It's been just over 500 years since Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa “discovered” the Pacific Ocean while traipsing across the isthmus ofPanama. That event changed mankind’s concept of geography and the world, and Panama has played a key role in world events more than a few times in the centuries since, as well. But from my admittedly more modest perspective as a traveler, over the years I’ve found at least a half-dozen really great reasons to travel to Panama as often as possible... keep reading