THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Panama - page 101

WALKING UP CERRO ANCÓN
Although you can get a taxi to the summit of Cerro Ancón, it's well worth walking up in
the early morning or late afternoon, when you're likely to encounter keel-billed toucans
croaking from the treetops and a host of other wildlife. To get there on foot, cross Avenida
de los Mártires, behind the Palacio Legislativo on Plaza Cinco de Mayo, and cut through to
the road that winds through the old Gorgas Hospital and Supreme Court (see map ) . Skirt-
ing round the northern side of the hill, the road divides: to the right, it drops down to the
Canal Administration Building, while ahead it climbs to Quarry Heights , the former US
military command centre, which is now an exclusive leafy residential area (renamed Altos
de Ancón) and is worth a short detour for its unique Zonian wooden architecture.
From the Quarry Heights security gate, it's a twenty- to thirty-minute hike to the summit ;
take first left, then immediate right. A few hundred metres later you'll pass a police check-
point and gate, which is only open to traffic between 7am and 6pm, though you can slip
through on foot at any hour. The views from the top are spectacular, encompassing the old
and new cities and, on the other side, the canal.
Edificio de la Administración del Canal de Panamá
Western slope of Cerro Ancón • No hours; tell the security guard that you want to see the “murales”
The stately Edificio de la Administración del Canal de Panamá (Canal Administration
Building), which dominates the hill's western slope, houses four arresting murals that celeb-
rate the Herculean achievement of building the canal. Decorating an elegant domed marble
rotunda, just inside the main entrance, they were painted by New York artist William Van In-
gen, known for his work in the Library of Congress in Washington DC, and they graphically