Take a boat trip on the Panama Canal led by an expert naturalist guide, a dugout canoe trip to an Embera Indian village in Chagres National Park, kayaking on the Chagres River and hiking the La Chunga Trail, a canopy zipline tour in the highland cloudforest of Chiriqui Province, a boat trip through the mangroves of Bastimentos National Park to Salt Creek, snorkeling, beach time at Boca del Drago.
You will meet and interact with the indigenous Embera and Ngobe communities; encounter wildlife including tropical birds, monkeys, sloths, caiman, turtles, poison dart frogs.
Lost World Adventures itineraries can be tailor-made according to your plans and preferences: budget, hotel selections, travel dates, optional excursions, length of trip, etc.
Upon arrival at the Panama City Int'l Airport, you will be met by your private bilingual guide and driven to your rainforest resort.
The surroundings of your lodge will showcase the vast diversity of the rainforest's flora and fauna. For a bird's eye view of the Soberania National Park and Panama Canal, climb aboard the specially designed aerial tram and glide quietly through the rainforest canopy where you'll encounter plants and animals rarely seen by visitors on the ground.
Daily breakfast is included.
Panama Canal Rainforest Boat Adventure
Set off with your naturalist guide to explore the town of Gamboa, where the Chagres 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 iguanas and three-toed sloths resting on tree branches, crocodiles, osprey in the hunt for peacock bass, snail kite and keel-billed toucan among other wildlife.
The 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. You will enjoy a picnic lunch on a small island with extraordinary views of the Panama Canal and the natural surroundings.
Embera Indians On The Chagres River
Meet your naturalist guide and set off on a drive to El Corotu on the shores of Madden Lake. The main reservoir of drinking water for the cities of Panama and Colon, Madden also supplies 40% of the water required for the operation of the Panama Canal.
Here you will board a motorized piragua to travel up the Chagres River to the Embera indigenous village of Embera Drua. .
The dugout canoe journey will take you through the rainforests of the 320,000-acre Chagres National Park, 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, Anhinga, Neo-tropical cormorant, Amazon, Ringed, and Green kingfisher, along with Red-lored Amazon parrot and Keel-billed toucan 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 traditional Embera lunch you will be heading back to Panama City.
Lunch is included.
Chagres Kayaking / Hiking / Miraflores Locks
Start off with an adventurous kayaking excursion on the Chagres River and the edge of the Panama Canal where you might be able to spot some large cargo ships passing by.
Afterwards, enjoy a relaxing and quiet rainforest nature walk on La Chunga Trail that leads you to the beautiful shore of the Chagres River.
After lunch continue to the Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal. Here you will learn about its history and marvel at this engineering accomplishment. The canal still operates pretty much as it did when it was inaugurated in 1914.
After your tour you will fly to the town of David where you will transfer to Boquete, a small village known for its year round temperate climate and abundance of outdoor oppurtunities. You will be dropped off at your lodge for an evening at leisure.
Daily breakfast included.
Canopy Tour Zipline (or Chiriqui River rafting)
Set off with your guide on a a cloudforest canopy tree trek on a zipline that allows you to contemplate the rainforest from 14 different canopy platforms while smoothly soaring in the heights from one treetop to another.
You will glide through the trees and encounter a world unknown. You will discover a fascinating perspective of wildlife that you had perhaps never appreciated. Native species of flora and fauna can be observed. You will marvel at the sight of a great variety of orchids, trees and wildflowers that are found throughout the area.
There will be an option to go on a river float trip down the Chiriqui River for those who don’t go ziplining today. This optional tour has an additional cost and must be arranged in advance.
Depart for your drive to Almirante on the Caribbean coast. En route across the Continental Divide, you may stop at Fortuna Dam. The transition from the cloud forests to the coral reefs of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean Sea is impressive. In Almirante you are met and transferred by boat to your hotel on Isla Colon.
Boca Del Drago
This afternoon you will depart on a boat ride around Colon Island to Boca del Drago. Weather permitting, you visit Swan's Cay, a rock protruding from the depths of the Caribbean Sea, which serves as rookery for Red-billed tropic birds and Brown boobies.
After lunch at a local restaurant, you will enjoy the beach at Boca del Drago and search for colorful giant starfish. Along the coastline, returning to the lodge, we make stops at coral reefs and mangrove isles for snorkeling.
Salt Creek Village / Basitmentos Marine National Park
You depart by boat from the Bocas Inn early in the morning traversing the expanse of Bastimentos National Park, Panama’s first marine national park.
You reach Salt Creek by navigating through clusters of red mangroves, which provide sea creatures with a protective area during their reproductive and development stages. Upon arrival you first enjoy a walk along the Caiman trail. Here, you will look for birds such as Red-throated Ant Tanager and Golden-collared Manakin. Mammals such as Night Monkeys, White-faced Capuchins and Three-toed Sloths also live here.
An older tract of rainforest has tall trees that provide life to birds such as the Three-wattled Bellbird and Green-breasted Mango. A nearby lagoon is home to Spectacled Cayman and Slider Turtle. On the ground you will look for the tiny endemic poison dart frog Dendrobates pumilio.
After the hike, you enjoy a visit to the Ngobe Bugle indigenous community with a chance to purchase handicrafts such as painted woodcarvings and handbags, followed by lunch. In the afternoon you will snorkel among mangroves and coral reefs, searching for numerous fish species, as well as dynamic and brightly colored sea fans, sponges and brittle starfish.
After a flight to Panama City, you will be dropped off at your centrally located hotel. In Panama City activities today include a visit the ruins of Old Panama and Casco Antiguo.
After lunch at a local restaurant you will visit the Smithsonian Marine Exhibition at Culebra Point at the entrance to the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.
Finish your sightseeing tour with a visit to the Biodiversity Museum designed by Frank Gehry located on Causeway Amador. Tonight you enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
Today, you will dropped off at the airport in time for you international departure.
| Price from | $3,575.00 per person, based on double occupancy |
|---|---|
| Days | 9 |
| Nights | 8 |
