Panama Active Adventure Trip

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.

Day 1 : Panama City

You will be met at Panama City’s Tocumen Int’l Airport and transferred to your Panama City hotel.

Day 2 : Panama City

This morning you will be met in the lobby of your hotel by your naturalist guide and depart for the 45-minute drive to Soberania National Park in the Panama Canal Watershed. Soon after you cross the Chagres River, you reach Pipeline Road.

During World War II a pipeline was built along the Panama Canal to transport fuel from one ocean to the other in the event the waterway was attacked. Fortunately, it was never used. The gravel road built to maintain the pipeline provides excellent walking access to Soberania’s 22,000 hectares (55,000 acres) of tropical rainforest.

The park boasts an impressive list of 525 species of birds including the Black Hawk-eagle, Black-cheeked woodpecker, Black-breasted Puffbird, Broad-billed Motmot, Blue Cotinga, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Masked Tytira, Violaceous Trogon, Fasciated Antshrike, Shining honeycreeper, and a great array of North American migrants. Soberania is also home to 105 species of mammals including large felines, Tamandua, Two and Three-toed Sloth, 4 species of monkeys, Agouti, some of which are listed under CITES (endangered species) and 59 endemic plant species in 4 life zones.

Pipeline Road is a moderate 22 km (13.7 mile) trail, remains pretty much flat and passes through a mature forest. In most places the forest is clear of undergrowth, which makes it especially suited for observing shy, interior forest birds like tinamous and leaftossers.

When visiting Pipeline Road you also have a good chance to find an army ant swarm and many of the birds that follow these swarms as they roam the forest floor.

This is not a loop trail, so hikers can enjoy a hike suitable to their physical abilities and walking speed and return on the same route late morning to continue with the boat tour. Upon finishing at Pipeline Road, you will enjoy a picnic lunch in the rainforest and then be transferred to the marina near Gamboa where you board a comfortable 12 passenger expedition boat.

The tour includes a voyage across Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal, where you pass gigantic cargo ships in sharp contrast with the natural surroundings. Along the way, you 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. In the mid-afternoon you will return to your hotel.

Day 3 : Panama City

Bayano Adventure
In the morning a Bayano Adventure representative will meet you at your hotel lobby and take you to the Bayano Lake at the eastern side of the Panama Province (about 1.5 hrs). Upon arrival you will be introduced to the agriculture and farming (30 min) of the area including cow milking for those who have never done it before.

You then continue on mountain bikes (30 min) and ride the rough roads and lawns down to the lake shore where the kayaks will be waiting.

Once in the kayaks (35 min) you will paddle from the lake to the water passages between the hills to the forest, along the way we will observe different species of animals, trees and hydroponic plants. Entering the forest your guide then takes you on a rainforest nature hike (1 hour) and take you across the jungle to the exit of the path where the horses will be waiting for you.

Enjoy a horseback ride (30 min) along the beautiful shores of the lake back to the Bayano camp where you will be served a traditional lunch at a lakefront deck. After lunch you will have free time to enjoy the other natural attractions or relax by the lake before being transferred back to Panama City late afternoon.

Day 4 : Panama City – David

Embera Indians On The Chagres River
Early this morning you are picked up at your hotel by your naturalist guide for a one-hour 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 boat trip 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 return to Panama City and transfer to Albrook Airport for your flight to David. You will be met upon arrival and transfer to your David hotel, your home for the next 4 nights.

Day 5 : Boquete

Chiriqui Whitewater Rafting
With more than 35 world-class whitewater runs in Panama’s Chiriqui province alone, there is no paddling destination more extraordinary than Panama! For this trip, you will be transferred about 1 hour to Rio Chiriqui Viejo, near Panama’s border with Costa Rica.

Originating on the northwest side of Volcan Baru, the Viejo is 78 miles long in total and offers several different sections of excellent whitewater, ranging from level III-V depending on water levels on trip day. A picnic lunch will be served on the riverbank. At the end of the day you will return to your hotel.

Day 6 : Boquete

Depart your hotel for a 45-minute transfer to Boquete and your morning coffee tour. You will learn about the growing, processing, roasting, packing, and trading of high-end quality coffee. Enjoy a lunch at a local restaurant.

This afternoon you will glide through the treetops of century-old forests, high above the pristine rivers and waterfalls that make up the incredible collection of natural landscapes bordering La Amistad International Park.

The Canopy Tree Trek is three kilometers long in total length divided into 12 different stations. The wildlife within the treetops is immense and varied making it possible to appreciate our native species of wildlife; with a bit of luck you may even get the chance to see monkeys and the elusive Resplendent Quetzal.

In addition you can marvel at sights of the great variety of orchids and wildflowers that you will find throughout the area. After the tour, do some last minute sightseeing in Boquete before heading back to David

Day 7 : Gulf of Chiriqui

This morning you will be transferred to the David marina, a short distance from your hotel. In a small but fast boat you will pass through the Gulf of Chiriqui National Marine Park, a 14,740 hectare marine park that encompasses many uninhabited islands and serves as a refuge for howler monkeys, leatherback and hawksbill turtles, tiger herons, and scores of exotic fish.

You have the opportunity to pass the day snorkeling, swimming, and relaxing in a hammock and on the white sand beaches of Isla Bolaños or Isla Gamez. Return late afternoon to your hotel.

Day 8 : David – Panama City

This morning you will transfer to the David Airport for your flight to Panama City.

You will be met upon arrival by your Naturalist guide. Take a walk up the highest point of Panama City, Ancon Hill where you can enjoy wildlife viewing as well as spectacular views over the old and modern part of the city, the Bay of Panama and the Panama Canal.

Continue for a bike ride to Amador Causeway where you have lunch at a local seafood restaurant. In the afternoon, a walking tour through Casco Viejo (the old city compound) makes you familiar with the historical events of the area. Casco Viejo is home to monuments to Ferdinand de Lesseps and other Frenchmen instrumental in the ill-fated attempt of the French to construct a canal through Panama. Overnight at a Panama City hotel.

Day 9 : Panama City

You will be met at your hotel and transferred to the international airport.