The name of the hat, which is not afraid of either the tropical heat or the equatorial sun, originated in the 1920s. It was then that thousands of builders of the most famous canal on the planet escaped the heat with the help of wicker panam from palm leaves. The state in the very center of America is not well known to the Russian tourist. Most often, Panama City Airport serves only as a staging post on long connecting flights to South America. But the small republic between Costa Rica and Colombia is quite worthy of a traveler's attention, especially if you know in advance what to see in Panama. To organize a small excursion, there will even be enough time for connecting between flights, because a Russian citizen who arrives for less than 90 days does not need a visa to Panama.
Top 15 attractions in Panama
Panama Viejo
The first city erected by the Spanish conquistadors in the image and likeness of European ones was Panama Viejo. Its construction was dictated by the need to create a safe transfer point for the transportation of the Inca treasures to the Old World. Panama Viejo was built in 1517. A century and a half later, the pirate Henry Morgan almost completely destroyed the city during the assault, but some ancient structures survived and are available for inspection.
In Panama Viejo, you can look at the temples of the 16th century, the university building and the royal bridge. The square tower of the 16th century cathedral dominates over the ancient city.
Panama Canal
The famous landmark of Panama, which even people far from travel had heard about, appeared on the world map in 1920. The channel connected two oceans and greatly simplified the route of sea vessels from the east coast of both Americas to the west and vice versa.
In numbers, the Panama Canal looks very solid:
- The length of the canal is 81.6 km, the total width is 150 m, and the depth is 12 m.
- Thanks to its construction, the sea route from San Francisco to Boston was reduced by 2, 5 times.
- The minimum time for a ship to pass is 4 hours.
- The channel handles 14 thousand vessels with 280 million tons of cargo annually.
You can watch the passing ships in the northeast of the Panamanian capital, near the Miraflores locks.
Panama Canal Museum
The exposition of the museum, located in the old part of the capital of Panama, tells about the history of the world's most famous man-made channel connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic. The exhibits are housed in a 19th century building, which itself plays an important historical role. The mansion housed the headquarters of the construction site.
Among the exhibits are workers' clothing and communications equipment, soil samples and models of locks, original photographs and documents. Visitors are shown a film shot on a ship passing the canal.
Ticket price: $ 2.
Century Bridge
You can now look at the main canal of Panama and the entire Western Hemisphere from the bridge that crosses the waterway from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The bridge was inaugurated in 2004 and significantly relieved traffic on the old Pan American Highway Bridge.
The cable-stayed structure of the bridge looks very modern and light, despite the fact that the total length of the crossing is 1052 m, and the length of the main span exceeds 400 m. The height of the pylons is 184 m, the the size of the ships.
Temple of the Golden Altar
One of the oldest churches in the capital of Panama was built in 1675 and is dedicated to St. Joseph. But more often it is called the Temple of the Golden Altar. The main relic of the church is a gilded altar, saved at the beginning of the 18th century from the pirate Morgan. As a result of the raid on Panama, the pirates took out all the treasures, and only the altar in the temple of S. Joseph resisted: the priest smeared him with soot and oil and the relic lost its attractive appearance.
Transpanamerican trail
In 2009, Panama opened the first section of a walking route that allows travelers to cross the country from east to west from the Colombian border to Costa Rica. Its total length will be 1127 km, and the trail will completely repeat the route of the Spanish conquistadors who transported gold along it to ships in the bays of the Caribbean Sea.
TransPanama Trail begins in the national punk Darien, passes through several reserves, goes around the highest mountain in Panama, the Baru volcano, and reaches the town of Hurutungo.
Taboga Island
A small picturesque island 20 km from the coast of Panama City was discovered by the Spanish conquistadors in 1524 and was used by them as a port, from where ships sailed to the coast of Peru for the gold of the Incas. The Spaniards built defensive structures on the island to protect the port from pirate raids. In the 19th century, Taboga became a vacation spot for wealthy citizens, and today the island is famous for its beaches and is unofficially called the Island of Flowers.
On Taboga, noteworthy is a small church built in the 16th century, blooming gardens and a bird colony, whose inhabitants are brown pelicans.
Coiba Marine Park
The reserve off the Panamanian coast of the Pacific Ocean occupies several islands of volcanic origin. The waters around the islands attract snorkeling enthusiasts from all over the world: there is one of the largest and most beautiful coral reefs in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
The islands of the Koiba Marine Park have chosen numerous species of rare and endemic animals, and an excursion to the reserve will allow you to see representatives of the fauna that are not found anywhere else on the planet. For example, the harpy eagle, golden hare and Colombian howler live only on these islands.
Portobelo
Translated from Spanish, the name of this city in the north of Panama means "beautiful harbor". Founded in 1597 by the Spaniard Francisco Velarde, Portobelo became a well-fortified fortress in case of an English invasion. The remains of fortifications from the times of the Spanish conquistadors were included in the 1980s in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Bastimentos
Bastimentos National Park can be found in the northwest of the country on the Bocas del Toro Islands. The territory of the park is home to many rare and protected animals. During the tour, visitors to the park can look at the crocodile caiman, Goffman's sloth, capuchin and dozens of other primate species. On the territory of Bastimentos, sea turtles, which are protected in the Red Book, live and breed. Bird watchers watch magnificent frigates, Aztec gulls, bell ringer and dozens of hummingbird and parrot species.
Darien
Darien National Park is the main attraction of the eastern region of Panama. The largest nature reserve in the country is home to over 500 bird species and at least 200 mammal species. In addition to numerous bright parrots, imperturbable sloths, curious monkeys and weightless hummingbirds, you can encounter very dangerous predators in Darien, and therefore you will definitely need an experienced guide in the virgin subequatorial forest.
Hiking trails in the park include visits to the peak of Cerro Pierre, the Indian village of Boca del Coupe and the banks of the Rio Balsas River.
Entrance ticket price - $ 3, guide services - $ 10.
Baru
The Baru volcano in Panama, dormant for the last 500 years, attracts tens of thousands of tourists every year who want to climb 3,474 meters to see both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The highest point of the country is located in the west of the republic as part of the Talamanca mountain range. A hiking trail called Quetzales leads to the top. Not far from the village of Cerro Punta, the closest to the mountain, there are the ruins of an ancient city that was destroyed by one of the eruptions of Baru.
Ascents: 22 km route from the town of Boquete, located east of the mountain, and 14 km from Kamiseta. The second option is suitable for more physically prepared travelers.
Biomuseum
The most interesting architectural solution of this Panamanian museum in itself is capable of attracting many visitors. The exposition is housed in an asymmetrical pavilion, painted in bright colors, symbolizing the tropics and their diversity. But the building is not the only reason for a large flow of tourists. The theme of the collection is an acquaintance with the biological diversity of Panama, animals and plants found in its rainforests, and problems dedicated to the conservation of rare and endangered species.
The location of the Biomuseum is also surprisingly symbolic of Panama's place on the world map. The pavilion is built at the entrance to the Panama Canal and offers excellent views of the ocean and ships entering the canal.
Ticket price: $ 10.
Munisipal Sumit
The Botanical Gardens and Zoo in the Panamanian capital were opened in 1923 as experimental grounds to study the adaptability of various plant species to the local climate. The idea belonged to the Panama Canal Construction Directorate.
In the modern park of Munisipal Sumit, visitors can see many plants that are used in pharmacology, construction, furniture production and other sectors of the national economy. The fauna of the zoo is represented by alligators and coyotes, cougars and monkeys - about 300 animals in total. The most respected species is the harpy eagle, which is called the symbol of Panama.
Museum of Afro-Antilles
The exposition of a small museum, located in the capital of the Republic of Panama, is dedicated to the culture and folk crafts of the peoples, whose representatives became citizens of the country and made a worthy contribution to its development and prosperity. Much of the collection recounts the contributions of Indians and descendants of African slaves to the construction of the Panama Canal
The museum was created with private donations and is housed in a former Christian chapel. The church was built in 1909 by people from Barbados.
Ticket price: $ 1.
