Cross the historic Chagres River to the old Las Cruces Town site.Then walk up to the forested ridge to the historic Las Cruces Trail. The Gold of the Incan Empire crossed Panama on its way to Spain along the cobblestones of the Las Cruces Trail. Along that forested path you can still hear sounds that were heard by Balboa and Morgan. You can see the forested Panama of the Conquistadors five hundred years ago. Las Cruces Trail National Park is a corridor of 4,000 hectares that links the forested zones between the Metropolitan Nature Park and the Soberania National Park. A great variety of flora and fauna is found between the two major cities of the Republic. The Panamanian tamarin, two-toed and three-toed sloths, and howler monkeys are among the attractions of this endangered zone. The advantage of this area is the very thing that threatens it the most: proximity to urban areas.
An interpretative specialist will focus on tropical rainforest ecology and the local and regional history of the Las Cruces Trail and town site. The bilingual naturalist guide will share forest lore, identify the birds, animals, and plants found along the way and will explain the importance of Las Cruces Trail in Panama history.

Availability:Daily
Duration:4 hours
Includes: Transportation, and English/ Spanish- Speaking tour guide.What to bring:Comfortable clothes and shoes (sneakers or hiking shoes) long pants, hat, camera and binocular. Some insects are possible so please bring mosquito repellent.
This tour involves a hike in the shade of the forest.

Enjoy a ride on the aerial tram, which traverses a mile long tract of Humid Forest that lies within the Gamboa Resort boundaries. You will be able to observe the forest canopy and are likely to encounter birds and hear Howler monkeys. The tram ascends 280 feet over half a mile and ends atop a hill. From here, those of you with some stamina, may walk two minutes to the observation tower (optional) this involves a climb of a 100 feet up a mildly inclined ramp, which is also wheelchair accessible.From the observation tower, you will get to observe great views of the Canal, the Chagres River as well as the surrounding forested areas of Soberania National Park and the town of Gamboa. The Tower is slightly less than 500 feet above sea level with most of this elevation attained by tram. On the return portion of the tram, you will descend the final half-mile back to the starting point.

Availability: from Tuesday to Saturday
Duration: 4 hours approximately
Includes: Transportation, Aerial Tram and Exhibits, Lunch at Gamboa Resort and English/ Spanish- Speaking tour guide.

What to bring: Comfortable clothes and shoes (sneakers or hiking shoes) long pants, hat, sunglasses, camera and binocular. Some insects are possible so please bring mosquito repellent.

The climb to the observation tower is moderately difficult, but people of most ages can do this climb.

Join this lake adventure of sight and sound. First, you will travel at high speed on a small boat northbound (Atlantic) on the canal for 25 minutes where you might come close to some of the big ships that transit the canal daily and then you will slow to a cruising speed. Slowly, you will motor along the forested banks of Gatun lake, also a protected area, and look for wildlife such as Capuchin Monkeys, 3 toed sloth, Howler Monkeys, various kinds of Toucans and other bird life. Then, you will dock along an old rehabilitated pier that served as a top-secret US Naval radio communications center until the end of World War II. Here, you walk up to a series of steps and along a 300-yard trail that leads to the ruins of this hidden military installation. This is a place to observe the raw regenerative power of the forest as it struggles to claim what was once wild.

Availabitlity: Daily
Duration: 4 hours approximately.Includes: Transportation, English/ Spanish- Speaking tour guide, and boat ride around the Gatun Lake
What to bring:Comfortable clothes and shoes (sneakers or hiking shoes) long pants, hat, , mosquito repellent, sunglasses, camera and binocular.
This is a tour that almost anyone can do. You will spend most of our time in the boat except for the short hike into the old naval installation where there are several sets of stairs to climb. Overall rate: Moderate difficulty.

Kayak the historic Chagres River, where hundreds of '49ers' floated on their way to California during the Gold Rush.Dramatic rainforest scenery and lush aquatic vegetation combined with the raucous calls of water birds. Close to the shore`s edge, you will observe toucans feeding in a forest tree or iguanas sunning themselves high in the canopy. Regardless of the time of year, tropical waters are a comfortable temperature.

Availability: Daily
Duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes approximately
Includes: Private Transportation, use of kayak on the Chagres River and English/ Spanish- Speaking tour guide.
What to bring: Shorts, light T-Shirt, Tevas, sunglasses, baseball cap or hat. Bring spare clothes. Some insects are possible so please bring mosquito repellent articipants must have strength in the arms.

Enjoy a day cruise through the Panama Canal from Pacific to Atlantic. This option takes you through all three sets of Panama Canal locks, plus Miraflores and Gatun Lakes. You will also pass through the Gaillard Cut, where dynamite, steam shovel, and manpower dug out a waterway through the Continental Divide.During the three-hour passage through Gatun Lake you will have the opportunity to see the Gamboa homeport of the Dredging Division of the Panama Canal, and some of their interesting floating equipment, such as floating cranes Herman the German and Hercules, dredges Rialto Christensen and Mindi,in addition to the lush jungle scenery and wildlife on the shoreline.Throughout the transit you will see the Canal at work in a way the one cannot see from a large cruise ship; tugs assisting in maneuvers, Locks locomotive operators and seamen, Canal Boatmen making wires fast from ship to locomotive. On arrival at Cristobal, the Panama Canal`s Atlantic terminus, a bus will be waiting to take you back across the Isthmus to the starting point.The geopolitical significance of Panama has been recognized since the early 1500s, when the Spanish monarchs considered digging a canal across the isthmus. United States interest, intensified in the 1850s by the California gold rush, resulted in the construction of a trans-isthmian railroad. In 1879 a French company under the direction of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, began constructing a canal in Panama. The project fell victim to disease, faulty design, and ultimately bankruptcy and was abandoned in 1889.
By the turn of the twentieth century, the United States had become convinced that a canal should be built to link the two oceans. In addition to the geographic advantages of the isthmus, President Theodore Roosevelt was attracted by the separatist tendencies of Panama, then a department of Colombia. When Panama rebelled against Colombia in 1903, Roosevelt deployed United States naval vessels to discourage the Colombian forces and proudly claimed the role of midwife at the birth of the Republic of Panama.In August 15, 1914 the passing of the SS Ancon officially opened the Panama Canal. At the time, no single effort in American history had exacted such a price in dollars or in human life. The American expenditures from 1904 to 1914 totaled $352,000,000, far more than the cost of anything built by the United States Government up to that time. Together the French and American expenditures totaled $639,000,000. It took 34 years from the initial effort in 1880 to actually open the Canal in 1914. It is estimated that over 80,000 persons took part in the construction and that over 30,000 lives were lost in both French and American efforts.
Some interesting facts: A ship traveling from New York to San Francisco can save 7,872 miles using the Panama Canal instead of going around South America. In the fiscal year 1994 there where 14,029 transits, which carried 170.8 million long tons of cargo and paid US $ 419.2 million in tolls. The highest Canal toll was US $ 141,344.91 paid by the Crown Princess and the lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton for swimming the Canal in 1928. The average time spent in transit from port to port is approx. 8 - 10 hours. Until the building of the Hoover Dam formed Lake Mead, Gatun Lake was the largest artificial body of water in the world.

Departure:7:30 a.m. from Pier 18 Balboa
Duration:The whole experience will take from 10 to 11 hours (according the Panama Canal Authority`s decision), depending on the traffic and the itinerary for that day.
Includes:Transfer from hotel in Playa Bonita round trip, Panama Canal Ocean to Ocean Transit on the Isla Morada or Fantasia del Mar vessel and bilingual commentary on the vessel`s PA throughout the transit.
What to bring:Comfortable clothes and shoes or sneakers. Don`t forget your camera!

Enjoy a day tour of the Panama Canal. Depart from your hotel to transit leaves pier 18, Balboa and head out to the Pacific entrance of the Canal, just outside Flamenco Island. Here, you will wait to be boarded by the Panama Canal Commission Pilot, who will guide you through the transit.

After this, you follow the companion vessel for the transit of the Miraflores locks (by Canal standards, this is a small vessel, so it rarely transits the locks alone). You will go through Miraflores Lake until reach Pedro Miguel Locks, and then through Pedro Miguel Locks and into the part of the Canal that is known as Gailard Cut (the most difficult part of the excavation during the construction of the Panama Canal). After this, you will return back to Pier 18, Balboa, where the guide will be waiting for you to transfer you back to the hotel.

The geopolitical significance of Panama has been recognized since the early 1500s, when the Spanish monarchs considered digging a canal across the isthmus.United States interest, intensified in the 1850s by the California gold rush, resulted in the construction of a trans-isthmian railroad. In 1879 a French company under the direction of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, began constructing a canal in Panama. The project fell victim to disease, faulty design, and ultimately bankruptcy and was abandoned in 1889.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the United States had become convinced that a canal should be built to link the two oceans. In addition to the geographic advantages of the isthmus, President Theodore Roosevelt was attracted by the separatist tendencies of Panama, then a department of Colombia. When Panama rebelled against Colombia in 1903, Roosevelt deployed United States naval vessels to discourage the Colombian forces and proudly claimed the role of midwife at the birth of the Republic of Panama.

In August 15, 1914 the passing of the SS Ancon officially opened the Panama Canal. At the time, no single effort in American history had exacted such a price in dollars or in human life. The American expenditures from 1904 to 1914 totaled $352,000,000, far more than the cost of anything built by the United States Government up to that time. Together the French and American expenditures totaled $639,000,000. It took 34 years from the initial effort in 1880 to actually open the Canal in 1914. It is estimated that over 80,000 persons took part in the construction and that over 30,000 lives were lost in both French and American efforts.

Some interesting facts: A ship traveling from New York to San Francisco can save 7,872 miles using the Panama Canal instead of going around South America. In the fiscal year 1994 there where 14,029 transits, which carried 170.8 million long tons of cargo and paid US $ 419.2 million in tolls. The highest Canal toll was US $ 141,344.91 paid by the Crown Princess and the lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents by Richard Halliburton for swimming the Canal in 1928. The average time spent in transit from port to port is approx. 8 - 10 hours. Until the building of the Hoover Dam formed Lake Mead, Gatun Lake was the largest artificial body of water in the world.

Availability:see table below.

Duration:The whole experience will take from 6 to 8 hours (according the Panama Canal Authority`s decision), depending on the traffic and the itinerary for that day.
Includes:Round trip transfer from hotel in Playa Bonita, Panama Canal Partial Transit on the Isla Morada or Fantasia del Mar vessel. Light breakfast and lunch will be served on board the vessel.

What to bring:Comfortable clothes and shoes or sneakers. Don't forget your camera.

TRANSIT CANAL SCHEDULE

Join on a morning hike through Soberania National Park as you observe a variety of exotic tropical birds while enjoying the surrounding trees and plants of this area.Pipeline Road,where the hike takes place, is a dirt road that goes through the heart of this national park and will afford you views of some of the diverse bird life that abounds in the area.Pipeline road has for several years in a row; set world record bird counts in a 24-hour period – up to 367 different species of birds. Some of the more common sights are the Slaty-tailed Trogon, Keel-billed Toucan, Thick-billed Mot-Mot, and several species of ant birds, wrens, tanagers and flycatchers. Of course, just because this tour focuses on observing the bird life, it does not mean that you might not hear or even see Howler monkeys or other mammal life like sloth, anteaters and agoutis.

Availability: Daily
Duration: 4 hours approximately
Includes: Transportation, and English/ Spanish- Speaking tour guide.
What to bring: Comfortable clothes and shoes (sneakers or hiking shoes) long pants, hat, sunglasses, camera and binocular. Some insects are possible so please bring mosquito repellent.
This tour is recommended for the early morning hours when the bird and animal activity are highest.

Today you will have an a