Paradise Found in Panama

Before travelling to Panama on a business visit in midJuly 2014, I knew little about the country apart from the Panama Canal.

- Randeep Singh

I had never heard of anyone vacationing there, and had no idea what to expect. On my first and second trips, I had little opportunity to explore the country’s wilderness, but the little I saw made me want to revisit. On the third visit, in July 2016, I decided to travel to the Parque Nacional Soberanía (Soberania National Park) near Panama City.

I stayed at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort in the heart of the national park. Gamboa is about an hour’s drive from the Panama City airport. The resort itself sits on 340 acres of protected forests on the Chagres river, which feeds the man-made lakes of the Panama Canal. The resort is located where the scenic Chagres river meets the Panama Canal and is the only resort in the area. Escaping the noise and hectic pace of everyday life, I surrounded myself with the tranquility of the mystical Soberania National Park. It felt like I was connecting with nature in a pristine environment where explorers and pirates had once roamed.

Seventy per cent of the total population of the 3.8 million people of Panama are Mestizo (people of mixed Indian and European ancestry), while the native Indians comprise only six per cent. Spanish is the dominant language and, according to my guide, only about 18 per cent of Panamanians speak English fluently. I had to quickly learn a few words of Spanish.

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