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  Itinerary                                                           
 
  Day 1  Mon, April 4, 2005                                                                  No meals
Arrive Panama City, Panama
 
    Arrive Panama City's International Airport (PTY) throughout the day and evening according to your own schedule. After clearing Customs and Immigration, you will be met and transferred to our hotel in Panama City, located right at the entrance to the famous Panama Canal. Offering sweeping views of both the Canal and the  
 

Pacific Ocean, the hotel’s facilities also include pools, tennis courts, restaurants and nearby boardwalk activities. Depending on your arrival time, join us this evening at the hotel bar for an informal get-together. You may wish to arrive a day or two early to acclimate and enjoy local sightseeing – contact TravelQuest for details.
Overnight: Hotel Country Inn Amador.  (3 nights)               

   
  Day 2 Tue, April 5                                                                                      B/D
Panama City
 
   After breakfast, we will embark on a tour of historic Panama Vieja, the original city founded by the Spanish and later sacked by the infamous pirate Henry Morgan. We’ll walk through Casco Antiguo, the walled Spanish colonial city of Panama built in 1673. Later, we’ll travel to the Amador Causeway, which unites three islands at the Pacific entrance  
  of the Panama Canal. The afternoon is yours to spend as you wish – relax at the hotel, photograph the canal, or visit the Causeway strand where the waves of the Pacific roll in before you. Join us tonight for a delicious Panamanian dinner and a traditional folkloric dance show.
   
  Day 3 Wed, April 6                                                                                     B/L
Chagres National Park & Native Chocoe-Embera Village
 
      This morning’s journey will begin with a "piragua" (canoe) ride down the Chagres River, a route commonly used by Panama’s indigenous peoples. A short hike through a rain forest with our local guide will introduce us to the area’s botanical, bird and mammal populations as well as a visit to a Chocoe-Embera village.  At the village, the tribespeople will share their culture through dances, rituals, and food demonstrations.  You can even partake in "jagua" body painting with vegetable ink! This will be an amazing day.
   
  Day 4 Thu, April 7                                                                                       B/L
Soberania National Park
    After checkout, we’ll depart Panama City for the rainforest region and 55,000-acre Soberania National Park. As we explore this tropical paradise, our guide will introduce us to the plants, birds, and mammals of this tropical rainforest at its pristine best. After checking into our hotel located inside the park, you can take tours, visit the small museum, or take an aerial tram ride through the forest canopy.
Overnight: Gamboa Rainforest Resort (2 nights)
   
  Day 5 Fri, April 8                                                                                     B/L/D
San Carlos - ANNULAR ECLIPSE!
 
    The morning is free; you can prepare your gear for the eclipse, take an optional tour, or further explore the area around the hotel. After lunch we¹ll depart by private motor coach for our eclipse-viewing site near the coastal town of San Carlos. This annular eclipse offers a special opportunity to witness an extended display of Baily¹s Beads ‹ tiny patches of the Sun¹s surface shining through deep lunar valleys. But this will not be a leisurely spectacle. While it¹s likely that numerous beads will flicker
on and off for several minutes before and after mid-eclipse, the actual length of annularity (when the Moon is centered on the solar disk) lasts only 15 seconds! 		  
   
 
           
  1st  Contact    3:57 PM Local Time  
     Annularity    5:12 PM  
  3rd  Last Contact    6:18 PM  
  Duration of annularity   15 seconds  
           
  Altitude of Sun at mid-eclipse   18o  
           
  Sunset    6:29 PM  
           
   
 

 
 
Day 6 Sat, April 9                                                                                          B
Fly home
    After breakfast, you will be transferred to the Airport according to your schedule for your flight home. You may wish to extend your stay in Panama to further explore this little visited region of Central America. Contact TravelQuest for details.   
   
 
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Copyright  2003 TravelQuest International.  All rights reserved.   800-830-1998
Revised: October 25, 2005.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
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