Panama Discovery Tour

This morning, take a 1.5-hour drive across the Panama Isthmus towards Colon for a cultural visit to an Embera indigenous village on the shores of the Gatun River. Board a motorized piragua (dugout canoe) and travel up through lush forest to the community. Along the river, search for little blue and green herons, great egrets, anhingas, neotropical cormorants, kingfishers, keel-billed toucans and ospreys flying above. At the Embera village, be greeted with dancing and music and learn about the people’s customs and relationship with nature. There will be handcrafts available for sale and a chance to be painted with the traditional jagua, a natural dye the Embera use to adorn their bodies. Enjoy a traditional lunch prepared by the indigenous women, which usually consists of fried fish and plantains, accompanied by fresh fruits and snacks.

This afternoon, experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the Panama Canal, which celebrated its 100th anniversary on August 15, 2014. The Panama Canal Expansion Project, a $6.25 billion dollar project completed in 2016, gives the waterway the needed competitive advantage to operate successfully. Return to Panama City on the trans-isthmian train that follows a similar route as the original train built to transport 49ers coming from the East Coast of the United States across the isthmus to continue their journey by boat to California during the Gold Rush. The route was diverted when Gatun Lake was formed to give way to the Panama Canal. After a 1-hour train ride, be transferred to your city hotel early in the evening.

Early this morning, be picked up by your naturalist guide and transferred to the town of Gamboa at the Panama Canal to board a specially equipped expedition boat. Cruise across Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal, passing by gigantic cargo ships transiting the waterway. Along the way, search for green iguana and three-toed sloth resting on tree branches, crocodile, osprey in the hunt for peacock bass, snail kite and keel-billed toucan among other species. The expedition boat provides up-close views of the rainforest-covered islands in Gatun Lake. Look for white-faced capuchin, howler monkey, spider monkey and the endemic red-napped tamarin. Enjoy the extraordinary views of the Panama Canal and the natural surroundings followed by a picnic lunch in a private garden in Gamboa town. In the early afternoon, return to Gamboa and drive to the Miraflores Locks Visitors Center to visit multiple exhibits of the canal and to view the operations of the Panama Canal.

In the afternoon, catch a flight from Albrook domestic airport to David, the capital of the Chiriqui province. Chiriqui is known as “Panama’s breadbasket” and contains some of the most breathtaking highland scenery in Central America. Transfer by van to the eastern side of the dormant Baru Volcano to the quaint town of Boquete with its countryside dotted with flower, fruit and vegetable farms, coffee plantations and extraordinary cloud forest environments.

This morning, enjoy a cloud forest canopy tree trek on a zip line and contemplate the rainforest from 14 different canopy platforms while smoothly soaring in the heights of the cloud forest from one treetop to another. Glide through the trees and encounter a world unknown.  Observe native species of flora and fauna, marvel at the great variety of orchids, trees and wildflowers and then enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.

This afternoon, enjoy an interactive experience in the highlands of Boquete. Senior Tito´s Finca La Milagrosa in the Jaramillo region is one of the most respected coffee producers in the country, with a 100% organic operation. This small farm is not meant for large productions; Mr. Tito’s specialty coffee is only destined for exportation to Europe and the United States. When Mr. Tito took over this farm from his father 30 years ago, he started without any machines or coffee plants and produced his first roasting machines with used pieces of his old Mitsubishi car and even some computer pieces! Be returned to your hotel mid-late afternoon.

La Amistad is a bi-national park that stretches from Costa Rica into Panama, a small portion of which extends into the Chiriqui province, encompassing mostly cloud forests. Here, the land rises in excess of 4,921 feet and warm air ascends the mountains where it meets with cooler air and condenses into a persistent cloud cover. Cloud forests exhibit a unique ecosystem with an astonishing diversity of flora and fauna. Towering trees reach towards the sun to form a canopy that creates a cool, shadowed, misty underworld on the forest floor. It is noisy with the sounds of numerous insects, birds, and frogs but it is difficult to see them because of the ferns, tree ferns and epiphytes that crowd the lower and middle strata of the forest. During the 3-mile nature walk, hike up to 5,577 feet (approx. 656 foot elevation gain) where you can take a refreshing swim in the waterfall. Water drips from spongy mosses that cover tree trunks (from bromeliads that attach themselves to every cranny on the trees) and from flower petals perched high in the canopy of the forest.

Around midday enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in Boquete before continuing on the 3.5-hour drive to Almirante, Bocas del Toro. En route across the Continental Divide, stop at Fortuna Dam. Cross the Palo Seco protected area that serves as a buffer zone to La Amistad International Park. The transition from the cloud forests to the coral reefs of Bocas del Toro in the Caribbean Sea is impressive. In Almirante meet the boat and transfer to Isla Colon. Enjoy the hammocks on the upstairs deck or mingle with the locals in the small friendly town.

Depart by boat from the Bocas Inn, traversing the expanse of Bastimentos National Park, Panama’s first marine national park. Reach Salt Creek by navigating through clusters of red mangroves, which provide sea creatures with a protective area during their reproductive and developmental stages. Upon arrival, enjoy a walk along Cayman trail, which takes you through several stages of lowland forest dynamics. Look for birds such as red-throated ant tanager and golden-collared manakin and mammals such as night monkeys, white-faced capuchins and three-toed sloths.

An older tract of rainforest has tall trees that provide life to birds such as the three-wattled bellbird and green-breasted mango. A nearby lagoon is home to spectacled caimans and slider turtles. On the ground look for the tiny endemic poison dart frog. After the hike, enjoy a visit to the indigenous community and a chance to purchase handicrafts such as painted woodcarvings and Ngobe handbags, followed by lunch. In the afternoon, snorkel among mangroves and coral reefs, searching for numerous fish species, as well as dynamic and brightly colored sea fans, sponges and brittle starfish.

Early in the morning take a boat ride to Boca del Drago around Colon Island. Weather permitting, visit Swan’s Cay, a rock protruding from the depths of the Caribbean Sea that serves as a rookery for red-billed tropic birds (the only place they can be found in Panama) and brown boobies. Along the coastline, while returning to the lodge, make stops at coral reefs and mangrove isles for snorkeling. Back at the lodge have lunch and get ready for your return flight to Panama City. Upon arrival to Panama City, transfer to your hotel. Tonight enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Today be picked up at the lobby of the hotel 2.5 hours prior to your scheduled departure flight and transferred to Tocumen International Airport.