View the - La Loma Jungle Lodge

Punta Caracol’s cabanas hover over the crystal
waters of the Caribbean in Bocas del Toro.
Panama
In this country where continents meet there exists an
incredible diversity of landscape, culture, and peoples.
For visitors this stunning tapestry provides all the
makings for a fantastic journey.
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by Victoria De Silverio photographs by Doug Bruce
Spring 2010 ShermansTravel.com/SmartLuxury
CREDIT
Off the Path
51
CASCO VIEJO
Panama City’s revamped
and vibrant old quarter
From Casco Viejo, the view across the
bay of the modern section of Panama City
seems like a hallucination. With scores of
soaring skyscrapers tangled among hundreds of cranes, the gleaming, overnight
metropolis stands in stark counterpoint to
the romantic yet gritty old quarter. Over the
past few years, the gradual renovation of
the old town, which has brought new restaurants, cafés, and hotels, is giving people
a fresh reason to stay in Panama City.
The old town might not exist if it weren’t
for the greed of Captain Henry Morgan.
When he sacked Panama City in 1671, a
ruinous fire forced the Spanish to relocate
to a smaller, more easily fortified peninsula 5 miles to the south. The quarter’s
unusual architectural makeup—a mélange
of French and American neocolonial,
neoclassical, and Art Nouveau styles—is
historically unmatched. Yet from the 1920s
to the 1950s, the elite abandoned Casco
Viejo and the quarter descended into squalor. The tide turned in 1997 when Unesco
Panama Bay with the sparkling metropolis of
Panama City in the distance
One recent afternoon in Boquete, Panama, at the Panamonte Inn & Spa, the country’s oldest hotel, an iguana
was on the loose. Word reached the kitchen, and from behind the swinging doors emerged a silver-haired
maître d’, a young chef, and three cooks in aprons and bandanas. The men sized up the situation. “Iguana?”
one asked. “El dragon!” corrected the reptile’s caretaker, a Frenchman holding an empty box. On his way to
the hotel, he had rescued a pair of alarmingly large iguanas from a man by the side of the road. Dangling by
their tails, with their squat legs bound behind their backs, the iguanas had been saved from a fate that no doubt
involved a steaming pot and garlic. But now one of the prehistoric beasts had escaped its cardboard co-op
to explore the amenities of a brand new suite. The general manager, a beanstalk of a Welshman, watched in
amusement as the macho iguana whisperers accepted the rescue mission. Welcome to Panama.
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experiencing its moment of reinvention.
With one of the fastest growing economies
in the world, Panama has recently ushered
in vast investments in its infrastructure and
the renaissance of Casco Viejo, Panama
City’s captivating colonial section. Diversity
in geography, ecology, and culture is the
reigning theme on the isthmus and the
presence of so much of it provides visitors
with chances for adventure. Crossed by
rugged volcanic mountain ranges, covered
with large tracts of pristine rain forest, and
bounded by two coastlines and some 1,500
islands, Panama bears a name meaning “an
abundance of fish and butterflies.” In an
area smaller than South Carolina live more
bird species than in all of North America
Spring 2010 ShermansTravel.com/SmartLuxury
and more plant and tree species than in
North America and Europe combined.
Seven indigenous peoples thrive here.
Choosing among all the possible attractions can be difficult, though quick and
easy plane rides, good roads, and short
distances make the editing process less
painful. We’ve chosen three destinations
worth exploring: Casco Viejo; the verdant,
coffee-famed mountain town of Boquete;
and the unspoiled Bocas del Toro region,
a land of beaches, jungles, and traditional
cultures. Together, these present a vivid
picture of Panama’s natural and man-made
wonders, its people as well as its history, and
the many who have passed through it like
so many ships through the famed canal.
Casco Viejo
CREDIT
A “bizarre and beautiful little country,”
Graham Greene once wrote about Panama.
The squiggly bracelet connecting two continents is so perplexing, its history so rife with
treason and intrigue, that a dry understatement must suffice. As both a barrier and
a bridge, Panama has been a magnet for
seekers, scoundrels, and visionaries—from
Spanish conquistadors to English privateers
Sir Francis Drake and Captain Henry Morgan, from gold-hungry ’49ers and French
and American entrepreneurs to the 70,000
Panama Canal workers, not to leave out a
fair-weather CIA operative–dictator, and
sneaky bankers and prospectors.
Now, after 20 years of stable democracy
and autonomy over its canal, the nation is
The patio of the abandoned Club de Clases y Tropas
in Casco Viejo, once a hangout of General Noriega
designated the 142-acre quarter a World
Heritage site, jump-starting an ambitious
revitalization. Casco Viejo possesses a past
that is very much pushing up against its
future. Crumbling churches and houses
with trees sprouting from their sides stand
shoulder to shoulder with preciously renovated mansions. Yet despite its rough edges,
Casco Viejo is a living museum and a great
place to spend two or three days.
The quarter follows a rectangular grid
centered on Plaza de la Independencia,
planted with tropical pink poui and poinciana trees and dominated by the stunning
Metropolitan Cathedral, which took more
than 108 years to build. Its two white belfries, encrusted with mother-of-pearl shells
from the Pacific coast’s Las Perlas islands,
sparkle the brightest just before sundown.
Nearby must-see sites include the Museo
del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá, with
its illustrated history of the canal, and the
unassuming Iglesia de San José, which
holds a famed golden baroque altar once
hidden from the treasure-aholic Morgan by
a cunning priest who had it painted black.
Along Avenida Central, the neighborhood’s
thoroughfare, stop in Manolo Caracol,
known for its 12-course market-fresh menu.
Afterward go to nearby Granclément for a
honey ice cream or mango sorbet.
Not far away is Plaza Bolívar, an elegant
square named for the independence leader
and lined with sidewalk tables where
restaurateur Jorge Zarak owns three eateries: Ego Café (featuring Peruvian tapas);
Narciso (Italian fare); and Ciao Pescao
(ceviche). Recently the latter received a
rare rave from Aristóloga, the much-feared
food critic for Panama City’s La Prensa.
Catty-corner is the 18th-century Iglesia
de San Francisco de Asís, where a rickety
The Bristol Hotel’s bar in Panama
City’s financial district
climb up the belfry culminates with a
bird’s eye view of the quarter. Also on the
square is the refined Salon Bolívar, where
a replica of El Libertador’s golden sword,
coated in 1,374 diamonds, is on view, and
the Teatro Nacional, a venue for operas,
plays, and ballets. At the waterfront near
Plaza de Francia, see the remains of the
Union Club, built in 1917 for Panama’s
elite, and imagine what it might look like
after the owner of New York City’s Hotel
on Rivington transforms it into a swanky
hotel over the next few years. Further along
the seawall is El Mercado de Mariscos, a
lively fish market. Pick out fresh langostinos, octopus, lobsters, or fish, and have
the restaurant upstairs cook them, but be
specific about the preparations; the Panamanian ideal is fried until bone-dry.
Until the handful of boutique hotels currently under construction open, try either
The Canal House, a restored 117-year-old
mansion with a wraparound veranda and
just three opulent guest rooms, or Los
Cuatro Tulipanes’ deluxe apartments,
with all the benefits of hotel living.
A Shangri-La of coffee
amid cool, green mountains
Tucked in the green Talamanca highlands
on the western flank of Panama near the
Costa Rican border, the winsome hamlet
of Boquete enjoys springtime climes yearround. And, with its cheerful Bavarianstyle cottages dotting the flowery hillsides,
Boquete resembles an off-season Swiss ski
village. In town, modest churches mingle
with boutiques and cafés, and outfitters
offer white-water rafting, hiking and birding excursions. But there are many happy
reminders that one is in Panama, such
as men crowding stands selling lottery
tickets; indigenous Ngöbe-Buglé women in
brightly colored embroidered dresses; and
mules hauling sacks of coffee, the region’s
most celebrated asset.
Conquistadors and gold rushers used the
valley as a shortcut (boquete means “gap”
or “opening”), and by 1911 Europeans had
settled the town. Among them was Norwegian Tollef B. Monniche, who designed
the Panama Canal’s emergency dams and
founded Finca Lérida, now one of Bo-
quete’s largest coffee plantations. Boquete’s
alpine microclimates and rich volcanic
soil are ideal for producing high-quality
beans. In 2007, a pound of rare Panamanian geisha beans sold at an auction for an
unprecedented $130, and last year prices
hit $300. Smooth and sweet with notes
of honey, lemongrass, lavender, jasmine,
tangerine, and tea, the coffee brewed from
geisha beans is singular.
To understand what makes Boquete coffee so special, visit some of its small familyowned estates. On a Boquete Mountain
Safari coffee-tasting tour, guests get a closeup view of artisanal coffee production, from
the bean planting to roasting, and then they
taste the brew.
“Coffee is like a mystery,” says Finca
la Milagrosa owner Tito Vargas, a local
with the dirt-stained hands of a farmer
and the dark steady eyes of a mystic. He
named his farm Milagrosa (“miraculous”)
because naysayers doubted he could grow
anything on a depleted 20-acre plot with
his machines made of spare parts—like
the grinder that relies on a car transmission. But the proof lies in Milagrosa’s delicious coffee. At organic farm Finca Dos
The Panama Canal
54
Spring 2010 ShermansTravel.com/SmartLuxury
CASCO VIEJO,
PANAMA CITY
WHERE TO STAY
The Canal House From $195/
night; 888/593-5023; canalhouse
panama.com
Los Cuatro Tulipanes
From $175/night; 646/233-1019;
loscuatrotulipanes.com
museodelcanal.com
Teatro Nacional 507/262-3525
BOQUETE
WHERE TO STAY
★ Panamonte Inn & Spa
From $295/night; 507/720-1324;
panamonte.com
Rancho de Caldera From $160/
night; 877/810-0898; rancho
decaldera.com
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK
Ciao Pescao 507/262-3700
Ego Café and Narciso
507/262-2045
Granclément 507/208-0737;
granclement.com
Manolo Caracol 507/228-4640;
manolocaracol.com
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Museo del Canal Interoceánico
de Panamá 507/211-1649;
Boquete Mountain Safari
507/6627-8829; boquetemountain
safaritours.com
BOCAS DEL TORO
WHERE TO STAY
La Loma Jungle Lodge
From $100/night; 507/6619-5364;
thejunglelodge.com
★ Punta Caracol From $430/
night; 507/757-9410;
puntacaracol.com
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Soposo Rainforest
Adventures Day tours, $90 a person; overnight tours, $130 a person or
more; soposo.com
WHEN TO GO TO PANAMA
Generally, December through April
is the high season and these months
are the driest and coolest. The rainy
season (tourism officials call it the
“green season”) is from June through
November. In Boquete, the temperature is steady year round (highs in
the mid-80s, lows in the mid-70s),
but rains arrive in the green season
as they do elsewhere.
GETTING THERE
AND AROUND
CASCO VIEJO: Continental flies
nonstop from Newark (flight time is
about 5 hours and can cost as little
as $350 depending on the time of
year). Continental, Copa, American,
and Delta fly direct from Atlanta,
Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami.
Tocumen International Airport is
about 12 miles northeast of Panama
City’s center, with a taxi ride there
costing $25. Most hotels can arrange
transfers.
BOQUETE: Air Panama (flyair
panama.com) and Aeroperlas (aero
perlas.com) fly daily from Albrook
airport (Panama City’s domestic
airport) to David, a short drive from
Boquete. Flights take about an hour.
Local operator Panama Trails
(panamatrails.com) will plan a
stress-free itinerary, including car
rentals and hotel stays (877/2902454; info@panamatrails.com).
BOCAS: Air Panama and Aeroperlas
fly daily from Albrook airport to Bocas Town; flights take about 1 hour.
�
Visit our Panama Travel
Guide for a slide show of
Doug Bruce’s photos at
shermanstravel.com
Bristol Buenaventura, less than 2 hours by car from Panama City on the Pacific coast, is styled
like a Spanish hacienda, with terracotta tiles on terraced roofs and bougainvillea cascading from the windows. Four restaurants are overseen by local culinary star Cuquita Arias de
Calvo. At the oceanfront El Faro Club House, this page, beach butlers attend to requests for
umbrellas, towels, cocktails, and reservations for on-beach massages. Connecting the mindbody-spirit dots are the full-service spa and fitness center with saunas and steam rooms, and a
charming white adobe church. From $395/night; 507/264-0000; thebristol.com/buenaventura
Boquete’s prized coffee beans
THE PATH BETWEEN THE SEAS A trip to Panama simply must include a visit to what remains
one of humankind’s most significant technological marvels and the result of one of its greatest
dramas: the Panama Canal. By August 15, 1914, when the Ancon sailed the first official interoceanic
voyage, 27,500 workers from all over the world had lost their lives to malaria, yellow fever, and
dreadful accidents during the 34 years it took to remove the more than 268 million cubic yards of
earth standing in the way (one city block wide by 5 miles high). Now, throughout the year, Panama
Marine Adventures offers excellent partial crossings for four to five hours, as well as full transits,
which last double that time. The schedules vary each month so it’s essential to check the company’s website. Tours, $115 or more; 507/226-8917; pmatours.net
CREDIT
BOQUETE
Sherman’s Picks:
★= Smart Splurge
= Great Value
DANNY LEHMAN/TERRA/CPRBIS
Panama’s western highlands
near Boquete
MAKING IT HAPPEN
Jefes, California-born owner Rich Lipner
sprays the trees with a brew of molasses,
phosphorus, and nitrogen, and cultivates
the fields according to the lunar calendar.
Boquete Mountain Safari tours culminate
at Finca Lérida with a cupping, a professional tasting to evaluate the aroma, body,
and flavor profile of several varietals,
hosted by the operation’s head of quality
control Andrès Lopez. Visitors gain an
appreciation for coffee’s complexity along
with a quickened pulse.
Caffeine buzzes are best nursed at the
Panamonte Inn & Spa with a bowl of
pumpkin soup. Owned by the same family
since 1946, the inn has a quiet dignity even
as it evolves. New suites have mahogany
beds and glass doors that open to rose and
camellia gardens. Up the road, its chef
Charlie Collins recently opened a cooking school focused on new Panamanian
cuisine. Rancho de Caldera is a new
eco-resort with nine glass-walled cabins.
Hotel chef Craig Miller whips up innovative dishes at Madre Tierra with the flavors
of Panama, Italy, India, and Thailand all
sourced from the property’s gardens.
ShermansTravel.com/SmartLuxury Spring 2010
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Guests at Soposo Rainforest Adventures
stay in one- or two-bedroom huts.
BOCAS DEL TORO
Ecotourism meets elegant
cabanas, jungle treehouses, and tribal lands
When Columbus returned to the Caribbean shores in 1502, he was a pitiful old
man, suffering from gout, malaria, arthritis,
and a serious case of the sads. Though he
found bargains (trading cheap hawk’s bells
for golden breastplates), his mission was
to find a shortcut to the Indian Ocean.
One bright spot on his fourth and final
voyage must have been Bocas del Toro, the
paradisaical archipelago off the northwestern coast of Panama near Costa Rica; the
explorer named a bay and two islands, Isla
Cristobal and Isla Colón, after himself.
Fast-forward more than 500 years, and the
isles—where dense jungle melts into whitesand beaches, fringed by mangroves and
vibrant coral reefs—are still unspoiled.
While it’s perhaps difficult for a newcomer to imagine, the area’s chief city of
Bocas Town—with its colorful two-story
balconied buildings, backpacker hostels,
and wacky gringo nightclubs straight out
a Jimmy Buffet song—once sizzled as a
banana boomtown with six foreign embassies and five newspapers. In 1899, the
United Fruit Company opened its Panama
headquarters in Bocas Town on Isla Colón,
recruiting workers from all over the Caribbean. But by 1935, a series of fires had
ravaged most of the colonial houses and a
fungus had devastated the crops.
Over the past few years, yet another
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boom has hit Bocas—in tourism and real
estate. On the surface, Bocas appears a
postcard Caribbean idyll, but just underneath is remarkable ethnic diversity. Today
more than 50 different nationalities coexist
while dozens of dialects ring through the
air. Three indigenous groups—the NgöbeBuglé, Bribrí, and Naso—live there.
Small ecologically and culturally
oriented retreats offer a definition of luxury
that goes beyond thread count. La Loma
Jungle Lodge, on Isla Bastimentos, is
a 20-minute boat ride away from Bocas
Town, hidden from the dock by a mess of
mangroves and palms. Proprietors Henry
Escudero, a Peruvian-born archaeologist,
and his partner Margaret Ann, an English
museum specialist, elevate self-sufficiency
to an art form. A typical scene includes
Spring 2010 ShermansTravel.com/SmartLuxury
Three Naso boys
Bolivia, a Ngöbe-Buglé woman, roasting
cocoa beans over an outdoor fire; Mr.
Kelly, a Creole, tending to the trees with
the Escuderos’ 2-year-old Lucio in his
arms; Henry baking bread in the kitchen;
and Margaret Ann making a batch of fresh
lemongrass tea or packing lunches for
guests—all while Goose, a fluffy mutt,
chases butterflies and frogs. The property’s
three solar-powered cabins, crafted mostly
from already fallen trees, have elegant
observation decks. Flocks of parrots, tribes
of fuzzy monkeys, and croaking poison
dart frogs provide entertainment—best
enjoyed from a hammock or a cozy bed.
With the surrounding jungle as decor,
the extra details are stylishly minimal:
Mati the spider monkey
Handmade chocolate at
La Loma Jungle Lodge
bathroom mosaics; a vase of fresh flowers;
or an antique wood box containing a survival kit (with natural mosquito repellent,
citronella candles, and a flashlight).
Top-notch seasonal meals offer simple
spins on local recipes, with most of the
ingredients coming from the property’s
profuse gardens. “Really, you just toss
seeds, and something grows, the soil is
so rich,” says Margaret Ann. Dishes like
grilled jackfish served over coconut rice,
and steamed katuk, a tropical green that
tastes like a nutty kale, are full of flavor
and presented with care.
Punta Caracol, the photogenic aqualodge off the coast of Isla Colón, is so
iconic it could be the Eiffel Tower of
Bocas. Its chartreuse thatch-roofed cabanas
are suspended on stilts over turquoise
waters. The two-story cabins appear like
charms on a bracelet linked together by a
long wooden walkway. Owner José-Luis
Bordas originally devised the project as
his business school thesis. Initially there
were no roads, electricity, or a water supply, but the industrious Barcelona native
persevered and, four years later, his lodge
started accepting guests. Bordas and his
team of workers made by hand all the cabins, the guest room furniture, the dining
room tables and chairs, even the mosquito
netting. In each, the first floor has a sitting
area with doors that open onto a terrace
sporting two sun beds; upstairs the lovely
bedroom has soft lighting, a four-poster
canopy bed, and a view of the horizon.
Punta Caracol’s most endearing luxury is
that at any time of day or night, guests have
immediate access to swimming—or snorkeling or kayaking—around a coral reef
rife with parrot fish, snappers, and crabs.
From either La Loma or Punta Caracol,
travelers can have their pick of sensational
day excursions such as diving amid the
coral forests of Cayos Zapatillas, tracking
red-billed tropic birds and brown boobies
on Isla de los Pájaros, watching leatherback turtles nest on Bluff Beach, or surfing
on Red Frog Beach.
Soposo Rainforest Adventures, an outfitter that guides trips in the mountainous
jungle of Bocas del Toro, offers a way to
leave the tourist bubble. The Naso people
have lived there for more than 3,000 years,
but only about 3,500 are left, divided
into 11 communities along the Teribe
and Changuinola rivers. Their unique
culture—their nation is the only one in
the Americas governed by a monarchy—is
under serious threat. The most immediate one is pressure from the Panamanian
government for people to leave their lands
to allow for dam-building projects.
Amistad National Park, a Unesco
World Heritage site hosting an incredible
500 species of birds and 130 species of
orchids, borders the area visited by Soposo
Rainforest Adventures. From Bocas, a taxi
ride takes guests to the town of El Silencio. Then it’s a float up the Teribe in a
green dugout canoe with an eagle mascot
and a jungle hike past clucking chickens,
yapping dogs, and maybe even a gigantic
pig, until a cluster of three Naso houses
on stilts made with jira and palenquilla
palms appear. In Sieyik, the Naso capital,
children perform dances in honor of snakes
and wild cats, and when it’s time to leave,
guests ride traditional balsa rafts back
toward home. ■
ADD A TRIP TO KUNA YALA The isolated Kuna Yala archipelago, a string of 365 coral
islands that hug Panama’s coast near Colombia, is part of the semi-autonomous homeland
of the Kuna Indians, who in 1925 won independence from Panama. Few ancient tribes have
been as successful in preserving their culture and controlling their own destiny. Surviving
mostly off the coconut trade and fishing, the Kuna Indians welcome a limited number of tourists. The Yandup Island lodge (from $100/night a person; yandupisland.com) offers thatched
overwater cabins with wooden floors—a luxury for the area—and terraces overlooking the sea
and the misty jungle. The setting—grassy, palm-studded Yandup Island—is not much larger
than some miniature golf courses. Included in the price are meals and escorted day trips via
dugout canoes to deserted islands for swimming and snorkeling. The lodge’s use of outboard
motors is a rare concession to modernity. To see secluded spots like the Kuna village Playón
Chico, forgo a group tour and ask for a private, less conspicuous visit. Densely packed with tiny
huts (some sinking along the water’s edge) and filled with children, the village feels magical.
Albinos comprise a high percentage of the local population (1 in 165). Kids play basketball,
baseball, and soccer simultaneously on the same court; elders confer in large halls; and those
in the middle gather with flutes on dirt streets to practice a dance involving hopping on one
foot. Within this matriarchal society, women show off their status by wearing molas, patterned silk squares that are the centerpiece of their centuries-old style of everyday dress, as
well as multiple strings of orange and green beads on their forearms and calves.
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