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Well, OK. In a literal sense, the odds are that somewhere in Canada or Chile or Colorado some municipality maintains a beautiful mountain park at which the mercury falls far lower than it ever does at Panama City's Summit Botanical Gardens, whether one wants to look at either the averages or the extremes.

It can also be argued that as far as city zoos go, Summit doesn't approach world class. The most cursory comparisons with, say, the zoological parks of San Diego, Detroit or Washington DC, would show how very far we have to go. We might get into a philosophical debate if we tried to assign our capital's zoo a rating, however, because the purposes of zoos are diverse and Summit may be better at propagating species in danger of extinction than at displaying a good selection of animals in a way that impresses and educates schoolkids, both of which are legitimate and sometimes competing goals for such institutions.

Summit's true grandeur becomes apparent when it is considered according to its flora. There is no arboretum anywhere with a better selection of palm trees. Yes, Summit's standing in the world of botanical gardens would be enhanced by a greenhouse or two that would allow the cultivation and display of exotic species that can't grow outdoors here, but from the plant perspective this park is world class and has been since long before it came into the city's hands.

Summit is one of the things Panama received as part of the old Canal Zone's reversion. Early in the history of that former strip of Americana, a bit of the Continental Divide was set aside for the purposes of recreation and botanical study, such that by World War II it had the world's leading palm tree collection. After the 1977 Carter-Torrijos Treaties, Summit became a city park and the forested area surrounding it became a national park.

Despite budget squeezes and a public school system that for some inexplicable reason fails to take much advantage of the zoo and botanical garden as the fabulous educational assets that they are, successive city administrations have treated Summit with the tender loving care necessary to justify the headline of this article. Now one might say that Mayín Correa shouldn't have assigned a suplente with whom she had a falling out the task of caring for the late great Juancho el Lagarto (actually a massive cayman rather than an alligator, whose skeleton now resides in a University of Panama biology lab), even if what she really meant was to tell him to get lost rather than to literally impose him on the elderly crocodilian. However, Mayín did a lot to improve Summit by striking up a deal with the Miami Zoo to create a harpy eagle center that is now one of the park's principal attractions and the center of efforts to replenish or reestablish endangered populations throughout the region. The center includes displays that are educational on several different levels (things that are informative for both children and adults and range from the biology of our national bird to its place in indigenous art and folk traditions), and an aviary, one of whose residents is shown above. Former Mayor Correa's work has continued under the current administration, whose Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro got his start in politics as an environmental activist and well appreciates the park that has come under his care.

Especially for the tourist who is in this country for the first time, won't have much time here and won't get far from the canal, Summit is a good place to be introduced to Panamanian flora and fauna. If anything in this country still makes sense, this park ought to attract a lot of visitors who are coming to participate in the centennial festivities.

It wouldn't be right to say that Summit has "one of the world's best" palm tree collections. It's the best, period.

The Summit Botanical Garden, especially if you include it in the much larger Soberania National Park that surrounds it, is a flower photographer's paradise.

This female tayra, part of the zoo's captive breeding program, is taking a momentary break from her mate's attention.

If you are a middle-aged police officer with a physical fitness test to pass, Summit is also a great place to do your roadwork. The park isn't very far from Panama's police training academy.

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