Panama Zoo and Natural Metropolitan Park

We rented a car and left Panama City headed southwest along the Pan American Highway.  First we visited the Park Natural Metropolitan a, a zoo on the outskirts of Panama with monkeys, deer, sloths, and iguanas.  We then drove toward El Valle, about 75 miles away.  El Valle is located in the center of a dormant volcano.  There we saw hot springs, botanical gardens (with square trees which scientists have been unable to explain!), and golden frogs found nowhere else on earth.  We continued down the highway passing through the towns of Penonome, the geographic center of Panama, and Nata, one of the oldest towns in Latin America.  The Interior of Panama is mostly farmland and grazing land for cattle.  We even saw some cowboys!  At night we arrived at Baquette, a village on the side of the dormant Baru Volcano, where we spent the night.