Panama is a country on the isthmus linking Central and South America. The Panama Canal, a famous feat of human engineering, cuts through its center, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to create an essential shipping route. In the capital, Panama City, modern skyscrapers, casinos and nightclubs contrast with colonial buildings in the Casco Viejodistrict and the rainforest of Natural Metropolitan Park.
Remote Darién National Park, bordering Colombia, shelters parrots, macaws and tapirs. There’s hiking on the Las Cruces Trail in Soberanía National Park, dating to the 1500s. The Gulf of Panama’s Pearl Islands are popular for snorkeling, and Coiba Island, with its surrounding marine park, is a hiking and diving destination off the Pacific coast. The Bocas del Toro province, on the Caribbean side, is a noted surfing spot. And Comarca Kuna Yala, an indigenous territory, is known for the beaches on its many islands and islets.