Metropolitan National Park – Panama City, Panama

While traveling in Panama City, Panama Lindsay and I were hitting up all the local landmarks which all happened to be in the city. We were itching to get into the lush green jungle nearby and had read about Metropolitan National Park which is a large protected park just outside the center city but within the city boundaries. We were both somewhat apprehensive about going to this place because we had read it is a fairly popular place for muggings because of its proximity to the city and remoteness. However, we decided to take our chances as we heard it was simply spectacular. We took a cab and after he got a little lost (he kept having to ask people) we finally made it. We paid a couple of bucks at the welcome center (a small shack) and were off on a short hike through the park. The scenery was spectacular as the trial works its way through the lush green jungle and we were surrounded by trees, plants, flowers, etc. After hiking for about an hour we reached the top of a little hill and the jungle opened up to a beautiful view over the city. You could see the distant skyscrapers and urban jungle of Panama City. The thought of getting mugged was constantly on our minds as we never saw one other group of people during our entire hike. Around every corner and tree we were always waiting for someone to jump out. This never happened and within no time we had reached the end of the trial and were back in the city. The jungles of Panama are famous for colorful frogs and sloths but we were never lucky enough to see one on this hike. However, we did pass numerous rows of busy Ants carrying leaves which is something we had never seen. At first we just kept seeing these moving leaves on the grown and it took a second before we realized they were being carried by ants. Taking a break from the city and heading to Metropolitan National Park in Panama City was a great way to get a taste of the Jungle without ever leaving the city.