PANAMA AN ECOTOURISM DREAMLAND By Anne W. Schultz | Photography by Gilles Mingasson
Mention Panama and what springs to mind? For most, it’s the Panama Canal. This Central American country has been linked to its canal since the acclaimed engineering marvel of the twentieth century opened to great fanfare in 1914. Now the canal is in the spotlight again with a $5 billion-plus expansion program that includes two new locks that are wide enough for megaships capable of transporting three times more cargo than the ships currently accommodated. Quite an impressive feat yet it pales in comparison to the grandeur of Panama’s wild nature: an extravaganza of natural beauty and astonishing biodiversity steals the limelight from even the most dazzling of human accomplishments.
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