Panama
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The Path Less Travelled
6 Days / 5 Nights
Day One 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 preferred 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 Two 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 market 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 3 islands to the mainland and protects the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.
Our final stop but by far the most amazing 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 Three 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, who will guide us through our transit, has boarded the boat we will follow our companion vessel for the transit of the Miraflores Locks (by Canal standards, we are a small vessel, and for reasons of economy, 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 Four Panama City / Chagres River Indigenous Community
This fascinating, authentic cultural excursion leaves from your hotel
at 8:00AM. A short bus ride takes us to our starting point within
the Tropical Rainforest of the Chargres National Forest. Then 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 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 fabricating 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 Hotel Caesar Park Panama
B / L
Day Five 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 anywhere in the Americas. 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 Portobelo. Portobelo 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. Portobelo 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, Portobelo
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 Six Departure
After breakfast transfer to the International Airport for your return flight home.
B
PRICE: Standard Double $ ; Standard Single
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