PANAMA > CENTRAL AMERICA > INDEX


Republic of Panama is the southernmost country of Central America.

Provinces in Panama [ provincias ]: Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui, Cocle, Colon, Darien, Herrera, Los Santos, Panama, Veraguas

Territory in Panama [ comarca ]: San Blas

Panama borders Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east.

Capital City of Panama: Panama City.


car hire, hotels, travel agencies, travel guides, transportation / traveling to panama 

links


Car Rentals

 Avis
World's second largest general-use car rental business, providing business and leisure customers with a wide range of services.
 Budget Rent A Car
 Dollar Rent A Car
 Dollar Rent A Car has suburban and on-airport car rental locations in all major cities throughout the United States.
 Hertz

Hostels Panama

 Hostelbookers - Great Hostels, Free booking, Fast & Easy to use
Hostelbookers.com is one of the worlds largest online booking services for hostels. All hostels you see here are offering realtime prices and availability. We do not charge a fee to use this service.

Hotels in Panama

 Expedia.com
 Hotels.com 

Tour Operators / Travel Agents

 Tara Tours [ CT ] - Exotic destinations in Central and South America



 Explorers' Corner - San Blas Archipelago, Panama
Kayaking to the Remote Cayos Holandes

Travel Guides Panama / Related books

Travel Guides Panama

 Panama / Lonely Planet - Regis St. Louis
Paperback 360 pages (November 19, 2004); Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications; Language: English; ISBN: 1741041333.
 Panama / Bradt Travel Guide - Sarah Woods
Paperback 320 pages (February 22, 2005); Publisher: BRADT Travel Guides; Language: English; ISBN: 184162117X
 Panama Canal by Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Cruising the Panama Canal 
Anne Vipond
Paperback 352 pages (October 31, 2004); Publisher: Ocean Cruise Guides; Language: English; ISBN: 0968838960

Transportation / How do I travel to Panama

 Tocumen International Airport - Panama City

  Airline Tickets / Bargain Flights - Flights to Panama

 Panama Canal Railway Company 

 Bus: there is regular bus service to most parts of the country with round-trip tickets [ Albrook Bus Terminal, Panama City ]. There is an excellent bus service between Costa Rica and Panama.

 Online Map of Panama [ Uni Texas - Perry-Castañeda Library - Map Collection ]
 The Rough Guide Map Costa Rica and Panama 
Costa Rica is one of Central America's most enticing destinations. The Rough Guide Map to Costa Rica and Panama combines clear modern mapping and bang-up-to-date research and is an essential companion to anyone travelling around the two countries by public or private transport. The Rough Guide Map provides invaluable infomation for those exploring the country, from remote Caribbean beaches to unspoilt cloudforests , with detail on everything from road numbers and petrol station locations to national parks and railway lines.
Map 1 pages (March 31, 2005); Publisher: Rough Guides; Language: English; ISBN: 1843534819


Links 

 Travel Insurance - online travel and holiday insurance

 Visit Panama - Tourist Board of Panama

 Presidencia de la República de Panamá
 Instituto Panameño de Turismo

 Government of Panama 

 Panama City - Capital City of Panama -
Panamá City was founded by Pedrarias Dávila (Pedro Arias de Ávila), the Governor of Golden Castle, appointed by the King of Spain.

 Bocas del Toro
Districts : Bocas del Toro, Changuinola and Chiriquí Grande.
Located on Isla Colon is the province's capital city, Bocas del Toro. This was the headquarters for United Fruit at the turn of the century and was an important shipping and receiving port. With the movement of the center of operations to the mainland in the mid-fifties, Bocas towns importance to what would later become Chiquita Bananas faded.
 Chiriqui 
Habitats of quetzals, parrots and numerous other bird species make this province a birdwatcher's paradise! Cloud and rain forests, mountains and beaches are among the other visual delights you'll enjoy while visiting.
 Cocle
 Colon
 Darien
Tropical flora, fauna and 1.5 million acres of pure rainforest provide the native Chocoe Indians with an immense jungle in which to live. Come and liven up your senses with the miracles of Mother Nature!
 Herrera
 Los Santos
 Panama
 Veraguas

 Isla Taboga
Nestled in the warm tropical waters of the Bay of Panama and within an hour's boat ride from bustling Panama City is a small island with a rich and colorful history and a humble little town.
 San Blas Island
Featuring a coastline of 200 miles, these islands offer crystal clear waters and beautiful secluded islets. The Kuna Indians of Panama call these islands home and live the same today as they did hundreds of years ago.

 CZ - Panama - nice website - 'You can go back, but can't go home'
 Ferdinand de Lesseps - History of Count Ferdinand de Lesseps and the Panama Canal
1875 de Lesseps made his first public declaration of interest in an interoceanic canal. On the first day of the new year of 1880, on board a steam launch standing of the mouth of the Rio Grande, de Lesseps young daughter Fernanda dug the first shovel of sand into a champagebox and the Panama Canal was symbolically begun.
 Francis Drake - Silver Train !
He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, and he helped defeat the Spanish Armada off the southern coast of England in 1588. No other English seaman, not even Nelson, played a more important role in English history than Francis Drake.
 Henry Morgan - Welsh buccaneer / pirate
For many, Henry Morgan is little more than the name of a romantic "pirate" of yore, but for some Morgan is being re-evaluated as one of Britain's most successful military strategists and as a man with the leadership qualities of an Alexander. He gained the loyalty of the buccaneers, who followed him without question, and the respect of kings and princes. Of all the great figures in Welsh history he must be counted among the most attractive and able.
 Indians
They are related to the Mayans in the north and the Chibchans of Colombia. Some of the major Indian tribes are: Guaymi, Cuna (Kuna, San Blas), Cocle, Embera and Choco Indians.
 Instituto Panameño de Turismo - IPAT - Official Website for The Tourism Institute of Panama
 Museum of Biodiversity - Bridhe of Life Project
The Bridge of Life project will be the hub of an interchange of nature, culture, the economy, and life—a center for learning, discovery, national pride, and a new appreciation of Panama's natural wealth.
 Panama Canal Museum
By August 15, 1914 the Panama Canal was officially opened by the passing of the SS Ancon. At the time, no single effort in American history had exacted such a price in dollars or in human life. The American expenditures from 1904 to 1914 totaled $352,000,000, far more than the cost of anything built by the United States Government up to that time. Together the French and American expenditures totaled $639,000,000. It took 34 years from the initial effort in 1880 to actually open the Canal in 1914. It is estimated that over 80,000 persons took part in the construction and that over 30,000 lives were lost in both French and American efforts.
This website is dedicated to all men and women who have and will work at or for the Panama Canal and made the heroic dream of over 400 years come true. Honoring the past by building the future.
 Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Estremadura, Spain in about 1471 and died in Lima Peru on June 26, 1541. He was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, an infantry captain, and Francisca Gonzalez. Francisco never went to school, and never learned to read or write. He sailed to the New World with Alonzo de Ojeda, on November 10, 1509 and was with him on his discoveries of present day Venezuela and Colombia .....
 Vasco Nuñez de Balboa
Balboa sailed to Hispaniola in 1501 on an expedition under Rodrigo de Bastidas and Juan de la Cosa. During this voyage they crossed the Gulf of Urabá (on the coast of present-day Columbia), and saw the indian village of Darién in present-day Panama.

 Press - Crítica en Línea - el diario de mayor circulación en Panamá
 Press - The Panama News - Panames online newspaper in English
 Radio - Panama Online Radio Stations
 TV - TVN-2
 University of Panama - Universidad de Panamá

Cuisine - Panamese Cooking

The cuisine of South America stems from cultural backgrounds, available produce foods and cooking styles. You'll find local favorites varying from country to country, even within regions, but you'll also find international favorites and the ubiquitous fast food places.

 Panama Living - Recipes from Panama

History of Panama

Panamá is the thinnest link between Central and South America. It became the center of Spanish exploration and expansion after its discovery in 1501. Panamá is rich in history and man-made achievements, from its pre-Colombian history to modern man-made engineering features, such as the Panamá Canal.

Independence: 3 November 1903 (from Colombia; became independent from Spain 28 November 1821)

 Panama's History - Wikipedia
Building the Panama Canal, Military Coups in Panama and Coalitions, Rebuilding Democracy in Panama.
 Panama Viejo
Es una organización sin fines de lucro, dedicada a la preservación, estudio y difusión del conjunto histórico monumental.
 Panama Canal Museum 
The mission of the Panama Canal Museum is to preserve the history of the American era of the Panama Canal (1904-1999). The museum collects artifacts, documents and other items of historical importance and interest, which are accessible in person and on the internet. Its purpose is to enable research and education in the history of the accomplishments of the United States of America in the construction, operation, maintenance and defense of the Panama Canal as a service to the World's maritime and naval communities in the twentieth century.
 Building of the Panama Canal: In Historic Photographs - Ulrich Keller (Editor)
Paperback 111 pages (February 1984); Publisher: Dover Publications; Language: English; ISBN: 0486244083

Music, Culture & Entertainment

 Music of Panama
With salsa and Colombian cumbia often dominating the charts, Panama's own popular music has had to struggle to survive. A distinctive vocal style dominates the music, which is said to derive from Sevillians of African descent who arrived in the early 16th century. The most important native instrument is the mejorana, a five-stringed guitar used to play songs called torrentes...
 Instrumental Folk Music of Panama - Danzas Panama 
To hear a song sample, click on the song titles.
Audio CD (January 30, 1995); Label: JVC; ASIN: B000003MQW
 Stories, Myths, Chants, and Songs of the Kuna Indians - Joel Sherzer
The Kuna Indians of Panama, probably best known for molas, their colourful applique blouses, also have a rich literary tradition of oral stories and performances. One of the largest indigenous groups in the South American tropics, the majority of them (about 70,000) reside in Kuna Yala, a string of island and mainland villages stretching along the Caribbean coast. It is here that Joel Sherzer lived among them, photographing and recording their verbal performances, which he feels are representative of the beauty, complexity, and diversity of the oral literary traditions of the indigenous peoples of Latin America. This book is organized into three types of texts: humorous and moralistic stories; myths and magical chants; and women's songs. While quite different from one another, they share features characteristic of Kuna literature as a whole, including appreciation of their environment and a remarkable knowledge of their plants and animals; a belief in spirits as an important component of their world in curing, magic, and aesthetics; and, especially, great humour and a sense of play. Vividly illustrated by a Kuna artist and accompanied by photographs that lend a sense of being present at the performances, the texts provide readers with a unique aesthetic perspective on this rich culture while preserving an endangered and valuable indigenous oral tradition.
Paperback 304 pages (April 30, 2004); Publisher: University of Texas Press; Language: English; ISBN: 029270237X

Web Portal / Panama Search Engine

 Panamainfo 

 Centramerica.com - Online travel guide
What to See and Do in Panama City, What to See Nearby and What to Do and See Outside Panama City;  Retire in Panama, 10 Reasons Why Panama is a Great Tourist Destination, Visas and Immigration, Money Matters, Getting Around, Do-It-Yourself Tourism.


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