Best of Panama
trip specifics
price
2010
$2250 per person + 7% tax
Single Supplement: $420 + 7% tax
Prices based on double occupancy
Please call for child rates
Prices based on double occupancy
Please call for child rates
duration
10 daystrip dates
Sep 17 - Sep 26, 2010Oct 15 - Oct 24, 2010
Dec 31 - Jan 09, 2011
Jan 28 - Feb 06, 2011
Feb 26 - Mar 06, 2011
Apr 22 - May 01, 2011
Jul 15 - Jul 24, 2011
Sep 09 - Sep 18, 2011
Oct 14 - Oct 23, 2011
Dec 23 - Jan 01, 2012
trip level
view explanation
highlights
San Blas IslandsKuna culture
Rain forest Exploration
Embera culture
Panama Canal
Wildlife viewing
accomm types
HotelLodge
Day 1 - Arrive Panama
On arrival to Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, we will be met by an Ancon Expeditions of Panama representative and transferred to our hotel. Welcome cocktail and briefing with our Naturalist Guide.Accommodations:Holiday Inn Panama Canal
Included Meals: none
Day 2 - Panama Canal Jungle Boat Adventure and Chiriqui Highlands
Early in the morning we are picked up at the lobby of our hotel by our Naturalist Guide for a 45 minute drive to the town of Gamboa, where the Chagres River meets the Panama Canal. Here we 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, we 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 lock 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. Our 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. We will enjoy a picnic lunch on a small island with extraordinary views of the Panama Canal and the natural surroundings.We return to Gamboa and drive to Albrook domestic airport to catch our 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. Transfer by van to the western side of the Baru Volcano to the town of Volcan.
Accommodations: Hotel Dos Rios
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 3 - La Amistad Park and 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 here their maximum species mix. With great ranges in altitude, precipitation, soil and temperature, bio-diversity here is at its best. We 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 we will visit Finca Dracula home to over 1500 orchid species. On our return ride to the hotel we will stop at the Janson’s Coffee Estate and have an interactive experience with coffee. Here the experts will explain all the processes that coffee beans go through. This is no ordinary coffee. Shade grown and scrutinized; Janson’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
Accommodations: Hotel Dos Rios
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 4 - Itio Bariles - Boquete
On the way to Boquete we will first visit Sitio Barriles an archeological site of the extinct Barril culture that once lived on the slopes of the dormant Baru Volcano. Here the site guide will interpret the writings on the stones (petroglyphs) and enlighten us on the history of this culture. Proceed 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 cloud forests. At the entrance to Boquete we will stop atop a bluff where we will have an extraordinary view of the town set in the mountain valley at 1,060 meters above sea level with the Caldera River running through it. This afternoon feel free to visit this quaint town.Accommodations: Finca Lerida Lodge
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 5 - Finca Lerida Cloud Forest
This morning we explore Finca Lerida, a privately owned preserve in Boquete, in the buffer zone of Baru Volcano National Park. At an elevation of 2,286 meters we have an 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. We will hike through lush vegetation and arrive at the Collin’s shade-grown coffee farm where lunch will be served.Accommodations: Finca Lerida Lodge
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 6 - Panama City
After a leisurely breakfast we will travel to the city of David to board our mid-morning flight to Panama City. Upon arrival we visit the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute Tupper Center where we have lunch and visit the bookstore. Afterwards visit the Panama Canal’s Administration Building to admire the beautiful murals painted by William B. Van Ingen which depict the monumental labor involved in the building of the waterway. We continue with a visit to Miraflores Locks the first set of locks on the Pacific Ocean side of the canal and Casco Viejo, the colonial city.Accommodations: Holiday Inn - Panama Canal
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 7 - San Blas Islands - Dolphin Island
Located along the northeastern coast of Panama in the Caribbean Sea, the San Blas Islands are the home of the Kuna Indians. Determined to protect their unique culture, the Kunas were granted regional autonomy forming the “Comarca” (autonomous territory) of Kuna Yala where to this day an indigenous congress rules. Kuna women spend countless hours stitching the very colorful reverse appliquéd cotton “molas” which is part of their daily wear. Essentially, the Kuna are fishermen, but they also farm coconut, corn, rice, cocoa, yucca and other staples.We depart by small plane to San Blas at the crack of dawn today. To enhance the interaction with the Kuna travelers will go without the Naturalist Guide.
We then visit the Kuna village of Achutupo in the company of a local guide that will provide us with an excellent opportunity to learn about the Kuna culture and traditional ceremonies. Visit the communal house of “Sahilas” (Kuna chiefs) where the chiefs are responsible for enforcing the law of the community as well as offering advice on other aspects of life - including marital problems! Learn about the building of the typical Kuna house, their economy, the traditional “mola”, and the processing of sugar cane into the alcoholic drink known as “chicha”. We return to the lodge to relax at one of the hammocks and to have lunch. Later this afternoon we will go snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Sea to look for stunning marine life.
Accommodations: Uaguinega Lodge
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 8 - Panama City - Chagres River and the Embera
After breakfast we board our plane bound for Panama City. Upon arrival we meet our Naturalist Guide and board a van for our trip 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, we board a motorized piragua (dugout canoe) and travel up the Chagres River to the Embera indigenous village of Embera Drua. The boat journey takes us 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 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 we will be greeted with dancing and music. We will learn about Embera customs and their relationship with nature. There will be handcrafts available for sale and we 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 we visit the nearby waterfall where we can take a dip in the crystal-clear waters of the Chagres River before heading back to Panama City.
Accommodations: Hotel El Panama
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 9 - Partial Panama Canal Transit
Early morning pick-up at the hotel for the 15 minute drive to the port of Balboa where we board our boat which will take us on the world famous journey through the Panama Canal. Cruise through Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks, Gaillard Cut at the Continental Divide, the narrowest part of the Panama Canal, arriving at the town of Gamboa home to the canal’s dredging division, an important part in the functioning of the canal.At Gamboa we will disembark and drive back to our hotel in Panama City with a stop on the way at the Balboa handicraft market for some last minute shopping. Tonight we enjoy a farewell dinner at local restaurant.
Accommodations: Hotel El Panama
Included Meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Day 10 - Depart Panama
Today we are picked up at the lobby of the hotel 2.5 hours prior to our scheduled departure flight and transferred to Tocumen International Airport. Fly home. Optional pre and post-tour extensions are available to the Darien and Bocas del ToroAccommodations: n/a
Included Meals: breakfast
Land Cost Includes: All lodging, land, air and water transportation within Panama, all airport/hotel transfers when arriving and departing on the stated arrival and departure dates of the group, meals as specified in the itinerary, hotel taxes, entrance fees to National Parks, museums and places of interest in effect at the time of booking are included unless otherwise specified, guide services as specified in the itinerary.
Not Included: Airfare to Panama, excess baggage charges, taxes and port fees, tourist card ($5), gratuities to transfer and naturalist guides, items of a personal nature such as alcoholic beverages, Snorkeling equipment (can be rented at a small fee at the Uaguinega Lodge), and insurance of any kind.
Baggage Restrictions: Weight restrictions apply to luggage in commercial and chartered flights within Panama. A maximum of 25 lbs. (11 kg) of checked luggage and 10 lbs. (4.5 kg) of carry-on per person is allowed. Arrangements can be made with your hotel to store luggage that will not be needed while away from the city. Excess baggage charges assessed by commercial carriers are the responsibility of the passenger.
Payment and Cancellation Policy: Please see AdventureSmith Explorations Terms and Conditions.
Qualifications: This trip is available to any individuals or families with a love of nature and sense of adventure.
Extending Your Trip: Call AdventureSmith Explorations about the possibilities of combining trips on one of our Panama or Costa Rica expedition cruises.
General Information: This trip is subject to AdventureSmith Explorations 'Terms & Conditions'. Please read this information carefully and call us if you have any questions. A packing list, extensive pre-departure and travel insurance information is sent upon confirmation. We strongly recommend the purchase of Trip Insurance through AdventureSmith Explorations. If purchased within 14 days of sign-up, the pre-existing condition exclusion is waived.
We look forward to having you join us for the trip of a lifetime! Call today.
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