9 days/8 nights
Experience a family-friendly vacation at the best places in Panama,
from the Pacific coast and the Panama Canal to the western highlands
to the Caribbean coast.
Day 1 ARRIVE PANAMA
On arrival to Tocumen International Airport you will be met by a representative
of Panama Boutique™ and transferred to the Gamboa Rainforest
Resort, your lodge for the next three (3) nights, located along the
Panama Canal. This evening you will meet your naturalist guide at a
welcome briefing.
Night at GAMBOA RAINFOREST RESORT VILLAS
Day 2 PANAMA CANAL JUNGLE BOAT ADVENTURE
Early in the morning you will set off with your guide for the marina,
where you board a specially equipped expedition boat. The voyage travels
across Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal, passing gigantic cargo ships
- quite a contrast with the natural surroundings. Along the way, you
can look for Green Iguana and Three-toed Sloth resting on tree branches,
crocodile, Osprey, Snail Kite and Keel-billed Toucan, among other species.
The expedition boat will allows close access to rainforest-covered
islands in Gatun Lake to search for White-faced Capuchin, Howler and
Spider monkey and the endemic Red-napped Tamarin. You will have a picnic
lunch on an island with extraordinary views of the Panama Canal and
natural surroundings. After lunch you return to Gamboa and the afternoon
is free.
Night at GAMBOA RAINFOREST RESORT VILLAS (B, L)
Day 3 THE CHAGRES RIVER AND THE EMBERA PEOPLE
Early in the morning you'll drive 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. From here you travel up the Chagres
River aboard a motorized piragua (dugout canoe) to the Embera indigenous
village of Embera Drua. The boat journeys 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, we may spot Little Blue and Green heron, Great Egret,
Anhinga, Neotropical Cormorant, Amazon, Ringed, or Green kingfisher,
along with Keel-billed Toucan and Osprey flying above. You will be
greeted with dancing and music at the Embera village and learn about
their customs and relationship with nature. Handicrafts will be available
for sale as well as a chance to be painted with the traditional jagua,
a natural dye the Embera use to adorn their bodies. After a picnic
lunch and a visit to a nearby waterfall for a dip in the crystal-clear
waters of the Chagres River, you will return back to Gamboa.
Night at GAMBOA RAINFOREST RESORT VILLAS (BL)
Day 4 SUMMIT BOTANICAL GARDENS - MIRAFLORES LOCKS - CHIRIQUI HIGHLANDS
This morning is free, but after lunch you'll visit the Harpy Eagle
Exhibit at the Summit Botanical Gardens and see up close this magnificent
endangered species being studied under a captive reproduction program.
You continue to the Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal to witness
ships passing through the 8th Wonder of the World. The canal still
operates much as it did when it was inaugurated in 1914 and the SS
Ancon steamer was the first ship to transit the Panama Canal.
In the afternoon you catch a flight from Albrook domestic airport
to the town of David, the capital of the Chiriqui province. Chiriqui
is
known as “Panama’s breadbasket” due to it rich, fertile
soil and the breathtaking highland scenery. Transfer is 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.
Night at HOTEL PANAMONTE (B, L, D)
Day 5 WHITE-WATER RAFTING OR LOS QUETZALES TRAIL
Rafters will depart this morning for the approximately 2-hour drive
to the Chiriqui River put-in. Your white-water river rafting experience
will include a picnic lunch will be served on the riverbank.
For those not rafting, you can hike Los Quetzales Trail from Cerro
Punta to Boquete through the cloud forest of Baru Volcano National
Park. The Baru Volcano is the highest peak of the country at 3,475
meters. This is a beautiful and peaceful hike with plenty of chances
to stop and enjoy the spectacular scenery and to look for the elusive
Resplendent Quetzal. Picnic lunch will be in route to Boquete.
Night at HOTEL PANAMONTE (B, L, D)
Day 6 CHIRIQUI HIGHLANDS – BOCAS
DEL TORO
This is an early morning departure flight from David to Bocas del Toro.
The activities start right after hotel check-in with a boat ride
to Boca del Drago around Colon Island. Weather permitting, you'll
visit Swan's Cay, a rock protruding from the depths of the Caribbean
Sea, which serves as rookery for Red-billed Tropic Birds (the only
place they are found in Panama) and Brown Boobies. After lunch at
a local restaurant, there is time to enjoy the beach at Boca del
Drago and search for colorful starfish. On the way back you can make
stops at coral reefs and mangrove isles for snorkeling along the
coastline.
Night at BOCAS INN (B, L, D)
Day 7 SALT CREEK
VILLAGE – BASTIMENTOS
MARINE NATIONAL PARK
Today you'll depart by boat from the Bocas Inn traversing the expanse
of Bastimentos National Park, Panama’s first marine national
park, en route to Salt Creek, navigating through clusters of Red
Mangroves, which provide sea creatures a protective area during their
reproductive and development stages. Here you will hike the Caiman
Trail, which takes you through several stages of lowland forest dynamics,
and is a good place to look for birds such as Red-throated Ant Tanager
and Golden-collared Manakin (Cerritus sub sp.), mammals like Night
Monkey, White-faced Capuchin and Three-toed Sloth. An older tract
of rainforest has tall trees that provide life to birds such as the
Three-wattled Bellbird and Green-breasted Mango and at a nearby lagoon
you may see Spectacled Caiman and Slider Turtle, while on the ground
you might find the tiny endemic poison dart frog Dendrobates Pumilio.
After the hike, you will visit the indigenous community with a chance
to purchase handicrafts such as painted woodcarvings and Ngobe handbags,
followed by lunch. In the afternoon, you'll have an opportunity to
snorkel among mangroves and coral reefs, searching for numerous fish
species, as well as dynamic and brightly colored sea fans, sponges
and brittle starfish.
Night at BOCAS INN (B, L, D)
Day 8 PANAMA CITY
You must take an early morning flight from Bocas del Toro to Panama
City and this day you will visit the ruins of Viejo Panama and Casco
Antiguo. After lunch at a local restaurant you visit the Smithsonian
Marine Exhibition at Culebra Point at the entrance to the Pacific
side of the Panama Canal and the International Handcraft Market where
crafts from Panama and other Latin American countries are sold. Finally
you go to your hotel where after check-in you can enjoy the pool
and other facilities in the afternoon. A farewell dinner will take
place at your hotel.
Night at CAESAR PARK HOTEL (B, L, D)
Day 9 DEPART PANAMA
Today you are picked up at the lobby of the hotel 2-3 hours prior to
your scheduled departure flight and transferred to Tocumen International
Airport. (B)
Why not consider a Panama
Canal Transit after the tour? Or perhaps an extension to
the San Blas Islands?
Departure dates:
2009
March 14-22
June 27-July 5
July 18-26
Price per person in double occupancy:
$2,025
Single Supplement:
$450
Children under 12 years:
$1,200
To above prices, add 5% government tax
Minimum 3 persons
