Scott Doggett has been a Panama nut since 1995, when he bought a cattle ranch in Bocas del Toro, sold the cows and began planting trees on the pastureland. He quit his job as an editor for the Los Angeles Times a year later to write travel guides for Lonely Planet, including the first two editions of Panama, which gave him the time and resources to explore the entire country. He later returned to the Times as a reporter; under Stories, you'll find "Birds Versus Buzz Saws in a Jungle Joust," his report on threats to Panama's legendary Darien rainforest.

Today, Scott edits travel guides for National Geographic and divides his time between his homes in Panama and the United States. His 212-acre tree farm on Isla Popa now sports more than 12,000 exotic hardwoods, some 50 feet tall and wider than telephone poles, as well as a thousand fruit and nut trees he planted for the creatures that reside in 120 acres of jungle on his land. If during a Bocas stay you should happen to see a big gringo wearing a Chuck Norris beard, snake chaps and a Foreign Legion cap, chances are it’s Scott en route to or from his farm. He'd warm to a strong hello from a fellow Whooner. He'd like it even more if you express interest in doing some farm work pro bono.