Panama boasts one of the strongest economies in Central America. Panama City is in the midst of a building boom, with the service sector fueling much of that growth. New towers rise up regularly, adding to the already impressive skyline. The country is blessed with incredible geographic diversity: lowland tropical rainforests, dense cloud forests near the border with Costa Rica and mangrove swamps along stretches of both the Pacific and Caribbean coastlines. Panama is home to more than 10,000 species of plants, some 1,000 species of birds and over 250 species of mammals — all in an area slightly smaller than South Carolina. An ideal itinerary combines an exploration of Panama City and the canal with a coast-to-coast adventure from Chiriquí to Bocas del Toro, stopping along the way in Boquete.