(New York Post) As far as drug-trafficking despots go, Gen. Manuel Noriega — who just died a little over a month ago — had tremendous taste in venue: The “bridge of the world, heart of the universe,” Panama. Modal TriggerA tram ride in Gamboa. The Westin Playa Bonita Sure, its (now) Miami-ish-looking capital, Panama City, was his birth place — so it seemed like the logical … [Read more...]

(Paste Magazine) Kevin O’Brien has given a lot of tours in his life. After leaving his job in Boston, the travel enthusiast spent years leading groups on vacations across the Western Hemisphere, including a seven-month drive that spanned a full south-to-north journey, all the way from Argentina to Alaska. But in 2003, O’Brien decided to narrow his scope. Instead of driving … [Read more...]

(Travel Weekly) The only thing fast about the Panama Canal is the speed at which the water drains out of its six locks. Once the electric railway "mules" have towed a ship into the lock and the double doors close behind it, the waterline begins to descend almost immediately. At the Pedro Miguel locks, the narrowest point in the canal, it took a little less than eight minutes … [Read more...]

(The Globe and Mail) The tangled mass of tropical vegetation in front of the veranda of our lodge appeared lifeless half an hour ago. But now birds flit before us, popping in and out of the greenery. Our guide, Tino, hung bananas at the feeder and it’s a magnet. “Is that a dusky-faced tanager on the banana now?” I ask Tino, perhaps a little too confidently. “No, a clay-coloured … [Read more...]

(The Miscellany News) Whenever I told people that I was going to Panama, they always asked if I was going to the canal. And while I did go to the Mira­flores Locks and watched giant freighters pass through one of the greatest engineering feats in the world, I also did so much more during my three-day stay in Panama City. One of the obviously touristic sites of Pana­ma City is … [Read more...]