PANAMA CITY & AZUERO PENINSULA

DAY 1 | PANAMA CITY

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

Overnight stay.

MEALS: ‐ / ‐ / ‐

 DAY 2| FULL DAY MIRAFLORES LOCKS & PANAMA VIEW w/LUNCH

After breakfast at the hotel, the tour starts at the Panama Canal, a magnificent work of engineering, 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 Causeway Amador.

The tour ends at 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. This stop includes a walk in the streets, squares and gravel roads and a visit of emblematic colonial buildings, churches, and palaces.

Overnight stay.

MEALS: B / L / ‐

 DAY 3| FULL DAY EMBERÁ QUERA COMMUNITY w/LUNCH

After breakfast, the tour starts with a transfer 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 and that of its traditions.

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.

Overnight stay.

MEALS: B / L / ‐

DAY 4| PANAMA CITY – CHITRE

After breakfast at the Hotel, private transfer to Albrook National Airport, pick up at Chitre Airport to take you to Cubita Boutique Hotel & Resort.

In the afternoon, visit San Isidro Farm in half a day, where the best rum of Panama is produced, Ron Abuelo. The route starts with the visit to an ancient colonial house belonging to the distillery’s founder, Mr. José Varela; one of the several young immigrants who came from Spain in 1906 and established the first Panamanian sugar mill at the fertile valley of Pesé which is an optimum one to grow sugarcane. In 1936, he began to distill the sugarcane juice in order to produce liquors. Since then, his passion, dedication and experience have been passed down through three generations which have insisted on keeping the tradition, always using the best ingredients, and carrying out the aging process while respecting the refining process time of this famous rum. The route continues along the plantations and at the farm mill where you will see the different stages of the production process.

Firstly, you will see the juice extraction, then, its fermentation and its distillation. Later on, while going over the farm’s seedy bars, you will see the rum maturing process which is done in little oak casks until it reaches different standards that are commercialized: Ron Abuelo Añejo, Ron Abuelo 7‐Year‐Old Rum and Ron Abuelo 12-Year-Old Rum, and Ron Abuelo Centuria that is aged up to 30 years. At the end of the route, you will taste some types of rums through which you will sense their scent, aroma and intensity and you will also enjoy a typical Panamanian lunch during the tour.

Overnight stay.

MEALS: B / L / ‐

 DAY 5| FD ISLA IGUANA

Go over Isla Iguana during the entire day. The tour starts with the transfer service to Playa El Arenal, located in the colorful small town of Pedasí where you will board a powerboat, which will take you to Isla Iguana, eight kilometers away from the coast. In 1981, The Isla Iguana Wildlife Refuge was created for the purpose of protecting fifty hectares of sea and land territory. The island is the habitat of a vast colony of man‐of‐war birds, pelicans, woodcocks, very colorful crabs and green iguanas.

Between April and September, five species of sea turtles arrive to the beachside in order to deposit their eggs. The island is a real paradise for sea lovers. It has white‐sand beaches, crystalline waters and sixteen hectares of barrier reef protecting seventeen species of corals and more than 350 species of tropical fish. You will go on a walk along the pathway joining the beaches of El Faro and El Cirial where you will have regard for their lush flora and fauna.

Immediately afterwards, you will discover the wonderful submarine world by exploring the area in a guided snorkeling tour. You will have a snack (water, a sandwich, and biscuits) during the tour and you will have some relaxing time at the beach. Later, you will go back to Pedasí where you will have lunch and you will finally be transferred to the hotel. Overnight stay.

MEALS: B / L / ‐

 DAY 6| HALF DAY SEA TURTLE WATCHING ECO TOUR 

Breakfast at the hotel. The tour starts in the afternoon with the shuttle service to the Cañas pier where you will board a powerboat which will take you to Isla Cañas. From July to January, its 8.6992 miles of seashore receive thousands of turtles, predominantly, olive ridley sea turtles that arrive to deposit their eggs.

An interesting sustainable tourist project is being undertaken in the island. It arose after turtle’s eggs production and commercialization for human consumption were forbidden; that represented, along with fishing, the sole income source of the local population. Upon your arrival to the island, dinner will be served, prepared by local ladies.

Afterwards, aboard a cart pulled by horses, you will reach the beach where you will see in detail turtles depositing their eggs or turtles coming out of their shells. You should pay close attention to the guide’s indications to disturb the turtles as little as possible. Finally, return to the Hotel. Overnight stay.

MEALS: B / ‐ / D

 DAY 7| CHITRE – PANAMA CITY

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Chitre airport in order to take a short flight back to the city. Pick up at Albrook Airport by the guide who will assist you and take you to Tocumen International Airport.

MEALS: B / ‐ / ‐