Our trip begins in Panama City, where we’ll tour the locks of the Panama Canals, the ruins of the old city, and learn about the history of this modern Central American city. After an introduction to the culture and nature of Panama in Chagres National Park, we’ll head to the beautiful highlands on the slopes of Volcan Baru. We’ll explore this incredibly diverse cloudforest region abundant with clear streams, lovely floral gardens, and spectacular bird life on several hikes. From there, we’ll fly to Bocas del Toro, where we’ll relax on the beach and explore the mangroves and jungle-covered islands. The Nature Conservancy helped eleven indigenous communities in the Bocas del Toro region to create an umbrella organization, ADEPESCO, to lead conservation efforts, establish guidelines for natural resources conservation, identify alternatives to over-fishing and monitor populations of key species. Lastly, we’ll have an additional night in Panama City to ease ourselves back into urban life, as we tour the Metropolitan Park, visit craft markets, and have dinner during a traditional folkloric ballet performance. An optional 5-day extension is also available with our local Panamanian tour operator to the magnificent marine protected area of La Coiba National Park.
Itinerary
Day 1 - Arrival in Panama City
Your Emerald Planet (MEA member) trip leader will meet you at the Panama City Airport and we'll transfer to Hotel Country Inn Amador - a hotel in the heart of the Canal Zone, with a great view of the ships heading into and out of the Canal's locks.
Overnight: Hotel Country Inn Amador, Panama City
Day 2 - City and Canal Tour
We will have a trip orientation after a continental breakfast at the Hotel. Explore Panama City and learn about the history of pirates and conquistadors in this "Path Between the Seas". We'll walk the ruins of the first city founded by the Spanish and attacked by pirate Henry Morgan, then walk the Old Quarters, and visit the museum and Miraflores Locks Visitor Center. Dinner will be in a restaurant overlooking the locks.
Overnight: Hotel Country Inn Amador, Panama City
Day 3 - Chagres National Park/Indian Village
After breakfast visit a paradise in its purest form. We will leave Panama City in the morning for a ride in a "piragua" (a native boat) along the route commonly used by the Indians for their daily transport along the Chagres River. Then hike through the forest with a local expert indigenous guide who will explain the botanical aspects of the trail and the culture of this authentic Chocoe-Embera village. In the village, members of the community will share their culture with us through dances, rituals, and food. You will have the opportunity to partake in "jagua" body painting with vegetable ink. Return to Panama City in the late afternoon.
Overnight: Hotel Country Inn Amador, Panama City
Day 4 - Chiriqui cloudforest - Boquete
After breakfast, we'll fly to David in the western province of Chiriqui, bordering Costa Rica. Upon arrival, transfer by van to Cerro Punta, a picturesque town in the highlands near Boquete. We'll check into Hotel Los Quetzales, a beautiful lodge surrounded by verdant cloudforest with excellent birding opportunities nearby. Our best chance to witness the resplendent quetzal will be in this area. This afternoon we'll hike in La Amistad National Park, at the edge of TNC's La Amistad/Bocas del Toro conservation area, which connects high mountains, low-lying wetlands, mangrove islands and coral reefs.
Overnight: Hotel Los Quetzales, Boquete
Day 5 - Exploring natural Boquete
After breakfast and optional birding, we will hike one of the most beautiful trails in Central America. Walk through different elevations and landscapes, with the opportunity to see a variety of tree, plant and bird species, including the resplendent quetzal, the silvery-fronted tapaculo, silvery-throated jay, black-faced solitaire and the barred becard. This hike is around 3-4 hours and is for people in good physical condition. Or spend a leisurely morning relaxing at the lovely Hotel Los Quetzales and tour the town of Boquete. An afternoon visit to hot springs is possible depending on time.
Overnight: Villa Marita Lodge, Boquete
Day 6 - Bocas del Toro
After a leisurely morning, we'll transfer to David for a flight to Bocas del Toro. Located in the northwestern corner of Panama, the marine archipelago of Bocas del Toro includes numerous remote, jungle-covered islands and mangrove keys. Upon arrival, our local host will help us transfer to our hotel. We'll have the afternoon to relax and walk on the beach before meeting with our local TNC partner organization ADEPESCO before dinner. The Nature Conservancy assisted eleven indigenous communities in the Bocas del Toro region to create an this umbrella organization to lead conservation efforts, establish guidelines for natural resources conservation, identify alternatives to over-fishing and monitor populations of key species.
Overnight: Hotel Al Natural
Day 7 - Bocas del Toro
Today we will enjoy a private tour to Bastimentos Marine National Park (BMNP). The park covers 32,700 acres, of which 28,600 acres are marine. Because of its geographical isolation, the wildlife of the Bocas del Toro archipelago includes a variety of species unique to the region. This includes the red frog on Isla Bastimentos, which belongs to a family of frogs whose skin produces venom used by the Pre-Colombian Indians to poison their arrows, 3 species of sea turtles, and over 350 bird species - 27 of which are North American migrants such as the wood thrush, prothonotary warbler, and the magnolia warbler. Bocas del Toro lowlands are also an important flyway for Swainson's hawks, Mississippi kites, scarlet tanagers, and purple martins. We will also visit Swan's Key, the home of the only Panamanian colony of the rare red-billed tropicbird.
Overnight: Hotel Al Natural
Day 8 - Bocas del Toro
This will be a free day for relaxation on the beach. It is also an excellent opportunity to take advantage of optional lodge activities - snorkeling, hiking, kayaking, etc.
Overnight: Hotel Al Natural
Day 9 - Panama City
After breakfast, transfer to a local airport for your return flight to Panama City. Upon arrival, transfer to the Hotel Country Inn Amador and spend the rest of the day exploring Panama City's Metropolitan park and shopping at craft markets.
Overnight: Hotel Country Inn Amador, Panama City
Day 10 - Depature
Fly back to the US from Panama City.
Optional extension - La Coiba Island National Park
December 17 - 21, 2007, $875 per person, minimum of 4 people required
Overview
La Coiba National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the southern portion of the Veraguas province. Comprised of a group of islands with a total surface area of 650,000 acres (only 20% of which is terrestrial), the park is one of the most extensive marine parks in the world. The island is mainly forested and is home to at least 4 endemic species of birds and mammals, including the scarlet macaw. The conservation status of the island is largely due to the establishment of a penal colony in 1919. However, the colony is scheduled to close at the end of this year and the future protected status of Coiba is unclear. The Nature Conservancy is working on a co-management plan for the park, as well as the creation of an endowment fund to procure long-term financial resources and implement conservation action.
Day 11 - Transfer to Santa Catalina
You will be picked up early in the morning from our hotel in Panama City for the overland transfer to Santa Catalina (approximately 5 hours). We will stop in route for lunch and other points of interest.
Overnight: Santa Catalina Cabins
Day 12 - Coiba National Park
We will have an early morning transfer to Santa Catalina Beach (1 hour) followed by a boat tour and transfer to Coiba Island. The waters surrounding the island are ideal for snorkeling and our local guide will help us discover a variety of tropical species such as white-tipped reef sharks and manta rays on the extensive coral reef. Diving is also an option for those who are interested. We'll return in the late afternoon with time to relax on the beach before dinner.
Overnight: ANAM Station, La Coiba Island
Day 13 - Coiba National Park
After breakfast we will explore one of the park's hiking trails, with opportunities to see howler monkeys, lance-tail manakins, and other birds of interest. Our local guide will be available to explain various aspects of neotropical ecology on our approximately two-hour hike. In the afternoon we will visit one of the beautiful surrounding beaches on Coiba Island to swim, relax, and have a delicious late lunch.
Overnight: ANAM Station, La Coiba Island
Day 14 - Return to Panama City
After a leisurely breakfast we will depart the island by boat
for Puerto Mutis and then onto Panama City by land.
Overnight: Hotel Country Inn Amador, Panama City
Day 15 - Return home
Transfer to the Panama City airport and return home.
Logistical Details
The Natural History of Panama
December 7-16, 2007
Trip Details:
This trip covers a wide variety of activities. We will be both on foot and in boats, and the possibility of rain always exists. We are, however, visiting during the dry season and we hope for good weather throughout the trip. The accommodations in Panama City will have air conditioning and private baths, the accommodations outside Panama will have private bath and fans.
Financial Arrangements:
The fee for the tour is $3250 per person based on double occupancy. Single rates are an additional $595. This price includes: a detailed pre-trip packet including a reading list, country bird list, packing suggestions, and background reading and conservation project information; all food, three meals per day, from dinner on Day 1 to breakfast on Day 10; all lodging for 9 nights during the tour; ground transportation; in country airfares, and guide services provided by the tour leader and local expert guides. The tour fee does not include international airfare, alcoholic beverages, special gratuities, phone calls, passport fees, airport departure taxes or items of a personal nature. Rates are based upon group tariffs; if the group does not have sufficient registration a small party supplement may have to be charged. International flight arrangements (not included) for this tour can be made through your local travel agent or on-line through your preferred travel booking service. Recommendations for the appropriate flights to take in order to easily meet up with the group.
Tour Size:
This tour will be strictly limited to a maximum of 16 participants and a minimum of 10 participants. Sign up early in order to secure your space.
Tour Registration:
To register for the tour, complete the enclosed registration form and return it with a deposit of $500 per person. Full payment of the tour fee is due ninety days prior to the tour departure (September 7, 2007). If you have any questions please contact Katherine King of Emerald Planet (970-231-4890 or toll-free, 888-883-0736).
Travel Documents:
A US passport valid beyond your anticipated date of return to the US and tourist card (available on flight or upon arrival in Panama) is required. Currently no visas or immunization certificates are required. Those with foreign passports should contact the Embassy of Panama for details.
Cancellation Policy:
Refunds are made according to the following schedule: If cancellation is made ninety days or more before departure date, the deposit less $150 is refundable. If cancellation is made between eighty-nine and seventy days before departure date, the deposit is not refundable, but any payments covering the balance of the fee will be refunded. If cancellation is made sixty-nine days or less before departure date, no refund is available except for amounts recoverable through our agents. We recommend that you purchase trip cancellation insurance to protect yourself. Trip cancellation insurance can be arranged through Travel Insured International by calling 1-800-243-3174 or by visiting www.travelinsured.com. Insurance can also be arranged through CSA Vacation Guarantee by calling 1-800-645-5926 or by visiting www.csatravelprotections.com.
Responsibility:
Emerald Planet, The Nature Conservancy, and/or their Agents act only as agents for the passenger in regard to travel, whether by railroad, motorcar, motorcoach, boat, or airplane and assume no liability for injury, damage, loss, accident, delay, or irregularity which may be occasioned either by reason of defect in any vehicle or for any reason whatsoever, or through the acts or default of any company or person engaged in conveying the passenger or in carrying out the arrangements of the tour. They can accept no responsibility for losses or additional expenses due to delay or changes in air or other services, sickness, weather, strike, war, quarantine, or other causes. All such losses or expenses will have to be borne by the passenger as tour rates provide for arrangements only for the time stated. The right is reserved to substitute hotels of similar category for those indicated and to make any changes in the itinerary where deemed necessary or caused by changes in air schedules. The right is reserved to cancel any tour prior to departure, in which case full refund will constitute full settlement to the passenger. No refund will be made for any unused portion of the tour. The right is reserved to decline to accept or to retain any person as a member of the tour. Baggage is at owners risk entirely.
Health Precautions:
For comprehensive health information, please contact the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on the Internet at http://www.cdc.gov/travel or by phone at 1-877-394-8747 (traveler's health hotline). The CDC information is a comprehensive listing of any disease reported in a particular region or state. We have not had any problems with diseases; however, you may need to discuss with your physician what is best for you individually. If you have any questions please consult your physician. For general information about Panama please refer to the Consular Information sheet: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_994.html. Please check with your medical insurance provided to make sure that your insurance covers you while you are abroad. Several companies can provide additional international insurance as well as emergency evacuation insurance. See MEDEX for an example of one such provider: http://www.medexassist.com/ or 1-410-453-6300.
For more information about this trip contact:
Katherine King
Emerald Planet Tours
1706 Constitution Court
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Phone: 970-231-4890
Toll-free: 888-883-0736
E-mail: katking@emeraldplanet.com
Website: www.emeraldplanet.com
To sign up for an experience of a lifetime, please fill out and return the registration form.
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