Panama is the hub of the natural land bridge that connects the two continents of North and South America. So Panama is home to many South American species as well as North and Central American wildlife. There are said to be over 10,000 varieties of plants and 1500 species of trees, and more then 1,000 species of birds. This is more than can be found in North America and Europe combined, and it includes some of the rarest on Earth.

Apart from visiting the National Parks and seeing their flora and fauna, there are also ecotourism adventures which can include, for example, trips on foot and by dugout canoe in the Darien, where you can visit the Embera and Waunana indigenous groups. Or whitewater rafting trips on the Chagres River beginning high in the Cerro Azul mountains, or travel by horseback from Cerro La Vieja in Cocle down to the Caribbean coast. In the Valle de Anton, fly by wire through the forest canopy as you hang 30 feet above the ground.