Panama City, Boquete and Bocas del Toro

MORNING

Overnight Flight to Panama City

MORNING

Arrive in Panama City and transfer to Hotel. After our morning meal we will start out day with an excursion to the Panama Canal.

Panama Canal: we will make our way to the Miraflores Visitor Center, which offers a number of exhibits and movies introducing and explaining the incredible engineering marvel that is the Panama Canal. Most importantly, the Visitor Center offers observation decks, where we can watch mammoth ocean liners maneuver the narrow waterways of the canal as gates open, close, and fill up along the way. We will also have time here to eat lunch at the restaurant and/or snack bar while overlooking the canal.

AFTERNOON 

Tour of the old city, Casco Antiguo, also known as Casco Viejo, or the ‘old quarter,” is Panama City’s historic district. Considered a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site, the district dates back to 1673, and features vibrant plazas and picturesque brick-paved streets surrounded by colorful buildings.

EVENING

Group dinner

MORNING/AFTERNOON

Copa or Air Panama to David. Morning flight – arrive in David 10am If afternoon flight arrive at 5PM

After our arrival we will transfer to Cerro Punta, check into our accommodations and have lunch.

After Lunch we will visit an Eco-Reserve,  where we will hike to beautiful waterfalls, in the Sendero de Las minas. After our hike we will visit the Humming Bird Garden and have an opportunity to learn about the Colibri Bird.

EVENING

Group dinner and debrief

MORNING/AFTERNOON

After our morning breakfast  we will pack a day bag and head out for an adventure  and hiking. Our day will begin in Los Senderos Quetzales, translated to the Quetzal Trail.

We will explore this trail  is in the Volcan Baru National Park, which will give us a great opportunity to spot the elusive Quetzal bird. The Quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala as it plays an important role in numerous types of Meso-American mythology. Additionally, the Quetzal is a very striking bird with impressive green feathers on its back while on its front it is covered in striking red feathers. The Quetzal also has a long tail.

EVENING

Group dinner and group discussion/debrief

MORNING

Pack our bangs, load our 4×4 trucks and transfer to Mount Totumas Cloud Forest which is at 1900m. The property where we will be staying is  located on a 400 acre reserve that directly borders La Amistad National Park, Central America’s largest highland preserved wilderness.

We will explore  the many endemic and keystone species of flora and fauna of this increasingly endangered habitat.

After we unload we will visit a local coffee plantation which specializes in Geisha Coffee.

AFTERNOON

Hiking and waterfalls visit and hot springs.

EVENING

Group dinner and discussion.

MORNING/AFTERNOON

After breakfast we will board our private 4×4 vehicles  and travel to Punta Robalo.  once we arrive we will take a private boat in small groups to Isla Bastimentos where we will spend the next three nights.

The northwest coast of the island is home to palm-fringed beaches that serve as nesting grounds for sea turtles, while most of the northern and southern coasts consist of mangrove islands and coral reefs that lie within the boundaries of the Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos.

The eco lodge where we will spend the next three days is meaningfully involved in the  local community and respectful of our neighbours. They document their journey and share what they learn with guests, scientists and locals,  promoting regeneration to everyone they touch.

EVENING

Dinner, Orientation, Night hike  and group discussion

MORNING

Early morning bird watching excursion.

After our birding workshop  e will explore Mangroves and learn about their importance in our eco systems. We will learn first hand how deforestation/development, pollution, climate change, over fishing, pollution and tourism have impacted this delicate system.

AFTERNOON

Snorkeling excursion around Isla Bastimentos.

In the later afternoon students will have an opportunity to climb the 100ft observation  tower located directly in the eco lodge property. The wildlife and views of the forest canopy from the tower are absolutely incredible, but the natural history lesson alone is worth the ascent. From Volcan Baru’s 11,400’ peak in the cloud forest of the Talamanca mountain range, down the slope of Western Panama to the coral reefs beneath the Caribbean’s surface, every life zone known to the tropics can be seen from this single vantage point above the forest’s canopy.

EVENING

Group dinner and discussion.

MORNING

Bird Watching and tower look out.

AFTERNOON

After lunch we will After breakfast we will travel by boat to Bocas del Toro. Where we will have some time to explore this small quaint town.

In the late afternoon we will board a local flight and land in Marcos A. Gelbert airport before transferring to our hotel for  near the Tocumen international airpot.

EVENING

Group dinner and final discussion.

depart home.