Leg 111 MPTO - Panama City (Panama) to MPBO - Bocas del Toro (Panama)
SKPZ - Airport Info
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ICAO code: MPTO
Airport name: Tocumen Intl. Airport
Location: Panama City
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
Panama City Info
Panama City (Panama), capital and largest city of Panama, also the capital of Panama Province. It is located on Panama's central coast, near the Pacific end of the Panama Canal. Situated at the country's narrowest point, Panama City has been a center for the movement of people and goods between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans since its founding in the 16th century. It is also a center of domestic commerce and manufacturing. The city has a tropical maritime climate, with a dry season from January to April and a rainy season from May to December. The average daily high temperature is 30° C (87° F), and the average daily low is 23° C (73° F).
Panama City is by far the largest city in Panama, and its metropolitan area contains nearly 1 million people, about one-third of the nation's inhabitants. From 1980 to 1990 the population of the city proper grew from 386,300 to 413,000. This modest increase, after decades of rapid growth, reflected political turmoil and the poor performance of the economy that accompanied it. After 1990 both the economy and the political system improved greatly, and by 2000 the city's population had increased to 463,093. The population of Panama City is young on average and relatively healthy.
Most of Panama City's residents are either mestizo (of mixed Native American and European background) or mulatto (of mixed European and African heritage). Others are descended from European and black Caribbean immigrants who arrived in the 19th and 20th centuries. Panama has long served as a crossroads between oceans and continents, and thus has attracted immigrants from all over the world. This diverse population is concentrated in the capital, along with a few other cities. People from the West Indies, the Middle East, Asia, and North America are now represented in Panama City. Although most of the city's residents are Roman Catholic, Jews and a range of other religious communities are also present.
MPBO - Airport Info
ICAO code: MPBO
Airport name: Bocas Del Toro Intl Airport
Location: Bocas Del Toro
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
Bocas Del Toro Info
The archipelago of Bocas del Toro in Panama is situated on the northwestern coast of Panama in and around the Bay of Chiriqui. This isolated region of Panama has only recently been discovered by international travelers. It is for this reason that much of the island chain remains in pristine and untouched splendor. It is a diver and outdoor lovers paradise with unspoiled coral reefs, deep-sea fishing, boating, kayaking, snorkeling and long sandy deserted beaches. Traveling to Bocas, as the locals call it, can either be as simple as taking a 40 minute flight from Panama City or as adventurous as going over land by bus and water taxi. Either way it is a destination unlike any to be found elsewhere in Panama.
The people of the province are made up of mainly indigenous tribes, many of which still live in small isolated villages scattered throughout the islands. Add to this a healthy mix of people originally from Jamaica and you have an atmosphere that is more closely aligned to the islands of the Caribbean. The pace of life is slow and relaxed with nobody seeming to be in much of a hurry. Locals travel between the islands in dugout canoes, some with motors, but most without. These canoes, or pongas as they are called, litter the waterways and channels, especially in the morning when everybody is either going to the main island or the mainland. During this rush hour, most adults are traveling to the mainland to work in the banana fields and the children are going to the schools on Isla Colon.
Located on Isla Colon is the province's capital city, Bocas del Toro. This was the headquarters for United Fruit at the turn of the century and was an important shipping and receiving port. With the movement of the center of operations to the mainland in the mid-fifties, Bocas towns importance to what would later become Chiquita Bananas faded. It still remained the center of government in the province with the governor's mansion, hospital, schools and church. The 1991 earthquake that separated many of the old wooden structures from their foundations capped the slow slide into unimportance and decay.
By the early nineties Bocas began to feel the effects of the Central America Peace Accord. With the regions increased stability, the area become more accessible to the adventurous traveler. The first visitors to show up were the backpackers, who came to the area because of its inexpensive lodging and to explore its untouched beaches. As the years progressed, more and more tourists began to appear and the word of mouth began to spread about this uncut gem.
Over the last few years the entire province has seen the beginnings of a tourist boom, with a number of middle range hotels and restaurants being opened in and around Bocas town. The town now boasts of three different PADI dive shops, many different styles of restaurants, a deep sea fishing outfit, numerous sailboat and catamaran cruises, mountain bike and moped rentals and a lot of fabulous seafood. Various half, full and multiple day trips can be arranged that combine different elements of what is available in the region.