I was exceptionally lucky to find a tour guide who took me to monuments and facilities surrounding the Panama Canal, and then to the Chagres National Park where we boarded a canoe down the Chagres River to visit an indigenous Emberá-Wounaan people. This was a tourist-inspired village, but it was also authentic and of great interest. This was one of the highlights of my cruise ...
WE took our own hop on Hop off bus, it took some doing to find it but it was worth it. WE liked what we saw. One thing I found amusing was we were bombarded by taxis wanting to take us on private tours... Yet.. They could not speak English, another tidbit was when we returned to the shuttle area, many of those taxi drivers were sitting around drinking beer hmmmm ...
I did an excursion from Princess Cruise Lines, this was an enjoyable excursion and I loved the tour guide "Roxanna". She was very knowledgeable and willing to explain the sites in detail. This excursion visited both the old (Miraflores) locks in the old canal and the new visitor center on the Atlantic side. Unfortunately, the museum is closed and the gift shop has been moved to a tiny closet ...
Weekday visit. No land restaurants were open at noon, so we went back to the ship. Mask mandates strictly enforced by the Panamanian authorities on a very hot/humid day (yech!!) ...
We had pre-booked a “Best of Fuerte Amador / Panama Canal” excursion through Princess.
Miraflores Locks Observation Center: The Miraflores Locks are part of the engineering marvel that makes up the Panama Canal. The lock gates at Miraflores are the tallest of the three due to the extreme tidal variation that takes place in the Pacific Ocean. We were fortunate that another cruise ship, ...
