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September 2004
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Panama, Central America
In April 2004 I attended a travel trade show sponsored by Travel Impression/American Express Vacations. One of the great things about attending these functions are the prizes! Vendors typically give away various trips and prizes and I was lucky enough to win! I won a 3-night stay at the Gamboa Resort Rainforest Resort in Panama, Central America! To see more about the resort just click on the Gamboa Resort link.
Panama is in its infancy of building its tourism and there's no denying it has potential: rainforests, exotic wildlife, mountains, historic sites, beaches, coral reefs, Spanish-colonial architecture and thriving Amerindian cultures. We arrived Panama City at the Tocumen Airport on April 25, 2005 to begin our 3-day adventure.
We were met by our driver for about a 45-minute transfer to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. We drove right through the middle of Panama City which is located along the curve of the Bay of Panama on the Pacific coast. The city's waterfront looked like it was in a growing spell with high-rises and a marina. It seemed to have a vibrant, cosmopolitan feel but many areas are still run down. We did not have time to explore the city so we spent all of our time at the resort.
The Gamboa Rainforest Resort is located in the Soberania National Park right next to the Panama Canal. This is one of the world's most accessible rainforest and was a tropical wilderness. As we arrived at the resort, the lobby area was open, airy and humid! The temperatures were in the mid 90's and very humid but the lobby was lovely! An aquarium behind the front desk, comfortable sofa's and chairs to enjoy the breeze coming through and a huge open window overlooking the grounds and the Chagres River. Our room was very tropical looking and had a great view from our balcony. The balcony also had a hammock which I enjoyed in the afternoons reading! Our first afternoon there we relaxed by the pool and enjoyed the scenery!
We got an early start the next day to go fishing on Lake Gatun. We boarded a small motor board with our guide and enjoyed about a 30 minute boat ride on the Panama Canal! We were fishing for Peacock Bass but the most interesting part of this journey while fishing was listening to the howler monkey's in the jungle! As we returned to the resort later that morning we passed several ships transiting the canal.
The next day we enjoyed the Aerial Tram located at the resort. The tram takes you through the rainforest to the top of a mountain where you can climb an observation tower for a spectacular view of the area. I took this picture of a map below which helps show you the area.
This is a map of Panama and the Panama Canal.
You can see the Pacific Ocean at the bottom
right corner of the picture and the first two
locks of the canal. As you follow the canal from
the Pacific side and travel up the canal about
half way, you will see a bridge and to the right
of the bride a lake area with is the Chagres
River. The Gamboa Resort is located in this
area. As you continue through the canal and you
see more of the smaller islands; to the left of
this area is Lake Gatun where we went fishing.
As you look to the top left corner of the
picture you will see the last lock to the
Atlantic Ocean.
Below are more pictures of the Aerial Tram, the rainforest and views from the top of the observation tower:
Aerial Tram
View of the rainforest from the tram
View of the Panama Canal from the observation
tower
In the afternoon we took another boat ride to Monkey Island! This was an enjoyable ride with two guides. We were visiting some of the small islands located in the canal looking for monkey's, sloth's, crocodiles and other wildlife. We lucked out and saw monkey's on two different islands, spotted sleeping sloth's in some trees, saw a family of bat's sleeping lined up on a tree and several types of birds. We did see lots of the American crocodile as well! The boat rides on the canal were rather fun and it was great to see the beautiful scenery and wildlife.
Below are more pictures of our trip!
Bird in the Jungle!
A ship transiting the canal!
Butterflies in the butterfly house located at
the resort!
Monkeys on Monkey Island!
Charlotte, North Carolina
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