Chagres River eco-walk and cruise

[Nanner]

We booked this though our cruise ship (Celebrity) and I was more impressed than I expected. Our guide, Benny, was very knowledgeable and fluent in English. He is a birder and was amazing at picking things out of the trees. We saw crocodiles, two kinds of monkeys, and a blue morpho butterfly (among others). He taught us about smelling the monkeys, and I was shocked to discover I could!

 

This was all on the walking part of the tour. Then we did the cruise and saw sloths, more monkeys, and several kinds of birds. Benny, being a birder, was thrilled to see blue-winged teals, which aren't too common in Panama, I guess.

 

Nothing in the write-up prepared me for the stop at the Gatun Locks observation center. It was an amazing bonus, watching a humongous car carrier go through the final lock into the Caribbean. Before arriving at the center, we stopped to watch the Inifinty pass through the final lock. While stopped, we found 3 toucan-like birds in the trees.

 

This tour, though a ship-sponsored one, was way more enjoyable and worthwhile than I had anticipated. I would encourage others to consider booking it, and if you are lucky you will get a tour like we did. Not only did we see more wildlife than I imagined, the visitor center was great, too!

[gambler]

"We just did this same excursion on the Brilliance. I agree, if was a perfect trip for the price and the time. We saw all kinds of wild life. It was very neat driving back by the locks and seeing your cruise ship going back thru.