PANAMA RAFTING OR KAYAKING VACATION

Birding in Panama

The Lonely Planet guide refers to Panama as the "hidden jewel of Central America." Indeed it has 14 National Parks making up 22% of the country. Remote rivers, jungles, mountains and amazing scenery await. You will also see an incredible variety of birds and meet indigenous people groups wearing traditional dress on some of the more remote rivers.

Trip participants must be 16 or older, in good physical condition and should have at least class III paddling experience. Spaces are limited (6 min, 12 max). As always we can customize this itinerary to go for more remote and difficult rivers should you so desire.

SAMPLE ITINERARY

Day 1 Arrive in Panama City. Hotel.

Day 2 Fly to David in the morning. We will be lodging in Boquete, a beautiful mountain town that is home to coffee and flower growing. It is also one of the most popular tourist destination in Panama. After stashing our gear at the lodge, we will raft the Rio Chiriqui.

Day 3 We head for the Rio Gariche for an amazingly beautiful run. We will lodge at the Los Quetzales resort located at the edge of Parque La Amistad. The lodge is renowned for bird watching, has a great restaurant and also a hot tub and sauna at the edge of the Rio Chiriqui Viejo.

Waterfall in Panama

Day 4 We raft the Caisan section of the Rio Chiriqui Viejo. This will be a long day of hard paddling and stay at Los Quetzales.

Day 5 This is a day off. We will use the guides at Los Quetzales and hike up into the national park. This part of the park is a high elevation virgin cloud forest. After the hike we will have the opportunity to visit a local orchid farm (finca Dracula).

Day 6 Back on the water where we do the Palon section. The river is big AND continuous. Given time we will do a side hike up to a spectacular waterfall. After the take out, we head back to Boquete.

Day 7 On our last day we will do some sight seeing around Boquete, a tour of a coffee plant, and pick up some souvenires. We will fly back to Panama City in the afternoon. Once back in the city, we will have time to visit an artisan market and eat out at one of the many great restaurants.

Day 8 Time to go home! We will deliver you to the airport.

INCLUDES

Dinner Day 1 thru breakfast Day 8. Lodging Day 1 thru Day 7 based on double occupancy. All in country transportation, guides, tours and gear included.

EXCLUDES

Airfare, personal expenses, hard alcohol, single rooms, travel and medical insurance.

Panama Beach

WHAT TO BRING

If you can fit everything into a big duffel bag, life will be very easy.

1. 4 Sets of clothing (shirt, pants, socks, underwear).
2. Light jacket for evening.
3. Personal medications.
4. Swimsuit.
5. Light hiking boots.
6. Sandals or shoes.
7. Sun Glasses.
8. Nalgene Water Bottle.
9. Cap/hat with brim
10. Small Daypack for side hikes.
11. Digital Camera/Video Camera.
12. Passport, spending money

TRAVEL TIPS

Flying to Panama City is easy and relatively inexpensive. Panama is very safe for travelers, but take the usual precautions. Keep your passport with you and email a copy of it to yourself. Learn a little Spanish before you go, it goes a long way.

Jorge

TRIP LEADER BIO

John Miller

John has over ten years of experience in Panama. John also spent ten years working at the Nantahala Outdoor Center as a raft guide and kayak instructor. For a number of years, he was in charge of training instructors for NOC and has paddled extensively in Central America and New Zealand. In addition, John has worked as a summer camp counselor and has extensive experience working with youth programs.

John is an ACA certified kayak and canoe instructor, ACA certified kayak Instructor Trainer (IT) and has extensive experience teaching all levels of paddling and river rescue. In addition, he also has extensive experience raft guiding, teaching rock climbing, mountain biking, sea kayaking and backpacking.