Not being able to sleep the night before Panama doesn't strike me as a huge surprise, although it would have been nice. Rather than fight my restless mind, I'm buzzing out with Katie Melua, over Kubik spec sheets for the 'nth time. That and reading over my journals from the last time I was in Panama City. It's been a year and half. I know that alot is being developed at the moment, but I don't expect much else to have changed. I'm only nervous that my past experiences and my present expectations might get in the way this time?

As mentioned it's been a year and half since I stirred things up with Panama, but I'm amazed at how many people have an opinion about a place they've never been for one, and often times a place where they don't even know is. Panama (the country) is the most southern country in Central America, bordering Costa Rica to the North, and Colombia to the South. The economy is service-based, heavily weighted toward banking, commerce, and tourism, due to its key geographic location.

The recent handover of the canal and military installations by the US to Panama, is seeing wake several new construction projects. Apart from several condo/apartment projects, a Referendum was just past in October 2006, to add a third set of locks to the current canal, which will allow for more & larger ships to pass through. The cost for this project is an estimated $5.25 billion.

Panama throughout history has proven to be stable, and with banking and the canal on it's side, I don't see this changing anytime soon. There is just over 3 million people in Panama, and with it's background in commerce there is a huge mix of peoples from all backgrounds. There are seven indigenous peoples in Panama, as well as a large section of Chinese, among others.

Lonely Planet on Panama:
While Panama is known mostly for its famous canal, the country's natural attractions offer an irresistible lure to far-sighted travellers. This oft-overlooked country offers some of the finest birding, snorkelling and hiking in the Americas.

Darién Province Unsafe
Bandits, smugglers, Colombian guerrillas and paramilitary forces make the area of Darién Province between Yaviza and the Colombian border along the upper Tuira River unsafe. However, the vast majority of Darién National Park is relatively safe - travel with a guide is recommended.

There have been reports of armed criminals targeting travellers at Madden Dam in Chagre National Park.

Looking on the bright side: "There is evidence in favor of the argument that the Darién Gap has prevented the spread of diseased cattle into Central and North America, which have not seen foot and mouth disease since 1954"

Back 2 years ago I did the hell amount of research on several countries all around the world. Although most of the reasons I chose Panama are easily explicable, there is something to be said about a good gut feeling.

In no particular order. It's stability, and economy. It offers several tax and retirement advantages to foreigners. Although I've been told Costa Rica might be a better place to learn Spanish, I wouldn't write off Panama. It's location in the world provides a great hub for travel in and out of Central and South America. Flying to panama isn't a huge expense, and the travel time is low at just 8 hours(flying time). A layover in Houston never hurt anyone either.

With tomorrow reporting a frigid -26, mentioning the +30 degrees in Panama wouldn't hurt to lighten the thoughts of a tired mind. Panama has two distinct seasons. The dry season lasts from mid-December to mid-April while the rainy season from mid-April to December. Temperatures are typically hot in the lowlands throughout the year - days usually reach around 32°C (90°F) and only drop to an average of 22°C (72°F). During the rainy season the humidity makes the heat even harder to endure.

Below are a few links, as well as pictures.
CIA - The World Factbook -- Panama
Panama - Wikipedia
Lonely Planet Panama
Panama Tourism