Panama -- adventure, nature, and The Canal. Seeing the canal has long been on our "bucket list" and we finally made it. In addition to seeing the daily workings of the canal, it was a thrill to see the new locks under construction. The scope of these projects is almost beyond comprehension!
We began our trip in El Valle, a small town in the crater of an ancient volcano where we hiked, zip lined, biked around the town and markets.
Next, we moved to the Gamboa Eco Lodge on the shores of Gatun Lake, the lake formed when the canal locks were built. Visited the Barro Colorado Island, operated by the Smithsonian since the island was first created; scientists from all over the world come here to study tropical forests. For several days, we watched the canal life in action and had one of the most fun kayak trips ever in the backwaters of the lake. Wildlife galore!
Lastly, our itinerary took us into Panama City, a fast-growing, extremely modern city. I don't know quite what we expected the city to look like, but this wasn't what we had pictured! Toured the city, the "old city," which is getting a big facelift, and The Canal.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
1 day ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
1 day ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
6 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.