Description:

This tour includes Panama City, Old Panama City, which was the capital until it was sacked by the pirate Henry Morgan, a look at the Miraflores Lock, a full day on boat passing through the Panama Canal, and finally a tour of some of the indigenous towns in Panama. An unforgettable glimpse of some of the best features Panama has to offer.

Activites:

Cultural Exploration, Boating

Itinerary:

Day 1: Panama City

You arrive in the early evening and will be met outside the customs and immigration area at the Tocumen International Airport and transferred to the Caesar Park Hotel. Caesar Park Panama is one of the most popular hotels in Panama City.

The architecture is reminiscent of Panama's colonial charm, and the personality within reflects the high-spirited Latin culture.

Overnight at the Hotel Caesar Park Panama, no meals included

Day 2: Panama City

The first stop of this very historical tour is at the ruins of "Panama Viejo," the first city founded in the isthmus by the Spanish and subsequently attacked and looted by Pirate Henry Morgan in 1671. We’ll walk among the stonewalls and remnants of what was once considered the richest city in the Americas. Passing through Altos Del Golf, an up-scale residential neighborhood, we continue on to visit Casco Antiguo, the colonial city of Panama, built in 1673. The architecture of this area is of exquisite taste including French, Italian and Spanish styles. Here we will see the Golden Altar, hidden from the pirate attacks to remain as one of the few testaments to all the wealth that made its way through this city. This area is also home to the “Flat Arch”, famous for showing the US engineers that Panama wasn’t subject to earthquakes thereby influencing the decision to build the canal in Panama.

We’ll walk around the French Plaza – a monument to the French canal effort and take a panoramic look of the modern city from this vantage point where you can also see the ships that are anchored in the bay awaiting their turn to transit the canal. Next, visit the Independence Plaza and the Inter-Oceanic Canal Museum where you will learn the history of the Panama Canal construction. We take a break from touring for a lunch at either Mi Pueblito, a picturesque, re-creation of a rural village that also demonstrates the varied architecture and the history of Panama, or at Flamenco Island in Amador. After lunch you will have time to explore the artisan stores and other sights on the Amador Causeway that unites three islands to the mainland and protects the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.

Our final stop will be at the Miraflores Locks where you will experience the operation of the Panama Canal first-hand and enjoy an audiovisual presentation that describes how ships pass through this engineering wonder. We will also have a chance to see the Canal Zone Administration Building now the headquarters of the Panama Canal Authority.

We arrive back at the hotel after a full day, with time to relax before dinner. Overnight at the Hotel Caesar Park Panama B / L

Day 3: Panama City / Full Canal Transit / Gatun Lake

A fascinating and unique tour that shows you first-hand the operation of this vital marine link. Early in the morning you will be picked up from your hotel and transferred to Pier 18 in the Port of Balboa. The boat leaves at 7:30 am and heads out towards the Pacific entrance of the Canal, adjacent to Flamenco Island. Once the Panama Canal Authority Pilot has boarded the boat they will be our guides as we follow our companion vessel for the transit of the Miraflores Locks (by Canal standards, we are a small vessel, and for economic reasons rarely transit the locks alone). These locks raise the boat to the level of the Miraflores Lake that we will cross until we reach the Pedro Miguel Locks here our boat will be raised to approximately 85 feet above sea level so that we can cross through the center of Panama. After exiting Pedro Miguel we enter the narrowest section of the Canal known as Gailard (or Culebra) Cut. This was the most difficult part of the excavation during the construction of the Panama Canal as it cuts through the continental divide. We will arrive at Gamboa where the Panama Canal Dredging Division has its headquarters and where you will be able to observe the impressive machinery used here to keep the canal in navigable condition. We will then make our way across Gatun Lake, at one time the largest artificial lake in the world, toward Gatun Locks, the final set of locks at the Atlantic end of the canal, to be lowered back to sea level. At the port of Cristobal we will board the bus for our ride back to the starting point in Panama City. Your day will be filled with incredible views, watching the huge freighters passing, the incredible wildlife that flourishes in the Canal watershed and the appreciation of just what it took to build this waterway 100 years ago. An unforgettable journey through the 8th Wonder of the World.

Overnight at the Hotel Caesar Park Panama B / L (full transit) / D (partial transit)

Please note: The Full Transit is only available one Saturday per month, please check which dates are scheduled. The full transit takes about 10 hours and we enjoy both breakfast and lunch aboard the ship. On other Saturdays a Half Transit will be substituted and guests will enjoy a traditional Panamanian dinner and folklore show.

Day 4: Panama City / Chagres River

Indigenous Community. This fascinating, authentic cultural excursion leaves from your hotel at 8:00 am. A short bus ride takes us to our starting point within the Tropical Rainforest of the Chargres National Forest.

We will take motorized dugout canoes up the Chagres River where we will meet the passionate and friendly people of the Embera-Drua community and learn about their indigenous culture and traditions. We will have lunch in their typical thatched huts; definitely an unforgettable experience. You will also have the chance to take a tour with the “Medicine Man” who will explain the use of plants as natural medicines. The village lies above a beautiful tranquil natural pool and waterfall in the river, perfect for a refreshing swim before we return to the city.

You will also be able to purchase some of their incredible handicrafts.The Embera Indians are master artisans in Panama, known for their fine baskets and high quality woodcarvings. In addition to crafting objects for sale, skilled woodcarving has many traditional uses in the Embera culture, including making hunting weapons, canoe, paddles, household furnishing and ceremonial objects. The Embera have recently expanded their carving skills to tagua, known as “vegetable ivory”, and have created a unique and imaginative art inspired by the plants and animals of the rainforest.

The Embera artisans carve the tagua with hand tools and polish the tagua with a series of fine abrasives; no varnishes or lacquers are used. The natural color or tagua is ivory white with a dark brown skin with other natural shades of brown and gray. Others colors are produced by dying the tagua with natural extracts of plants and earth, using the traditional methods for dying basket fibers. Only high quality India inks are used on those pieces with inked “jagua“ details. Some of these carvings have won UNESCO prizes in native handicraft competitions.

Overnight at the Caesar Park Hotel. Overnight at the Hotel Caesar Park Panama. B / L

Day 5: Gatun Lake / Portobello / Colon / Panama City

An early start after breakfast in your hotel, takes you the Panama Canal Railway Train Station at Corozal, the starting point of our “trans-continental” rail journey in newly restored, air-conditioned passenger cars along the historic route that was the first rail link from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The railroad follows the east bank of the canal and affords an intimate view of the waterway and the rainforests that blanket its shores. You will be picked up at the Atlantic side for a tour of the Caribbean coast and the historic site of Portobello. Portabello was the name given to perhaps one of the most ideal and well-protected inlets along the Caribbean coast of Panama. A haven for the Spanish conquistadors and a juicy target for pirates trying to get their hands on the treasures of the New World. Sir Francis Drake died off the coast of this area in 1596 and was supposedly buried in a lead coffin close to what is now known as Drakes Island. Portobello was the final Caribbean terminus of two trails that crossed the jungles of the isthmus, Camino Real and Camino de Cruces. Here, once enough merchandise had been accumulated, caravans of sailing ships would begin the trip back to Spain, escorted by enough firepower to repel most, but not all, pirate attacks as they attempted to sail on past the West Indies. In its heyday, Portobello was a complex of batteries and forts that guarded the entrance to this beautiful inlet, perhaps the most heavily fortified of the Spanish control points along the coasts of the Americas. Nevertheless, this strategic and heavily fortified harbor was not enough to keep out the fleet of ships commandeered by Englishman Edward Vernon, who captured and destroyed the forts in 1739. Joined by one of our guides we’ll take an intimate look at the outstanding features of this important historical site as well as the Church of the Black Christ and learn its interesting legend. We return to Colon in time to take the train back to Panama. As the sun sets the views from the train are very different to what you saw in the morning. This full day tour is definitely a step back in time. Overnight at the Hotel Caesar Park Panama B / L

Day 6: Departure

After breakfast transfer to the International Airport for your return flight home.

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