Panama is one of those places we tend to think we have a handle on and so overlook when it comes time to make the next travel plan. Oh, there’s the Canal, and some nice Central American jazziness, and maybe we have a mental image of a nice jungle here and there, but somehow we think we’ve been there without ever having gone there. A common error, but, in Panama’s case, an unfortunate one.

First, if not foremost, there’s the Canal. “The greatest liberty Man has ever taken with nature,” James Bryce called it. And a magnificent, complex, deeply fascinating thing it is, enough to awaken a certain pride in being human. Our nine-day trip takes in the Canal, of course, and a fine mix of rain forests, jazzy urbanity, and beachside beauty. We’ll slip into an Embera Indian village via cayuco, or dugout canoe; visit the village of El Valle, nestled in the crater of a nonoperative volacano; experience a rain-forest canopy outing; and delight in the idyllic, under-thetouristic- radar islands of Bocas del Toro, an echt Caribbean experience. Our accommodations are tops—Panama City’s Bristol is Central America’s only member of Leading Small Hotels of the World—and our delight in unveiling this little, overlooked masterpiece is great.

Day 1: USA to Panama City, overnight at the Bristol • Day 2: visit El Valle village and market • Day 3: tour Panama Canal, overnight in Gamboa Rainforest Resort • Day 4: Soberanía National Park • Day 5: rain-forest canopy tour • Day 6: return to Panama City, with stop in Portobelo • Day 7: short flight to Bocas del Toro, overnight at Punta Caracol Eco-Resort • Day 8: relaxation and exploration at Bocas • Day 9: fly back to Panama City and on to USA.

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