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Panama Discovery Tour
offered by supplier M17838 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 7
- 8
day(s)
Group Size: 2
- 25
people
Destination(s):
Panama
Specialty Categories:
Cultural Journey
Wildlife Viewing
Season: January - December
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: No
Minimum Per Person Price: 1384 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 2787 US Dollar (USD)
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Adventure? Yes. Hard? Not at all, anyone can do it. It is our most popular of all tours and provides a diverse cross section of Panama's ecology, cultures and history. It includes a city tour, a Panama Canal Zone tour, a Panama Canal transit, a historical trip to Portobelo, visit a cloud forest located in the crater of a volcano, and a cultural encounter with Panama's most primitive Indians - The Emberá.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1, Thursday: Overnight in Panama City
You will be greeted at Tocumen airport by one of our representatives. We will have a sign with your name printed on it. You will receive your packet of information and travel vouchers. We will answer all your questions en route to the hotel and provide a short briefing of general details of your trip.
Day 2, Friday: Overnight in Panama City
Breakfast included in the hotel and Lunch is included during the tour. Our city and canal tour begins at 9 am and will take you through modern Panama City, Old Panama, colonial Panama, and the Canal Zone. Last, we will visit the Miraflores Locks where you will see how the ships are handled in the chambers of the locks and lowered to the Pacific Ocean or raised into Miraflores lake. The museum at the Miraflores locks has three floors of displays dedicated to the operation and history of the canal as well as ecological displays of the plants and wildlife of the Panama jungles. Our last stop is at the Old American YMCA building in Balboa for some shopping at the craft market where indigenous people sell their wares. You are usually back in the hotel by 5 pm.
Day 3, Saturday: Overnight in Panama City
Breakfast is included in the hotel. Buffet aboard the vessel is included. Full Panama Canal Transit. You will be picked up at the hotel at 6:45 for a transfer to the Pacific port and the vessel in which you will be transiting the canal. This transit is usually completed by 4:30 in the afternoon and you should be back at the Pacific Port by 6 or 6:30 pm. However, we have experienced returns to the Pacific Port as late as 10:30. Return time is completely dependent on traffic and conditions in the canal and on the highway. Take lots of sun screen and floppy cotton hats are recommended. It seems that the Canal eats baseball caps or straw hats.
If you want to see more on the Panama Canal, The Panama Canal Authority has a killer website with lots of detail on the Panama Canal, and a live camera where you can see the ships passing through the Miraflores and Gatun Locks. There is also a live camera in the Gaillard Cut where you can see the new bridge over the canal. Tell your friends and neighbors to look for you transiting the canal.
Day 4, Sunday: Overnight in Panama City
Breakfast included in the hotel and lunch is included in El Valle. Pick-up is at 8 am. Today, we travel to the mountain retreat called Anton Valley. Also known as just El Valle. Here you can visit the Sunday market where everything is sold from household goods, gift items to plants and vegetables. After lunch at the Restaurant Santa Librada, we will visit the Piedra Pintada (painted rock) which are petroglyph - that pre date Columbus. Here, a young local boy or girl will tell us the story of the Piedra Pintada. From there, we can enjoy a cloud forest walk along a mountain stream to a waterfall. After we descend from the trail, will begin our trip back to Panama City.
Day 5, Monday: Overnight in Panama City
Breakfast is include in the hotel. And yet another early day. Our train leaves the station at 7:15 am. So we have to leave the hotel by 6:15 in order to have some time to shop in the Panama Canal train station gift shop and try to rush and get a good seat in the dome car. The one-hour trip across the isthmus by train is spectacular. You will be met at the Colon train station by our representative and begin your Atlantic side tour. First is a driving tour of Colon City. Over the years (especially the Noriega years) Colon had fallen into a state of disrepair and crime was rampant. Today, the City is on the rebound (although it may not look like it to you, it has cleaned up tremendously). Although it is still unsafe to travel alone in Colon, our guide will point out many points of interest including American and Panamanian structures and monuments.
Next is a trip across the Gatun Locks to a location where you will be able to spot the same wild life and more that you saw at Plantation road. We almost always see toucans, parrots, monkeys and sloths here. Following our wildlife observation, we will travel to Portobelo, with a stop at Los Canones for lunch and a fantastic view from the quaint little restaurant of the Atlantic Ocean. After lunch, Portobelo is next on the agenda. In Portobelo, we will visit the ruins of the Spanish fortresses, the customs house (which has been restored to its original condition), the Church housing the Black Christ, the museum of which robes from previous years that the Black Christ has been clothed. You can also look across the bay to Drakes Island, the final resting place of Sir Francis Drake. From Portobelo, we return to the Colon train station. Our train leaves the Colon train station at 5:15 pm and arrives in Panama city at 6:15 pm. where we will be greeted by our guide and transferred to the hotel.
Day 6, Tuesday: Overnight in Panama City
Breakfast is included in the hotel and lunch in Panama City. Pick-up is at 8 am. Today will be an easy day with a trip to Summit Gardens and the Harpy Eagle display. The Harpy Eagle is the national bird of Panama and one of the most magnificent birds in the world with a wing span of up to 7 feet. From Summit, we check into the hotel and the remainder of day is free. This is a good time to take advantage of laundry needs and we know a great little place where you can get your laundry done the same day for less than $5.
Day 7, Wednesday: Overnight in Panama City - Breakfast included in the hotel and lunch is included at the Emberá Indian village.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Also see tour packages in:
Central America and Caribbean
Panama
Local Culture
Cultural Journey
Wildlife Viewing
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