Panama Canal Eco-Cruise and Rainforest Discovery Center

Panama Canal Eco-Cruise and Rainforest Discovery Center

In this tour you will travel the Panama Canal by boat and see transiting ships up close as well as the diverse wildlife on the shores of Gatun Lake.  Afterwards, you can immerse yourself in the raw beauty of Gamboa and the world famous Pipeline Road with a visit to the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center.

To start this tour, you will follow the Panama Canal north to the town of Gamboa, where the Chagres River meets the canal.  You will ride along the waters of the Panama Canal right next to the ships passing through on their way to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Your destination is Gatun Lake, where you will cruise around islands created during the canal construction and see the abundant wildlife on their shores. 

You will visit the famous Monkey Islands where you can see capuchins, howlers, and tamarins up close in their natural habitat.  Once you finish with your canal and lake boat ride (around 90 minutes), you will head to the famous Pipeline Road in Soberania National Park.  One of the premiere birding spots in the world, the Pipeline Road will give you an opportunity to travel through a mature rain forest that is full of an incredible mix of wildlife.  A bird count here organized by the Audubon Society set a record when 385 species were observed in 24 hours.  Here you will visit the Rainforest Discovery Center, an environmental education project administered by the Fundación Avifauna. 

You will visit the canopy of the rainforest on a 100 ft. (32 m) observation tower and see an amazing abundance of birds and animals from the different viewing levels.  A walk along the trails on the rainforest floor will take you to a panoramic view of the lake where you can see different species of water fowl and aquatic animals. You will surround yourself with hundreds of hummingbirds at the hummingbird feeders where you will enjoy a freshly made picnic lunch.  Once you finish up at the Rainforest Discovery Center we will return to Panama City for hotel drop off.