Travel and Leisure, January 2003
Panama- Ranked one the "Top Ten Winter Destinations

Lonely Planet Panama Guide
"Panama has somehow evaded the tourist's radar screen despite having much more to offer than other popular Central American destinations…some of the finest diving, snorkeling, birding, most accessible rainforest in the world and scores of picturesque islands with hardly a human on them."

Victor Emmanuel, Bird letter, 2002
"My first trip to Panama was in 1979. I quickly developed a tremendous affection for this tiny country. I had never been to a place as birdy as Panama. It was so lush, so tropical, and yet because of the extensive American presence, good roads, safe food and water, and proximity to the US, it felt like home".

Boston Globe 2002
"Known mostly for its Canal, Panama is, in fact, an undiscovered tourist paradise."

Travel and Leisure, July 2003
Canopy Tower, Panama- Ranked #10 on Travel and Leisure's list of the World's Top 25 Ecolodges

Text from Travel and Leisure:
THE SETTING: Up among the howler monkeys and sloths on a verdant hill 630 feet above the Panama Canal.
GREEN FACTOR: The geotangent dome emerges from the jungle canopy like a single-scoop ice cream cone on an endless summer lawn. The view is the cherry on top, as birds of every beak and bill (an astonishing 380 species, more than half of what's found in all of North America) perch in the nearby fig and palm trees. Of the 12 simple rooms down below, the best nest is the Blue Cotinga Suite, with its diaphanous canopy bed, plantation wood furniture, and outdoor veranda swing. Almost makes you forget that the showers are water-saving.
Gamboa, 25 miles north of Panama City; 800/854-2597 or 011-507/264-5720; www.canopytower.com; doubles from $250, including all meals and forest tours.

Nobody Here But the Birds- New York Times , April 2002
On Canopy Tower and birding in the Panama Canal Rainforest: "This unlikely setting (Achiote Road) is the prime birding site in Panama, where more than 340 species are counted during the annual 24-hour Atlantic Christmas Bird Count. Ken got out of the bus saying he wanted to see the spot-crowned barbet, which would be a first for him, and within minutes one obediently flew into a tree across the road. There were mealy parrots, orange-chinned parakeets, a flock of more than 100 swallowtail kites,
two white hawks fighting overhead, a whole family of howler monkeys - a constantly changing show."

A Budding Affection for Boquete, Los Angeles Times, November 2002
On the mountain town of Boquete: "Far from the monotony of the historic canal, this endearing and little-known town in the cool, lush Panamanian highlands boasts a wild bounty of colorful flora, fauna and scenery. A contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, my hometown newspaper, wrote about a Panamanian Shangri-La in the cool highlands of Chiriquí where there were rushing trout-filled streams, a lush mountain rain forest, abundant orange groves and coffee plantations, and a picture-postcard town chockablock with flower gardens. This idyllic place, the writer went on to say, was known only to the well-to-do of Panama ... we too had become smitten with the place.

Harper's Bazaar 2001
"Panama is the most beautiful retreat in the world and almost undiscovered."

Panama's Devil Island Aims to be New Galapagos, Reuters, May 2002
On Coiba Island National Marine Park: "The largest island in Central America, 85% of Coiba is virgin tropical forest, making it the biggest virgin forest in the Americas. About 80% of the 1,053 square mile park is oceanic, filled with whales and rare tropical fish. Coiba is perhaps best known among conservationists for Panama's last cluster of scarlet macaws, its bottle-nosed dolphins and the brown and white Coiba spinetail bird, the only bird of its kind in the world...The Spanish government has invested about $5 million to help uncover Coiba's biodiversity since 1997 and has a team of scientists working on the island...thus far just 20% of Coiba's plant life has been identified.

Martha Stewart on CNN's Larry King Live, February 2002,
Responding to King's question about where she liked to travel, Ms. Stewart said "Over Christmas, I went to Panama. That was very interesting, on the West Coast. It was extraordinary. Did a lot of snorkeling, a lot of tuna fishing, and that was fun. I like to go where there's culture, where there's interesting, indigenous cultures, crafts, artisans. I like to see all that stuff."

In the Treetops-The Denver Post, March 2002
"Panama offers some of the richest and most accessible rain forest and wildlife in all of the Americas. Jaguars, sloths, marmosets and four types of monkeys roam the Canal Zone, along with blizzards of exotic birds and butterflies. As the land bridge between North and South America, Panama is home to wildlife species from both continents and has more bird species than all of North America. Repeatedly, the Pipeline Road alongside the canal sets the world record for the Christmas Audubon bird count, recording more species in a 24-hour period than anywhere - last count 954 species. Best of all, these natural riches are only a 45-minute drive from the international airport."

International Living Newsletter, September 2002
The safest and most stable place in Central or South America with some of the world's most beautiful mountain, beachfront and island property. The country also has the number-one retiree incentive program in the world."

Modern Maturity-Magazine of the American Association of Retired Persons, June 2001
Boquete, Panama ranked as the fourth best place in the world to establish a second home - a rating based on safety, beauty, infrastructure, weather, health care and low cost of living.

Exploring Panama's Beaches and Forests, New York Times, February 2002
"Panama's latest attraction is the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, a stunning $30 million hotel on the banks of the Chagres River that offers eco-tourism with 24-hour room service, a very 21st-century mix of self-indulgence with nature-friendly touch. In the heart of what was once the Panama Canal Zone, where the River Chagres flows into Lake Gatún, this 110-room hotel provided both total luxury and total quiet. The main building has gigantic three-story windows that look over an exotic landscape that could be out of Africa, with a savanna like park set against a river bounded by tropical forests. Besides a marina with its waterfront restaurant and its own spa, the resort offers a number of excursions that justify its eco-status. They include a sunrise birding tour, an evening wildlife boat tour, and a ride on an aerial tram that provides a treetop view of the rain forest, a hike up a trail used by the conquistadors, sports fishing on Lake Gatún and kayaking on the Chagres."

The May/June 2001 issue of Modern Maturity (the largest consumer magazine in the world, with more than 20 million readers) rated one region of Panama the fourth best retirement destination in the world, following such perennial favorites as the Costa del Sol in Spain, Cinque Terre in Italy, Aix and Provence, France. And the magazine ranked Panama City among the top five places in the world for an "inexpensive" retirement.

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