Attention e-navigators! The Visitor, Panama’s tourism newspaper is now on the web, in the same style and format as the printed version. The on-line version of each issue will be available by logging on to www.focuspanama.com or by logging on to www.focuspublicationsint.com

Launched by Focus Publications (Int), S.A. in October, 1994, The Visitor offers the latest information on cultural and entertainment events, tourist destinations, restaurants and business information for visitors and foreign expats. Published in English and Spanish bi-monthly, the newspaper’s 10,000 copies are distributed at hotels, resorts, airports, restaurants, tour operators, travel agencies, car rentals and at international tourism fairs in Panama and abroad.

The introduction of The Visitor on www.focuspanama.com is a significant addition to the site, which offers comprehensive information about the Republic. It includes colonfreezone.com, the successful site of FOB Zona Libre de Colón, the catalogue and directory of the Free Zone. The "marketplace" segment of this site attracts buyers from around the world.

The tourist guide "Focus" is also featured on the site, together with www.travel-to-panama.com, and www.panama-canal-cruise.com

One of Panama's strongest 'pros' as an eco-tourist destination is the short distance between the modern facilities of the Panama City metropolitan area and the forests surrounding the Panama Canal, superb stretches of tropical wilderness offering enormous possibilities for eco-enthusiasts, ranging from extreme sports to camping.

A twenty-minute drive from downtown Panama City, Summit Gardens is one of the best camping sites in the area, offering visitors the chance to learn about the country's rich flora and fauna.

Established as a botanical garden by the Smithsonian Institute in 1923, Summit is now a large park covering hundreds of acres and encompassing thousands of species of trees and plants, nature trails, sporting and children's facilities, campsites and a small zoo with various species of reptiles, mammals and colorful tropical birds. The image at right shows the Harpy Eagle, a permanent resident of Summit Gardens.

One-day visitors can also hire thatched roof bohios for private picnics or outdoor barbecue parties.

For campers, Summit can serve as a base of exploration to discover nearby Soberanía National Park and the tourist facilities of the Gamboa area.

Summit gardens is one of the few camping parks that exist in the Panama City area.

Summit is a lot more than a family park. It is a nature preservation center which harbors the largest breeding farm of tapir in Latin America and an interactive sanctuary devoted to the Harpy Eagle -the world's most powerful bird of prey and national bird of Panama.

According to Dr. Celia Frías, Summit's manager, the park receives approximately 100,000 visitors per year, a good percentage of whom come from Europe and the U.S. "Many of the foreign visitors", said Dr. Frías, "learn about Summit through our website. When they come, they fall in love with the richness of the park's flora and often take home a few seeds produced in our plant nursery".

Summit Gardens is managed by Panama City's mayor's office. Entrance is $1.00 for adults and 50 cents for children. Rental fees for additional facilities start at $8.00.

To get to Summit, visitors traveling by rented car need to get on Gaillard Highway and drive north. The best way to do so is via Corredor Norte to Balboa, driving past Marcos A. Gelabert Airport along Miraflores Locks. Drivers will then need to take the road leading to Gamboa (turning left). The park is a couple kilometers past the entrance of this road.

Whenever Mireya Correa --the new manager of Panama City’s Hotel Granada—is not checking out the rooms, tables and kitchens of the facility, she may be found at her favorite spot: her beach home in the tourist community of Coronado, perhaps dancing with her husband and her two grown children at a family party. But even while enjoying her favorite hobby (her family) Mrs. Correa doesn’t seem to escape completely from work –a topic she constantly finds herself talking about with her son and daughter, both of whom are also part of the travel/tourism industry.

Mrs. Correa’s involvement with the hotel industry began a number of years ago at El Panama Hilton (today´s Hotel El Panama). Public Relations studies at the University of Panama coupled with her extrovert personality and love for foreign travel and far-away cultures facilitated Mrs. Correa’s entry into the tourism industry, where she climbed the through ranks of the Panama Government Tourist Bureau (IPAT) and a number of private-sector entities.

Prior to her appointment to Hotel Granada, Mrs. Correa served as General Manager of the Coronado Golf & Beach Resort, in western Panama.

Hotel Granada is part of Hoteles Riande, a long-established Panamanian chain with properties in Florida (USA) and Panama City. The Granada is located in the heart of the city’s banking and commercial district.

Panama will be one of four countries in the Western Hemisphere to witness the first hybrid solar eclipse of the 21st century on Friday, April 8, from 3:58 p.m. to 6:18 p.m.

This rare event will start out as an annular eclipse over the south Pacific and will cover Costa Rica, Panama Colombia and Venezuela as a total eclipse, returning to its annular phase at dusk.

Experts say that Panama will receive the better part of the eclipse, with a 96% coverage. The best locations to see the eclipse are David, province of Chiriquí; Santa Fé, province of Veraguas; Penonomé (Coclé) and the tourist communities of San Carlos, Coronado and Las Perlas archipelago (province of Panama).

Sheila and Dennis Walker, owners of XS Memories, the country’s only motor home resort, in the Pacific beach community of Santa Clara, told The Visitor that a group of U.S. scientists has arrived in Panama to witness the event and to share the experience with local children who will be able to see the eclipse through giant telescopes.

In Panama City, Asociación Panameña de Aficionados de Astronomía has organized an eclipse watch session at Explora, the science museum for children, located at the Condado del Rey neighborhood. For more information, log on to: www.astropanama.org