7 Tips for Your Visit to Panama, from Iberia’s Central American Sales Chief

Since 1 July Roberto Daura has been Iberia’s head of sales for Central America and Venezuela. Although he spends most of his time travelling, his base is Panama City, which he says is “both cosmopolitan and colonial, and everybody falls in love with it at first sight!”

Here are a few of his tips for visitors.

The best views: From the San Lorenzo fort you can feast your eyes on a lovely landscape that encompasses the steep cliffs over the Caribbean sea, as well as the Chagres river. The fort itself has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. To get there you must traverse the San Lorenzo National Park, where you may see sloths and other wildlife –an unforgettable experience.

If you stay in the city, you’ll get some of your best selfies if you take a boat for a tour of the bay at any time of day. The tour lasts about an hour.

To gaze upon both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans at the same time, you must visit the Barú volcano, Panama’s highest peak at 3.272 metres above sea level.

A city stroll: My favourite is to wander in all directions throught the old quarter of Panama City, with its colonial buildings, historic squares, brightly coloured houses, and dozens of churches in different states of repair. It’s a great place for walking, soaking up history, taking photos, and sampling the local cuisine.

Mountain hikers should not miss a visit to the town of Boquete and environs, and couples especially will enjoy a tour of the San Blas archipelago, with 365 tiny islands, each more charming than the rest!

A museum: The Biomuseo, celebrating biodiversity, is fascinating on both the inside and the outside, especially when seen against Panama’s nearly always bright blue skies. Of the numerous exhibits inside the building, my favourite is “El puente surge” [“The bridge rises”] which explains how Panama was formed.

Delicatessen: Your visit will not be complete without a taste of sanchocho, a chicken soup made with ñame, a native vegetable similar to the sweet potato. The local corn meal tamales are also delicious, as is ropa vieja, made with braised and shredded flank steak in a rich vegetable sauce. If fresh shellfish is your passion, don’t fail to visit the mercado de mariscos.

My dessert choices are either cocada –little balls of coconut caramelised with honey or brown cane sugar’-- or mouth-watering cabanga –made with green papaya and coconut, and combined with honey.

Shopping: You can’t leave Panama without a sombrero pintao, or “painted hat”, though in fact it isn’t painted at all. The stripes are made with boiled fibres of the chisná plant, while the rest of the hat is made with braided reed, acorn, or agave fibres.

If you’re travelling with your family: Spend a few days in Bocas del Toro and explore the Playa de las Estrellas [“Beach of Stars”] shoreline, with tiny offshore keys and coral reefs. Young and old alike will marvel at the beauty of the local marine life teeming underneath the crystalline waters, including giant starfish. Nature lovers will also enjoy the Altos del María park, some 90 minutes by road from the city. There you can see the famed butterflies of the Toscana valley, go for a dip in the Chorro de las Doncellas [“Stream of the Maidens”], or take a jog along the pine-flanked banks of the Rio María, with amazing sea and mountain views.

Not to be missed: You can hardly say you’ve been to Panama without a visit to the 80 km-long Panama Canal to see how the locks are opened and closed to move towering ships between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The best view is from the three-level Miraflores Visitors Centre which was reopened earlier this month, You can also tour some stretches of the canal in small boats or even kayaks, a unique experience which I highly recommend!