Over 29% of Panama's landscape includes 15 national parks, forest reserves, and 10 wildlife sanctuaries - this itinerary is designed to visit some of the country's most celebrated. Begin your Panama travel journey with a cruise of the "8th wonder of the world", the Panama Canal, working your way through its complicated and impressive locks. Visit the charming mountain town of El Valle, and explore the surroundings on a canopy adventure. Visit with the indigenous community, Embera, in Chagres National Park, and finish your Panama travels exploring the ecology of Barro Colorado Island. Let us introduce you to this beautiful country!
Highlights
Explore trails that pass Indian petroglyphs, hotsprings, and waterfalls
Hop aboard a boat and make the iconic journey through the Panama Canal
Enjoy a free day at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort
Spend a day at the Embera community and learn about their culture
Involves minimal physical effort and is typically associated with leisurely activities. Activities are low-intensity or last less than a few hours each day.
Begin your Panama travels by taking a morning bus ride to the town of Gamboa where your vessel awaits to bring you on a partial transit of the Panama Canal. Your exploration of this engineering wonder begins at the north end of the Gaillard Cut; builders faced unprecedented challenges as they carved their way through the continental divide's solid rock for nearly 9 miles. At the southern end of the Cut enter the Pedro Miguel Locks, taking you into the man-made Miraflores Lake. Next, you are lowered 18 meters in the Miraflores Locks as you make your entrance into the Pacific Ocean. Disembark at the Flamenco Marina where you meet your transfer to El Valle. This 2-hour drive follows the famous Pan American Highway. Sit back, relax, and take in the celebrated views of Panama.
The beautiful mountain town of El Valle is located in the crater of an ancient volcano that erupted with such ferocity it blew off its top. It left a 3-mile-wide scar on the landscape – this crater is the largest in the Americas. The valley forests are alive with hummingbirds and other tropical wildlife, including a golden frog unique to the area. El Valle’s spring-like climate is perfect for exploring the vast variety of trails that run past Indian petroglyphs, hot springs, and waterfalls. Spend the night in a quiet bed and breakfast.
Today you will visit the native handicraft market. Local farmers, as well as Ngobe Bugle, Wounaan and some Embera Indians come to the market to sell fruits, vegetables, plants, and handicrafts. After this leisurely morning continue your Panama travels with a canopy adventure. At El Macho Falls securely strap into a harness, and through a series of cables and pulleys, observe the landscape from four different platforms on a canopy adventure. At 220 feet above the forest floor, share this rare and remarkable view with the animals sheltered within the canopy. Tonight, spend some time enjoying the charm of El Valle.
After a leisurely morning, you are picked up and transferred to Gamboa Rainforest Resort. The rest of the day is free for you to arrange activities through the resort. You can visit any of the local exhibits, including the frog and reptile exhibit or the butterfly enclosure, or arrange to go on a rainforest aerial tram tour, or go kayaking or boating out on Gatun Lake. Please note: if you think you will want to arrange an excursion for this afternoon at Gamboa, please notify us in advance to ensure you will be able to join.
Board a motorized canoe to take you deep into the Chagres rainforest to an Embera community. The park’s protected waters supply nearly 80% of Panama City’s drinking water. Upon arrival, exit the canoe and walk up a short hill where you are welcomed into the Embera settlement. Let these intriguing and inviting people introduce you to their culture as they share their knowledge of botany, craftsmanship, and traditional music and dance. Try the Embera traditional body painting that colors the skin with the purplish juice from a jagua fruit and enjoy lunch with the Embera community. Spend the rest of the afternoon with a guided tour of the tropical park.
Note: Community visit may change depending on the water level in the river.
This morning continue your Panama travels to Barro Colorado Island. After a short ride to the town of Gamboa, board a boat to cross the massive Lake Gatun. Born out of the Panama Canal, Gatun’s creation displaced over 50,000 people and submerged acres of forest – it also formed Isla Barro Colorado. It is heavy with wildlife including howler monkeys, keel-billed toucans, tapirs, sloths, anteaters, tiger herons, crocodiles, and the stunning Morpho butterfly. Administered by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute since 1946, this area is considered the best-protected and most-studied tropical rainforest in the world. Travelers are limited to a single trail that loops the island, to ensure that the ecosystem remains well-protected. You also have the opportunity to explore the bays and forest-covered channels. From the boat, keep an eye out for Panama's thriving wildlife. In the evening, head back to Panama City for your final overnight.
Day 7: Return Home
1 Breakfast
Make your way to the airport for your international flight home.
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$1,848
Notes
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Payment in full for internal flights is due at time of booking.
Initial deposit is $400 (50% during holiday season) plus internal flight fare, and most travelers will call our office and pay the deposit with a credit card.
Final payment is due 70 days (10 weeks) prior to departure by bank transfer, check or credit card. All final payments by credit card may be subject to a surcharge and maximum of $20,000 charge
Our guide and driver were very good with their knowledge and were very helpful with our questions. It was a very pleasant visit that would have been impossible to do on our own. Hotels and restaurants were fantastic. The special places we got to go to, like the kitchens, were great. Enjoyed the entire trip!
Meyer Smolen
TrustScore 4.8 | 175 reviews
TrustScore 4.8 of 5
Based on 175 reviews on
7 hours ago
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
2 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
3 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.