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• • Hiking in cloud forests of the Chiriqui highlands searching for the elusive Resplendent Quetzal.
• • Meeting one of the seven indigenous people in Bastimentos National Park and exploring underwater world of the Caribbean Sea in Bocas del Toro
• • Explore Panama Canal waters looking for Red-napped Yamarins, riding on historic trains on the Trans-Isthmian Route, visiting forts on the Caribbean

 

Details

 

 

 

 

Dec 25 - Jan 3, 2009 
Jan 29 - Feb 7, 2010 
April 9 - 18, 2010  
July 16 - 25, 2010 
Sep 17 - 26, 2010 
Oct 15 - 24, 2010 
Dec 31, 2010 - January 9, 2011 

 

Detailed Itinerary

 

Day 1 - Depart U.S. / Arrive Panama City, Panama
Upon arrival in Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, you will be met by your guide outside the customs and immigration area at the airport. Your guide will transfer you to the hotel where you will enjoy a trip orientation.

• Overnight: Holiday Inn Panama Canal

 

Day 2 - Panama Canal Rainforest Boat Adventure - Miraflores Locks - Chiriqui
Early in the morning your guide will transfer you to the town of Gamboa, where the Chagres River meets the Panama Canal. Here you will board an expedition boat and depart on an adventure that will include a voyage across Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal passing by gigantic cargo ships transiting the waterway, making contrast with the natural surroundings. Along the way, you will have the opportunity to spot 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 wildlife. Gatun Lake was formed to give way to the Panama Canal in 1914. With a surface of 423 square-kilometers, at the time of its creation was the largest man-made lake in the world. The flow of all the rivers within the Panama Canal Watershed is contained in Gatun Lake to provide water for the operation of the locks system. More than 52 million gallons of fresh water are used for every ship that transits through the Panama Canal from one ocean to another. Your expedition boat will allow for close approximations to rainforest covered islands (former hill tops) in Gatun Lake to search for White-faced Capuchin, Mantled Howler Monkey, Central American Spider Monkey, and Geoffrey’s Tamarin. Enjoy a midday picnic lunch on a small island with extraordinary views of the Panama Canal and the natural surroundings.

You will return to Gamboa in the early afternoon and head for Miraflores Locks at the Panama Canal where you will learn about the canal’s history, operation and expansion work currently underway. You will also enjoy a close-up view of the locks in motion. A short drive to Albrook domestic airport will follow in order to catch the scheduled flight to David, capital of the Chiriqui province. Chiriqui is known as “Panama’s breadbasket” and contains some of the most breathtaking highland scenery in Central America. On arrival you will be transferred to the western side of the Baru Volcano, to the town of Volcan.

• Overnight: Hotel Dos Rios
• All Meals Included

 

Day 3 - La Amistad International Park & World Biosphere Reserve
Shared with neighboring Costa Rica and recognized in 1982 as a World Biosphere Reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site, La Amistad is located at a point on the Central American natural land bridge where flora and fauna from North and South America reach their maximum species mix. With great ranges in altitude, precipitation, soil and temperature, biodiversity here is at its best.

You will spend the morning hiking and exploring La Amistad in the area of El Retoño in search of the Resplendent Quetzal, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Andean Pygmy-Owl, Barred Becard, Black and Yellow Silky Flycatcher among many other western highland birds. After lunch at a local restaurant you will visit Finca Dracula home to over 1500 orchid species.

• Overnight: Hotel Dos Rios
• All Meals Included

 

Day 4 - Sitios Barriles - Boquete
This morning you will visit Sitio Barriles, an archeological site of the extinct Barril culture that once thrived on the slopes of the dormant Baru Volcano. Here the site guide will interpret the writings on the stones (petroglyphs) and enlighten you on the history of this culture. After lunch you will continue to the eastern side of Baru Volcano to the quaint town of Boquete with its countryside dotted with flower, fruit and produce farms, coffee plantations and also lush tropical cloudforests. This afternoon you will have an interactive experience with coffee at Lerida Coffee Estate. The experts will explain the process the coffee beans go through before reaching your cup. This is no ordinary coffee. Organically grown and scrutinized; Lerida’s coffee is world renown. Enjoy a fresh brewed cup of coffee while watching the spectacular sunset over the Baru Volcano, the highest peak of the country at 3,475 meters above sea level.

• Overnight: Finca Lerida Lodge
• All Meals Included

 

Day 5 - Finca Lerida Cloud Forest
Explore Finca Lerida, a privately owned preserve in Boquete, located in the buffer zone of Baru Volcano National Park. At an elevation of 2,286 meters you will have the opportunity to look for the elusive Resplendent Quetzal, Three-wattled Bellbird, Black-faced Solitaire, Volcano Hummingbird, Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher and Prong-billed Barbet in their cool habitat of orchids, bromeliads and wild avocados. The afternoon is open to relax or walk through the coffee plantation within the property.

• Overnight: Finca Lerida Lodge
• All Meals Included

 

Day 6 - Panama City - Casco Viejo
After breakfast you will be transferred to David in time to catch the morning flight to Panama City. Upon arrival you will begin a tour of Panama City, a contrasting metropolis with a World Heritage Sites, rainforests and a flourishing business district filled with skyscrapers.

Today we will explore the ruins of Old Panama City, the first European settlement to be established along the shores of the Pacific Ocean (1519), Casco Viejo with its colonial landmarks and cobblestone streets, the Panama Canal Museum and the modern city. mammals.

• Overnight: Holiday Inn – Panama Canal
• All Meals Included

 

Day 7 - Cana - Rio Paca Cruzamono Ranger Station
You continue your hike today following the Paca River. You will look for White-Headed Wren, Tody Motmot, Macaws, Red-throated Caracara, and many other species amidst the towering Cuipo (Cavallinesia platanifolia) trees and the giant Anacardiums. The remoteness of this region and the dramatic forest around you offers possible sightings of large mammals like Tapir, Giant Anteater, Black-spider Monkey, White-lipped Peccary and others.

• Overnight: Cruzamono Ranger Station
• All Meals Included

 

Day 8 - Panama City - Chagres River & the Embera People
Early morning transfer to the mainland where you will catch the plane bound for Panama City. Upon arrival you will meet your Naturalist Guide who will take you to El Corotu on the shores of Madden Lake. The main reservoir of drinking water for the cities of Panama and Colon, Madden Lake also supplies 40% of the water required for the operation of the Panama Canal. Here, you will board a motorized piragua (dugout canoe) and travel up the Chagres River. The journey will take you through the rainforest of the 320,000-acre Chagres National Park, which is the largest of the National Parks protecting the Panama Canal Watershed. Along the Chagres River, you may be able to spot Little Blue and Green Heron, Great Egret, Anhingas, Neotropical Cormorant, Amazon, Ringed, and Green Kingfishers, along with Keel-billed Toucans and Ospreys flying above. At the Embera village you will be greeted with dancing and music. You will learn about Embera customs and their relationship with nature. There will be handcrafts available for sale and you will have a chance to be painted with the traditional jagua, a natural dye the Embera use to adorn their bodies. After a picnic lunch you will head back to Panama City.

• Overnight: Hotel El Panama
• All Meals Included

 

Day 9 - Partial Panama Canal Transit
Today you will transit through the Panama Canal. Drive to Gamboa where you will begin the journey heading south on Gatun Lake. At this point the ship will be sailing at 26 meters above sea level. Shortly after departure, the ship will enter Gaillard Cut, the narrowest section of the Panama Canal. The 13.7-kilometer long portion of the Continental Divide was carved through rock and shale at beginning of last century when the canal began operating (1914).

Panama is currently undertaking the monumental task of expanding the Panama Canal. The US$5.25 billion grand-scale project contemplates building of even larger locks and deepening the channel to accommodate post-Panamax ships, the largest of all cargo ships that now have to bypass this waterway. The project is estimated to be completed by 2015. You will have the opportunity to look at the advancement of this extraordinary engineering venture.

The ship will reach Pedro Miguel locks, where the vessel will be lowered 9.4 meters into Miraflores Lake. After traveling nearly 2 kilometers you arrive to Miraflores locks, where the transition from fresh water to salt water takes place in the locks chambers. Due to the Pacific Ocean’s extreme tidal variations, Miraflores locks miter gates are the tallest of the locks system. In two steps, the vessel will be lowered 16.6 meters onto the Pacific Ocean. You will then sail under the bridge of the Americas, which reunites the land divided by the Panama Canal as part of the Pan-American Highway. The Amador Marina will be your final destination, where you will disembark and returned to your hotel. Tonight you will enjoy a farewell dinner at local restaurant
• Overnight: Hotel El Panama
• All Meals Included

 

Day 10 - Panama / Depart
Early morning transfer to Tocumen International Airport for your international flight.

• Meal: Breakfast

 

 

What’s Included

What’s Not Included