Half-Day Canal Adventure - PTE002

This tour will start by visiting Miraflores Locks or the Panama´s Casco Antiguo district depending on whether a morning or afternoon tour is requested. The Casco Antiguo section of town houses the Museum of the Inter-oceanic Canal located across the Independence Plaza. This now renovated building was once the headquarters for the French company known as the Compagnie Universel du Canal Interocéanique, the first company to attempt to dig an ocean - to - ocean canal in Panama starting in 1881. The museum takes us through the complete historical development of Panama --as a strategic point in Spaniards efforts to transport the riches of South America, the building of the Panama railroad in 1850´s, the French effort to build the canal in the 1880´s to the United States' completion of the canal in 1913. Also in the Casco Antiguo we will view two Panama landmarks, the Golden Altar and the famous "Flat Arch". For a look at the canal itself, we go to the Miraflores Visitor Center, on the Pacific end of the canal. At this spot we may see the vessels in transit being raised or lowered from ocean level to lake level through a system of locks. In addition, you'll also admire a large-scale relief map of the entire canal waterway accompanied by a 12-minute video presentation. We will also stop at the foot of the canal headquarters' Administration Building, which dates from 1911, and view Goethals Monument.

Requires a minimum of 2 people.
Tour is approximately 4 ½ hours long.