Panama Vacation Giveaway: In celebration of their recent publication in Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, The Panama Report is teaming up with our friends at Tranquilo Bay, eco adventure lodge in Bocas del Toro to bring you the chance to spend a weekend in paradise. Submit your Panama travel article now!

The following is a great account of Christmas spent in El Valle, Panama by Robert Baker.

Among the many things I enjoy doing on the weekends in Panama, pool crashing has become a favorite, almost religious pastime. The deception, the anticipation, the spirituality of it all. There are a number of hotel pools in Panama City and I consider myself to be an expert on every single one.

Spending Christmas in Panama, I recently came across an article that listed Panamanians as the fourth happiest people in the world. When I envisioned this study, I saw hundreds of little surveyors running around the city with their clipboards and nametags shouting, “Hey, come back. It'll only take a few minutes.” Actually though, the study was done by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation (NEF), a group that puts together a Happy Planet Index every year, and they do so by evaluating a population's satisfaction, life expectation, and environmental footprint. A pretty legit census.

Punta Barco is one of Panama´s most elite housing communities. It rests about an hour outside of Panama City and is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for. I had heard that the coastline of Punta Barco was dotted with the most posh residences in all of Panama, so I had to have a look for myself. While oftentimes, sneaking into elite beach clubs can be mentally and physically demanding, this time round I had an in.

Recently I checked out several hotels in Panama's highlands, the Chiriqui Province. This terrain is very similar to the mountains of Costa Rica, both in climate and landscape. It also reminded me very much of Switzerland. Not surpisingly Swiss and German expats have been settling in the area for years.

About 45 minutes off the main island of Colon (Bocas) sits a tree house for adults. From the boat, you can identify it only by the sun's glare off its roof—almost like an unwanted homing beacon. Tranquilo Bay, is a hotel that sits on about 100 acres of ocean-nudging rainforest on one of the Bocas Del Toro archipelago's ten (or so) large islands.

The boat nudged up against the fresh-looking dock and I hopped aland. There was this relatively narrow wooden boardwalk that escorted me through droopy tropical trees and over intricately woven mangrove roots. About 100 feet ahead I stumbled upon this unexpected view of the resort's main building: which is an act about as breathtaking and climactic as any blockbuster big reveal scene. I climbed up the stairs to the top deck where, with the two golden labs, I scanned the panoramic view of, what felt like, the edge of the world: a far off horizon which, for all I knew, could have been the end of everything. It was the kind of view that would have seriously dissuaded Columbus from trying to prove that the world was round.

From out of a plane, the scattered mangrove islands of Bocas Del Toro look almost like the holes of a golf course. There's this great, rich contrast between their dark natural greens and the aqua blues of the waters surrounding them. The contrast is even more defined by the rimming outlines of peach yellow beaches.

The friendly and astoundingly tri-lingual staff at Bocas Water Sports offered to take me out on a day tour—exploring the great secrets that the Bocas archipelago had to offer. The first stop was Dolphins Bay, a stop that was made that much more entertaining considering we were right in the heart of dolphin mating season...

SATURDAY 4:45am -- Sapibenega Lodge --- Got up before dawn and took 6AM flight to San Blas from the Albrook domestic airport to the San Blas archipelago. It really is an archipelago (chain of islands) and we landed on about 3 of the various Kuna-run islands before arriving at the mainland nearest the docks for the Sapibenega Lodge. Total flying time (including stops) was about an hour. Wonderfully and weird to see all these traditionally dressed Kunas flyinging airplanes. They live so remote that just about everything gets flow in (mail, supplies, etc).

Sunday, 6AM

Sleeping was a little tough as it was darned hot there w/o AC or fans. Not as many bugs as you'd expect but I'd advise guests to bring DEET. I think it was an abnormally hot night, but everyone commented that they still slept great. Crashing waves feet from your bed will do that. Early in the AM we had a light breakfast and departed. The tour guide, waitresses and manager were really, really nice people. We went back to the airport and flew a few islands over to Dolphin Lodge.

I'm sitting here on a beach in the middle of nowhere. There are no people that I can see and there are no real signs of civilization around me. Out in the sparkly blue water, about a mile, is a small island—one where Noriega used to have his deliveries of cocaine dropped. The sand is hot, but not too hot. Behind me, palm trees and banana trees rustle in the wind and packs of stray muts loiter in their shade. Birds soar down near the surface of the water—I think they're sea gulls, or maybe pelicans. Very little has changed on this beach it seems. I can almost feel back to the days of conquistadores and pirates and colonialism and no Tivo.

I am not a runner. Nor am I particularly devout to my creed. However, jogging along the Amador Causeway on this bright summer morning was a religious experience.

When you go to the beach for the weekend you expect certain things. You expect not to find a parking spot for instance. You expect overpriced restaurants that serve under-par food. And you definitely expect lots of people. Not on a Panama vacation.