You can only take this tour in one country - Panama.

1. Panama’s Chagres River and Gatun Lake Area Activities
Published by Panama Simple, May 20, 2013 | By Dennis Smith
Embera, Fishing the Panama Canal and More
The Chagres River, Gatun Lake and the Panama Canal all meet. Panama’s Chagres River flows into the
Panama Canal Watershed and is surrounded by the rainforest of the 320,000-acre Chagres National
Park, which is the largest of the National Parks protecting the Panama Canal Watershed. Gatun Lake
was formed to feed the operation of the Panama Canal lock system. Together Chagres and Gatun
provide locations for diverse tours and activities. And best of all, the Basin area is only a 30 or 45
minute drive from Panama City.
You can meet the Embera and learn about their culture. The perennial favorite is boating upriver to
spend a day with the local Embera Indians in their village of Embera Drua. You travel the river in a
motorized dugout canoe or similar small boat to the village. Once at the Embera village you will be
greeted, and delighted with, traditional dances and music.
If you like cultural anthropology, you can learn about Embera customs and their coexistence with the
local nature. You can buy baskets and other handcrafts. If you are truly adventurous, you can get
painted with the traditional jagua dye the Embera use to tattoo their bodies from the neck down.
Then it is a traditional Embera lunch and back down the river, then back to Panama City.
You can go fishing in the Panama Canal. You will be driven along the Panama Canal on the Gamboa

2. road passing the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks to the Chagres marina in Gamboa. There you
board your charter fishing boat that comes fully equipped, including tackle and bait.
Then it is into the inlets of the Canal. Your Captain is looking for where two-to-three pound Peacock
Bass are hungry. You can also troll for snook and tarpon. Who knows, you might even get a Yahoo.
Game fish of all kinds are abundant in this area.
You can explore the wildlife of the Panama Canal. Take an expedition boat to explore the waters of
the Panama Canal and look for Panama’s countless species of birds, reptiles, monkeys and more.
San Lorenzo Fort
You can walk in the footsteps of the Spanish Conquistadors. The Cruces Trail at Camino de Cruces
National Park is a historical road that was built more than 400 years ago by the Spanish Conquistadors
in order to connect Panama City to Fort San Lorenzo on the Atlantic side of Panama. The goal was to
transport gold and silver across the Isthmus for final transport to Spain.
Imagine a morning trekking through history – expect to hike of about 9.5 km (6 miles) in around 5
hours, and then taking a rainforest boat tour exploring the wildlife and nature along the Chagres
River and Panama Canal. Along the way it is not unusual to see the big ships, Green Iguana,
Three-toed sloths, Crocodiles, Ospreys, Toucans and maybe aHarpy Eagle – Panama’s national bird.
How is that for variety?
This post was written by

3. Dennis Smith – who has written 60 posts for Panama Simple.
Dennis Smith earns his living as a copywriter, online content creator & manager, writing business
plans for small businesses and editing whatever is necessary. Dennis is also a certified Inbound
Marketer. He lives in Panama where he acts as a consultant for foreign businesses that want to enter
the country.
Email
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