expresses all its richness and spectacularity, the rainforest hosts a myriad of ecosystems, and even those who wish to discover indigenous cultures can meet the Emberà, who keep intact ancestral customs and traditions.
