Golden Isthmus Odyssey

On arrival to Tocumen International Airport, you are met by a JOURNEYS representative and transferred to your hotel in Panama City.

Early in the morning, you will be 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. 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 that contrast with the natural surroundings. Along the way, look for green iguanas and three-toed sloths resting on tree branches, crocodiles, ospreys in the hunt for peacock bass, snail kites, and keel-billed toucans, among other wildlife. Gatun Lake was formed as part of the Panama Canal in 1914. At the time of its creation, Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world with a surface of 165 square miles. 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. Your expedition boat will travel very close to rainforest-covered islands (former hill tops) in Gatun Lake to search for white-faced capuchins, mantled howler monkeys, Central American spider monkeys, and Geoffrey’s tamarins. Enjoy a picnic lunch on a small island with extraordinary views of the Panama Canal and the natural surroundings. Return to Gamboa in the early afternoon and head for Miraflores Locks at the Panama Canal where you will learn about the canal's history, operation, and expansion currently underway.  A short drive to Albrook domestic airport will follow in order to catch a 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. 

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 their greatest species mix. With great ranges in altitude, precipitation, soil type, and temperature, biodiversity is at its best. Spend the morning hiking and exploring La Amistad in the area of El Retoño in search of the resplendent Quetzal, the silvery-fronted tapaculo, the Andean pygmy-owl, the barred becard, and the black and yellow silky flycatcher, among many other western highland birds. After lunch at a local restaurant, visit Sitios 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 provide insights on the history of this lost culture.

On the way to Boquete visit Finca Dracula, home to over 1,500 orchid species. Then proceed along the eastern side of Baru Volcano where you'll have the unique opportunity to experience a century old tradition at a local Trapiche, a horse-powered sugar mill where the delicious Raspadura blocks are made. Enjoy a typical lunch and a traditional polleras folkloric dance presentation. Then proceed to the quaint town of Boquete and its countryside dotted with flower, fruit, and produce farms, coffee plantations, and lush tropical cloud forests. The afternoon is free to relax, stroll through the town on your own or enjoy the spa services at the hotel.

This morning, explore Finca Lerida, a privately-owned preserve in Boquete, in the buffer zone of Baru Volcano National Park. At an elevation of 7,500 feet, look for the elusive resplendent Quetzal, the three-wattled bellbird, the black-faced solitaire, the volcano hummingbird, the long-tailed silky flycatcher, and the prong-billed barbet in their cool habitat of orchids, bromeliads, and wild avocados. After lunch at the lodge, transfer back to Boquete where you will enjoy an afternoon visit to a coffee farm.

After a leisurely breakfast, travel to the city of David to board a mid-morning flight to Panama City. Upon arrival, begin a tour of Panama City, a contrasting metropolis with a World Heritage Site, rainforests, and a flourishing business district filled with skyscrapers. Explore the ruins of Old Panama City, the first European settlement to be established along the shores of the Pacific Ocean (1519), Casco Viejo, a colonial city with coblestone streets, and the Panama Canal Museum.

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,” part of their daily wear. The Kuna are primarily fishermen, but they also farm coconut, corn, rice, cocoa, yucca, and other staples. Depart by small plane to San Blas at the crack of dawn today. To enhance the interaction with the Kuna, the group will go without our naturalist guide. A representative of Uaguinega Lodge will greet the group upon landing at the airstrip and transfer to the lodge on a motorized dugout canoe to check in and have breakfast. Uaguinega Lodge is located on Uaguitupo (Dolphin) Island, about five minutes from the Achutupo airstrip via dugout canoe. Owned and operated by a Kuna family, the accommodations at the lodge are rustic but comfortable traditional Kuna-style huts with cozy beds, indoor bathrooms, and a hammock on the front porch. Meals are served in the Bohio dining room overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Visit the Kuna village of Achutupo in the company of a local guide who will provide details about the Kuna culture and their 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 how sugar cane is processed into the alcoholic drink known as “chicha.” Return to the lodge to relax at one of the hammocks and to have lunch. Later this afternoon, go snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Sea to look for stunning marine life. 

After breakfast, board a plane bound for Panama City. Upon arrival, meet the naturalist guide and board a van for the 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. Board a motorized piragua (dugout canoe) and travel up the Chagres River to the Embera indigenous village of Embera Drua. The boat journey goes 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, search for little blue and green herons, great egrets, anhingas, neotropical cormorants, Amazon, ringed, and green kingfishers, along with keel-billed toucans and ospreys. At the Embera village, enjoy dancing and music, and learn about Embera customs and their relationship with nature. There will be handicrafts available for sale and an opportunity to be painted with the traditional jagua, a natural dye the Embera use to adorn their bodies. After a picnic lunch, visit the nearby waterfall to take a dip in the crystal-clear waters of the Chagres River before heading back to Panama City. 

Early this morning you will be picked up at the hotel for the 15-minute drive to the port of Balboa, then board a boat for the world-famous journey through the Panama Canal. Cruise through Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks, Gaillard Cut at the Continental Divide, and the narrowest part of the Panama Canal, then arrive at the town of Gamboa, home to the canal’s dredging division, an important part in the operation of the canal. Disembark at Gamboa and drive back to the hotel in Panama City with a stop on the way at the Balboa handicraft market for some last-minute shopping. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant. 

Transfer to Tocumen International Airport for onward flight.