Panama Hats

I've been getting a bit lax with my hat purchasing since Africa, but I did procure a rather natty Panama hat in Merida, Mexico, which has seen quite a bit of wear in Central America and has almost blown away a fair few times. Oddly, Panama hats don't come from Panama. Traditionally they were made in Ecuador, but they were first popularized by workers digging the Panama Canal. The Yucatan version from Mexico is a quality sub-species of a superior weave. I've had quite a few compliments on the hat from locals, which certainly ranks as a first on my travels. With most of my other hat purchases they've just tended to point a finger at me and roar with laughter.

The back end of Central America has been a touch less exciting than the front end, partly I suspect because we've actually missed some of the best places to visit. Still, Costa Rica and Panama have been undeniably beautiful despite the rigours of their sweaty climates. It seems the closer you get to the Equator the more you have to get cosy with biting bugs of one sort or another, and several folk have been wandering around looking like they've just caught a nasty bout of the plague. The occasional foray into the mountains provides welcome relief from the bugs as well as the opportunity to explore coffee plantations and bath in mountainous thermal springs beneath yet more smoking volcanos.

And at the end of it all you hit the great metropolis of Panama City. It's not my favourite capital city of the trip despite friendly enough people and a dramatic setting on a sweeping bay of the Pacific with mountains behind. Somehow it lacks enough of a character or charm of its own to imprint on the memory, though it does have very funkily painted buses. What does impress though is the Panama Canal. A mighty engineering feat in its construction, it remains quite breathtaking to see even today as you watch container ships the size of multi-storey buildings edge by the narrowest of margins into and out of giant locks. By comparison, the Suez Canal seems like chicken feed