DAY 1 | ARRIVAL – PANAMA CITY

Arrival to Panama City. Pick up at the airport by our guide who will help with the transfer to the Hotel in the city, about 30 minutes away. The guide will also provide important information regarding the rest of trip. 

Overnight stay.

MEALS: – / – / –

 DAY 2| FULL DAY PANAMA CITY WITH SPECIAL FORTALEZA WALKING TOUR AT SUNSET

The tour starts at the Panama Canal, a magnificent work of engineering, actually the greatest and most expensive human feat of the time. After 30/40 minutes of route, you will reach the Visitor Center of Miraflores Locks, from which you will be able to see closely the ships moving along the canal, and the way it operates.

Forthwith, you will visit the Amador Causeway, which offers one of the city’s most spectacular panoramic views. Afterwards, you will make a brief visit at Mercado de Abasto [wholesale marketplace], the city’s largest fruit and vegetable market, where you will find the best products of the country. Lunch will be served in one of the unsophisticated and typical restaurants of the traditional Seafood Market of the city (only fish dishes are offered).

The tour continues in the Old Quarter of Panama City, the historic center of San Felipe declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997, thanks to its eclectic fusion of colonial, neoclassic and French architecture

 Under the catch phrase “We used to rob tourists before, now we offer them tours”, a group of young former gangsters from the fearsome criminal group known as Ciudad de Dios [City of God] tell tourists their story during a walk around the streets of the historic center which were declared red-light districts years before. The walk starts at Plaza Herrera, in front of the luxurious American Trade Hotel which worked previously as a base for the criminal group Ciudad de Dios and from where gangsters used to keep an eye on tourists in order to rob them.

The hotel’s structure was known as Grayskull, the imaginary castle of the 80’s TV show He-man. During the walk, they will tell you episodes and anecdotes from those violent years while describing important buildings and going over forgotten footways that have not been restructured between Calle 9 [9th Street] and Calle 13 [13th Street]. The walk ends in Calle 11 [11th Street], rebaptized under the name of Callejón Fortaleza [Fortaleza Alley], a little dead-end street where the criminal group used to escape from the police.

Overnight stay.

MEALS: B / L / –

DAY 3| VISIT TO THE EMBERA QUERA INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY AND RETURN BY TRAIN

After breakfast, transfer service of approximately one hour to the little pier of Gatún River, few minutes away from Buena Vista, where you will board a pirogue, a motor canoe, to arrive to the community of Emberá Quera, located at Gatún River’s mouth.

During the journey of approximately forty minutes, you will be able to see in detail the splendid jungle and if you are lucky, its monkeys, butterflies, herons and turtles. Upon your arrival, you will be received by the Indian Chief of the community who will tell you the history of the Tribe and its cultural wealth. The visit to the community will finish and you will go over a little island inhabited by monkeys. Afterwards, a typical lunch will be served to you and you will enjoy a folkloric show with traditional music and dances.

In the afternoon, transfer to the railroad station where you will take train of ancient railway cars to Panama City. Panama’s railroad was built during the time of The California Gold Rush for the purpose of shortening the course from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The railroad borders the canal and passes along the historic Culebra Cut and the magnificent Gatún Lake –whose waters-, traverses the area’s lush vegetation.

After the tour finishes, transfer to Gamboa.

MEALS: B / L / –

 DAY 4| GAMBOA

After breakfast at the Hotel, transfer to Gamboa for a HD excursion.

Experience the magic of the virgin rainforest of Gamboa, ascending some 280 feet from the shadowy forest floor through the dense undergrowth and up to the sun-drenched canopy with its thousand shades of green that are only interrupted by the vibrant colors of flowering trees, this the first and only tram in Panama. Colorful birds and butterflies are abundant here, and you might also encounter sloth tor white-faced capuchin monkeys and hear the howler monkey cry out in the distance.

After the tour you will visit the orquidearium, butterfly house, fresh water aquarium and snake house. This area is a sanctuary for the native flora and fauna. It is easy to see monkeys, toucans, alligators, and turtles.

MEALS: B / – / –

 DAY 5| GAMBOA – BOQUETE

After breakfast, transfer to the airport of Albrook in order to take a flight to David, where the guide will pick you up and help you with the transfer to the Hotel in Boquete.

In the afternoon, get to discover the coffee and Lerida Farm’s history, which dates back to the year 1911 when Sir Toleff Mönniche, one of the Norwegian Engineers who worked in the construction and design of the Panama Canal. In 1924, he built his first Coffee Farm. Later in time, in 1929, he began to export Panamanian coffee to Germany and he made of this place a mandatory tourist reference point. The route stars with a walk by the coffee plantations where their microclimate and variety are essential in order to reach excellence levels. Afterwards, you will visit the areas where the pulp is removed from coffee cherries; they are dried out and roasted. At the end, there will be a coffee tasting within which its scent, aroma and character are merged while creating a perfect balance of sweet and bitter tastes and blending.

Overnight stay at Finca Lerida.

MEALS: B / – / –

 DAY 6 I BOQUETE – FULL DAY QUETZAL TRAIL TREK CERRO PUNTA/BOQUETE

After breakfast, get the time to discover the famous Quetzal trail. This adventure starts with the transfer to Cerro Punta from which you will begin to walk, specifically in the station of Anam de El Respingo Cerro Punta.

Straightaway, you will continue along the trails of the rainforest; home to 250 bird species and ideal for bird watching, specially, because of the peculiar species, among which is the resplendent quetzal; venerated by the Mayans and Aztecs as it represented the god of the heaven. During the hike, you will observe its lush flora with interlaced trees where bromeliads of prehistoric aspect, a great variety of orchids and millenary forests raise, where tree branches are filled with moss and epiphytes. When vegetation splits up, you will be able to contemplate beautiful views of the mountain range and particularly in clear days, you will be even able to contemplate the Caribbean Sea.

The tour continues by the course of Caldera River which will be crossed to reach the forest ranger base of Alto Chiquero.

Overnight stay at Finca Lerida.

MEALS: B / L / –

 DAY 7| BOQUETE – BOCA CHICA

After breakfast, get to discover the enchanted Gulf of Chiriquí. Starting in the morning with the transfer of approximately one hour and a half from Boquete to Boca del Mar, a small town of fishermen located at the edge of the magnificent Gulf of Chiriquí National Marine Park.

Afterwards, you will set sail from the port to begin a journey where you will discover its deserted islands and islets, dream beaches, unspoiled nature and amazing fauna. The park, founded in 1994 in order to protect 148 kilometers [91.96 miles] in length of barrier reefs and marine ecosystems. It is also famous for its distant and lonely beaches of white sand, surrounded by crystalline water where it is possible to swim among multiple tropical fish, an additional attraction for snorkeling and nature lovers, also you will have some relaxing time at the beach.

Overnight stay at Finca Lerida.

MEALS: B / L / –

 DAY 8 | BOQUETE – BOCAS DEL TORO

Breakfast at the hotel.

Leaving the hotel early in the morning, you will be transferred to Almirante, Bocas del Toro. Then you will take a boat to Colon Island.  After, you will be transferred to your hotel.

MEALS: B/-/-

 DAY 9 I BOCAS DEL TORO

Departing from the charming Bocas Town pier, this excursion invites to visit the Oreba Farm, famous for its cocoa production in the native Ngäbe community of Rio Oeste.This tour will take you through the process of organic cocoa production cultivated under the tree shades, accompanied by a guide who will explain all the steps including cultivation, harvesting, fermentation, drying, roasting and finally making chocolate. The tour is conducted by a local Ngäbe guide, and includes an adventure hike through the dense forest to reach the cocoa farm, while the guide explains the process, and luckily you will see a variety of wildlife like frogs, sloths and birds. The highlight of the tour is when local women teach visitors how to make chocolate the way they have been doing for centuries. All these activities take place within the farm, in an open traditional ranch with palm-frond roof, which makes the demonstration of chocolate manufacturing even more special. The tour ends with a traditional Ngäbe meal based on fresh local ingredients such as vegetables, roots, rice and chicken.

Overnight stay at Playa Tortuga Hotel & Beach Resort.

MEALS: B/-/-

 DAY 10 I BOCAS DEL TORO – PANAMA CITY

At Schedule time you will be transferred to Bocas del Toro Domestic Airport to take to Panama City.  Arrival and transfer to Tocumen International Airport for international connection.

MEALS: B/-/-