Panama Family Adventure

Day 1: Panama City

Welcome at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City where you are met and transferred to overnight at Finesterre Executive Apartments.

Accommodations: Marriott Executive Apartments

Day 2: Embera Indigenous People

Morning departure to board a motorized piragua (dugout canoe) for the journey to the Embera indigenous village on the shores of the Gatun River. On the shore you may spot iguanas, heron, great egret and neotropical cormorants, along with keel-billed toucans and ospreys flying overhead. At the Embera village you are greeted with dance and song as an introduction to learning the customs and lifestyle of these native people. They share their handicrafts and you have a chance to be painted with the traditional jagua, a natural dye the Embera use to adorn their bodies. After a traditional Embera lunch you head back to your hotel, a thought-provoking contrast from the thatched-roof jungle village you just visited, for relaxed time around the pool. A variety of restaurants are available within walking distance for you to explore local fare.

Accommodations: Marriott Executive Apartments

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3: Chiriqui Highlands - Boquete - River Rafting

Depart to Albrook domestic airport for your flight to David, capital of the Chiriqui province, in western Panama. Chiriqui is the country’s fertile “breadbasket”, dominated by spectacular volcanoes that provided fertile farmlands and lush cloud forests, some of the most breathtaking highland scenery and spectacular views in Central America. This afternoon you experience the rushing waters of the highlands on your choice of a calm float trip or easy but exciting rafting adventure on the famous rivers of Chiriqui (Choice of rivers depends on the age of the participants and experience of each family.)

Accommodations: Hotel Finca Lerida

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4: Canopy Zip Line, Horseback Riding or Waterfall Hike

Start the day flying high in the rainforest on a canopy zip line that gives you a close-up, aerial view of the highland forest from fourteen different canopy platforms while soaring smoothly through the sky from one treetop to another! Gliding through the treetops is a fun way to experience the most diverse part of the habitat in the canopy where most of the birds, insects, and mammals of the rainforest live. Lunch is served in a mountain restaurant with amazing views over the valley and the surrounding cloud forest. There is a robust farming and equine culture in this part of Panama where beautiful horses are bred. In the afternoon you meet a local cowboy to learn about horses and ride into Chiriqui's mountains and valleys, fertile farmlands, and cloud forests, crossing pristine streams and rising to a majestic hilltop view of the Pacific Ocean and Baru Volcano. If you prefer not to ride there is a beautiful walk to a pristine 100 foot waterfall.

Accommodations: Hotel Finca Lerida

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5: Ngobe Bugle Cacao Farm & Cooking class - Bocas Del Toro

Pack your belongings and depart on the 3 ½ hour drive across the Continental Divide of the isthmus of Central America. En route stop to view the impressive Fortuna Dam and spectacular waterfalls. The transition from cloud forest to lowland rain forest is impressive. En route you stop to visit the Oreba cacao plantation where a local Ngobe Bugle guide and equips you with a walking stick to help maneuver across plantation trails walking amongst indigenous houses to the plantation. Here you learn about one of the world´s finest 100% pure chocolates and each step from planting, growing, harvesting, fermenting, drying, and production of the actual chocolate. Your guide will also share traditional knowledge about the local medicinal plants and their uses for the indigenous community. Oreba Chocolate is considered by Swiss experts to be one of the finest chocolates in the world. Before heading on to Colon Island, you share a traditional meal of local roots and tasty chicken prepared in a favorite recipe.

Upon arrival at the Caribbean coast in Almirante, board a water taxi for the 45 minute boat ride wending through small mangrove islands to Colon Island. After a brief orientation to your new island home in the Caribbean, enjoy relaxed time in the hammocks on the upstairs deck of the Bocas Inn or mingle with the locals in the small friendly town. Later this afternoon join Orlando a local Chef who will immerse you into a world of exotic Caribbean cooking….enjoy!

Accommodations: Bocas Inn

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Days 6 & 7: Exploring Bocas Del Toro

Depart by boat from the Bocas Inn dock traversing the expanse of Bastimentos National Park, Panama's first marine national park. Reach Salt Creek navigating through clusters of red mangroves, which provide a nursery for sea creatures during their reproductive and developmental stages. Walking along the Caiman Trail leads through several stages of lowland forest where you look for birds, and mammals such as night monkeys, white-faced capuchins monkeys, and three-toed sloths. A nearby lagoon is home to spectacled caiman and slider turtles. On the ground, look for the tiny endemic poison dart frog. The hike leads to an indigenous Ngobe Bugle community where you have a chance to purchase handicrafts such as painted woodcarvings and Ngobe handbags, followed by a delicious lunch. Heading out to palm-fringed and white sand cayes in the afternoon, you snorkel among mangroves and coral reefs on the lookout for colorful tropical fish, as well as dynamic and brightly colored sea fans, sponges, and brittle starfish.

The following day take to boat to Swan’s Caye, a rock protruding from the depths of the Caribbean Sea, which serves as rookery for red-billed tropic birds—this is the only place in Panama you can find them—and brown boobies. You also enjoy the time to swim and explore on the beach at Boca del Drago and search for colorful giant starfish. On your return back to the lodge you make stops at coral reefs and mangrove isles for snorkeling.

Accommodations: Bocas Inn

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8: Pirates, Panama Canal Locks & Jungle Boat Expedition

An early morning flight takes you back to Panama City whereupon you head straight away to the Miraflores Locks Visitors Center at the Panama Canal where you learn about the canal’s amazing history and get a close-up view of ships passing through. A farewell lunch at the visitor center offers a breathtaking view of 5,000+ ton vessels rising and dropping as they transit through the locks connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Take a walk around Casco Viejo, the colonial section of the city which dates back to the 17th century. This refurbished and protected part of the city reflects Panama’s colorful history when Spanish explorers and conquistadors passed through transporting gold from South America to Spain attracting pirates the likes of which included Captain Morgan and many others.

At the Gamboa docks board a small expedition boat across Gatun Lake in the Panama Canal passing by rainforest-covered islands where you find white-faced capuchin, howler monkey, spider monkey, and the endemic red-napped tamarin. You’ll likely spot green iguanas and three-toed sloth resting on tree branches, crocodiles, keel-billed toucans along with many other birds, and gigantic cargo ships transiting the waterway.

Accommodations: Marriott Executive Apartments

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch