Hats off to Panama

Jan 11 2008 By Laura Silverman

Central American destination reveals nature at its finest

Our little boat was tossing and turning on the seas like a ball inside a lottery machine. Pellets of rain gushed from above as if the gods had gone paint-balling.

Yet onwards we sped - down the Chagres River and into the Gatun Lake, which feeds that marvel of engineering dividing North and South America: the Panama Canal.

Such downpours are common in Panama during winter, which runs from mid-April to mid-December. It is one of the wettest places on earth - although at least, unlike the rest of Central America, it doesn't have hurricanes and it is also warm all year round. So much water provides a fertile environment for plants and wildlife. In its indigenous language, 'panama' means an abundance of fish or butterflies.

Man has, of course, made his mark with the 50-mile canal, but much of the land has yet to attract tourists.

The Gatun Lake is deserted, at least in terms of boats and tourists - although not in terms of nature, especially as we approach Monkey Island. "Capuchin!" exclaims my guide. Within seconds, five, six, seven white-faced monkeys appear in the trees. They swing through the foliage holding out their hands for food, before jumping aboard.

Nor could we escape animals back at our hotel, the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. In its grounds - the Soberania National Park - lizards scuttled through the grass and croaked in a high-pitched trigger.

And the birds! With its 950 species, Panama has more types than any other country in Central America. Of course, the whole country is not wild, swampy landscape. Panama City is an incongruous mix of anything but. And it is the view from the cathedral tower of the original old city, Panama Viejo, that best tells the story of Panama's somewhat turbulent past.

Panama was the first European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas. You can examine pre-Hispanic artefacts dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries in the small visitors' centre nearby. But the excavations in the archaeological park here go back to the 16th and 17th centuries - the town built and inhabited by the Spanish.

With the faded glory of its French, Spanish and early American architecture, this part of town resembles a cross between Havana and New Orleans.

The area oozes charm. Must-visit squares include Plaza Bolivar, the location of the Church of the Golden Altar (Iglesia de San Jose), which - legend has it - houses an altar from the first old city. When there, locals covered it in tar to save it from looters when the city was invaded, and it was then taken to its new home. Some studies, however, date the altar's style to the 18th century. Downtown is much dirtier and noisier than the Old Quarter. The buses - los diablos rojos or 'red devils' - have a reputation for being driven chaotically, but they look fantastic with different graffiti-style paintings.

What is clear, though, is that the country - already one of the most stable in Central America - is on the up. For history as engaging and fascinating as its natural environment, Panama reigns. And this time I don't mean the weather.

Travel facts...

Laura Silverman was a guest of Virgin Holidays, which offers seven nights' half-board at the four-star Gamboa Rainforest Resort from £1,099 during 2008, including Virgin Atlantic flights into Panama, via Cuba, plus transfers and half-board accommodation.

Virgin can arrange regional departures from Manchester and Glasgow from £25 return, subject to availability, to link with the Cuba flight which only leaves Gatwick.

Virgin Holidays reservations: 0871 222 304 or visit www.virginholidays.com.