This tour is a “must do” for anyone interested in the fascinating early history of Panama and the Spanish influence throughout the Caribbean.  A waiting, private motor coach will be at the dock ready to take you on this historic adventure.  The highlight of the tour is a visit to Fuerte San Lorenzo, a stone fortress built by the Spanish in the late 16^th century to safeguard one of their most important treasure routes.  Impressively preserved, Fuerte San Lorenzo is made up of a series of successive forts that were built at this spot, a high bluff at the mouth at the Chagres River, meant to protect the final leg of the trail known as the Camino de Cruces. This was one of the trails that the Spaniards developed across the Panamanian isthmus to carry the gold, silver and precious stones looted in South America back to Spain.   

En route you’ll pass through Ft. Sherman, until recently, home of the U.S. military’s jungle survival school. This area, now a protected tract of evergreen rainforest, is home to many bird, mammal, insect and plant species.  We’ll take a short walk in this tropical reserve on an old gravel road and observe and discuss some of this amazing diversity. While in the forest, we’ll enjoy a buffet of traditional Panamanian foods as well as a great selection of the fruits and juices found in the county.  We’ll also have the unique opportunity to pass in front of the gates of the Gatun Locks, following a one-way bridge that is the only passage across the Panama Canal on the Caribbean coast.