ITINERARY:   Day 1: (Saturday) - Arrival Arrive at Tocumen International Airport where you will meet our representative and be transferred to the Hotel Marbella or similar in Panama City. No meals.   Day 2:  Sunday – Colonial City of Panama:  The Pearl of the Pacific, and the Panama Canal   Welcome and introduction ceremony during breakfast at the hotel; meet the staff and get familiarized with the materials.   The Panama Canal:  VIP visit to Miraflores Locks, where a Panama Canal guide will explain on a speaker the operation, as you see the ship crossing the locks.  Here we will also admire a model of the Canal, with a film explaining the story and the operation of the eight wonder of the world.  After the Canal we will visit to Culebra Marine Exhibition Center of the STRI to learn about the marine life at the Pacific side of Panama. Lunch will be served at Mi El Caseway, the main entrance for the Panama Canal.

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Modern History of Panama:  After lunch, we will visit the “Casco Viejo”, a colonial area that represents the second Panama City, characterized by a very special architecture.  We will spend two hours in the Canal Museum.  Afterwards, we will drive along “the modern Panama”, a city characterized for its modern architecture and an important commercial and banking center. Dinner will be at hotel. Overnight at Hotel Marbella or similar. (BLD)

 

Day 3 (Monday): Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City

After breakfast your group will be transferred to the Tupper Center, the main building of the Smithsonian Tropical Reserach Institute (STRI).  After a short tour, morning lectures will start.

 

Afternoon: Secondary Humid Forest Ecology

After lunch, we will take a trip through the tropical rainforest of Soberania National Park, bordering the Panama Canal watershed. The park includes some 19,500 hectares of protected lowland tropical forest. Here there is a superb diversity of plants, birds and mammals. Our instructor will lead the group on trails explaining the ecology of Panama’s rainforest.  Night in the Gamboa Rainforest Resort Villas. Dinner will be at the hotel. (BLD)

 

Day 4 (Tuesday): Secondary Humid Forest Ecology at Barro Colorado

Early departure by bus through the tropical rainforest along the Panama Canal to Lake Gatun, where we will take a boat to Barro Colorado Island. This island has been administered by the Smithsonian Institute since 1946.  Here, we will visit their installations in the forest and the Visitors Center with the exhibition, “The Forest Talks.” Here you can purchase souvenirs or books. Before returning to Gamboa, we will hike a nature trail on the island to observe plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects. Our guide will reveal the secrets of this complex ecosystem. Return to hotel for afternoon lecture by a Smithsonian investigator. Night at Gamboa Rainforest Resort Villas. Dinner will be at the hotel. (BLD)

 

Day 5 (Wednesday): Emberá Indian Community and Secondary Pre-montain Very Humid Forest Ecology

Depart Gamboa Villas in the morning for a visit to the Embera village in the Chagres National Park. We will cruise by "piragua" (a native boat) the route used by these Indians for their daily transport along the Chagres River. Then we will hike to the tribe’s village to learn about their culture and traditions. We will have lunch with them and, if you want, you can paint your body with "jaguar," a vegetable ink used for tattoos by the Embera. Return to Panama City at 5:00 p.m. Night at Hotel Marbella or similar. Dinner is included. (BLD)

 

Day 6 (Thrusday): Ecology of Marine Ecosystems – Part I

Pick up at your hotel to catch your 25-minute flight to the Archipelago of San Blas, governed by the Kuna Indians. Upon arrival, the group will meet a local host and  proceed to an island lodge (Nalunega or similar), your home for the next two days. There will be a lecture and the rest of the day spent at leisure interacting with the Kunas, swimming, snorkeling or relaxing on beautiful white sand beaches. (BLD)

 

Day 7 (Friday):San Blas Islands and the Kuna Culture

We highly recommend two nights in the San Blas islands, as one night is not enough to learn about and observe marine ecosystems AND the Kuna culture. Today the will tour a neighboring island where there is a Kuna village. Here, you will learn about their ancient culture and traditions. (BLD)

 

Day 8: (Saturday): El Valle and the Secondary, Very Humid Tropical Forest

Flight back to Panama City and then surface transfer to El Valle de Anton. At 1,900 feet above sea level, El Valle is located in the crater of an extinct volcano with its slopes covered by tropical rainforest and crossed by rivers.  We will visit the "El Macho Waterfall" and hike through a tropical rainforest, appreciating the dense vegetation, and numerous bird and animal species.  We will visit the zoo and botanical garden of El Nispero, where there are several endemic and endangered species, like the Golden Frog and multicolored macaws. Then a small museum with pre-Colombian pottery and colonial antiques. We will see “square trees” and petroglyphs, anthropomorphous images and symbols yet to be deciphered by anthropologists.  Finally, we will visit the arts & crafts market. Optional: Canopy Adventure, a tour in the canopy on 65 meters of cable hung between trees (Price per person: $40.00). Transfer to Panama and overnight at Hotel Marbella or similar. Dinner will be included. (BLD)

 

Day 9:  Departure from Panama! Transfer to the International Airport approximately two hours before your flight’s scheduled departure time. (B)

  

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