Panama Classic (FAM For Travel Agents, Travel Writers/Bloggers & up to 16 invited Guests)

On arrival to Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, you will be met and transferred to your hotel in Panama City.
Settle in to your lovely guest room.

Partial Panama Canal Transit
This morning you will board a 250 passenger ferry for the Partial Panama Canal Transit. Now you will be sailing at 26m (85 feet) above sea level. Shortly after departure, the ship will enter Gaillard Cut, the narrowest section of the Panama Canal. The 13.7Km (8.5 Miles) long portion of the Continental Divide was carved through rock and shale at beginning of last century when the canal began operating (1914). You will have the opportunity to look at the work’s progress on this extraordinary engineering venture. The ship will reach Pedro Miguel locks, where the vessel will be lowered 9.4 meters (30.8 feet) into Miraflores Lake.

After traveling nearly 2 kilometers you arrive to Miraflores locks, where the transition from fresh water to salt water takes place in the locks chambers. Due to the Pacific Ocean’s extreme tidal variations, Miraflores locks miter gates are the tallest of the locks system. In two steps, the vessel will be lowered 16.6 meters (54.5 feet) onto the Pacific Ocean. You will then sail under the bridge of the Americas, which reunites the land divided by the Panama Canal as part of the Pan-American Highway. Disembark and return to the hotel late afternoon. Meals: BL

After breakfast check out and departure s to your beach resort on the Pacific Ocean. Arrival at the RIU Playa Blanca Resort for check in Meals: B/All Inclusive

Full day to enjoy your resort and the beautiful Pacific. Meals: All Inclusive

Today you will be picked up at the lobby of the resort for the transfer back to Panama City and your hotel for check in. Meals: B

This morning, after breakfast, you’ll be picked up for a full day of exploring the capital city. Start your Full Day Panama City tour at the Panama Canal Visitors’ Center at Miraflores Locks where ships can be seen transiting the waterway. The 3 floor exhibit halls will provide information about the history, engineering and current events related to the Panama Canal.
Your next stop is the Biodiversity Museum, designed by the world renowned architect Frank Gehry. As a Smithsonian Affiliate museum, the Biodiversity Museum serves as a gateway to new information about the biodiversity and natural history of the Isthmus of Panama. Scientific experts from both the Smithsonian Institute and the University of Panama oversee the contents of the museum and aim at teaching visitors about eco-awareness, conservation and Panama’s extraordinary natural treasures in various unique exhibition galleries. Did you know that the Isthmus of Panama has more bird, mammal, reptile and plant species than the US and Canada together in just 75,990 Km2 (approx. 29,000 square miles)? In fact, 3 million years ago, the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama changed both the climate and the biodiversity in the planet and played a key role in the creation of the world we know today.
Continue with a historical walking tour in Casco Antiguo (the old city compound) which dates from the late 1600’s where you start with lunch at a local restaurant. At the folk market, you will have the opportunity to admire and obtain local and indigenous handcrafts. Casco Viejo is home to monuments to Ferdinand de Lesseps and other Frenchmen instrumental in the ill-fated attempt of the French to construct a canal through Panama became the new Panama City of the times.

This part of town was never successfully attacked, being protected by a wall that surrounded the new settlement. You will visit San Jose church with the famous Golden Altar, one of the few testaments to all the wealth that made its way through this city. You will walk along the French Plaza – a monument to the French canal effort and take a panoramic look of the modern city from this vantage point as well as the ships that are anchored in the bay awaiting transit of the canal.
Drop off at your hotel mid-late afternoon.

(BL)

Today you will be picked up at the lobby of the hotel and transferred to Tocumen International Airport in Panama City. Meals: B