Grandiose, dramatic, spanning an entire continent: the Panama Canal is synonymous with the country it bisects. The world’s most concentrated highway of commerce, birthed the nation of Panama, and cosmopolitan Panama City basks in wealth brought by the canal’s liquid power.

In Panama, a slim-waisted tropical nation about the same size as South Carolina, you can find sweeping rain forests teeming with exotic animas and birds, cloud forests cloaking the summits of rugged mountains, and vibrant indigenous cultures that predate the conquistadores.

Contrasts abound in this sultry nation. The Canal Zone is a seamless blend of moisture-laden forests merging southward into Darien, a vast rain forest that is home to jaguars, monkeys, poison dart frogs, and other wildlife species of every stripe, spit, and hue.