Panama Adventure Tours

Panama is the land of Adventure. Panama offers clear blue waters for snorkeling and diving, rainforest adventures, vibrant communities, and idyllic islands. A tour of Isla Bastimentos reveals an ecosystem rife with both terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, while a Panama Canal tour showcases the manmade "eighth wonder of the world." Whether trekking through rainforest or enjoying the laid-back nightlife of Bocas del Toro, you'll forever associate Panama with the best in natural and cultural landscapes. Pick your passion: http://www.adventure-life.com/panama/

For a list of  tours while in Panama: http://www.uncoverpanama.com/panamatours.html

Monkey Island Tours • Panama Canal Adventure

Monkey Island is located at Gatun Lake in the valley of the Chagres river between Panama and Colon Provinces in the Republic of Panama.

 

 

Its surface area is 164 square miles. Gatun lake is the second largest artificial man-made lake in the world. This lake was created in 1907 and took 6 years to flood. It was created to help the transit of ships across the isthmus. This lake is the reservoir of water needed for the operation of the Panama Canal. It is surrounded by nature and history everywhere – the flora and fauna makes this place a must-see while visiting Panama.

You can take a boat tour through the Panama Canal into secret waterways to find hidden islands where Capuchin and Howler monkeys can be seen leaping in the trees above. Occasionally, they become curious of visitors and venture down to take a closer look.
A Panama Canal tour provides a unique opportunity for viewing wild monkeys in their natural habitat. Other animals you might spot on this tour includes Two and Three-toed Sloths, Crocodiles, and turtles that are native to Gatun Lake.

The boat ride to and from the island passes through the Panama Canal, giving you the chance to spot huge container ships during their passage across the world.

National Parks of Panama Map

A map is a visual representation of an area – symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes.

Although the earliest maps known are of the heavens, geographic maps of territory have a very long tradition and exist from ancient times. The word "map" comes from the medieval Latin Mappa mundi, wherein mappa meant napkin or cloth and mundi the world. Thus, "map" became the shortened term referring to a 2 dimensional representation of the surface of the world.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map

Visit   http://www.uncoverpanama.com/mapsofpanama.html 

For more maps of Panama

Coming to Panama

The Isthmus of Panama forms a bridge between South and Central America, and borders Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east. Panama City has flights to and from all Central American countries and both North and South America. Major US airlines such as American, Continental and Delta fly to Tocumen Airport in Panama City on a daily basis; Copa Airlines is the national airline.

Photographer: Francis Torres
Location: Punta Culebra
Year: 2011

Tamandua mexicana, or the Northern Tamandua: This nocturnal mammal feeds on ants, termites and other insects with its long tongue. It uses its claws to scratch soil and tree trunks in search of food...

Panama uses the US dollar as its currency. Don’t be confused by its official name, the Balboa—bills are exactly the same. Panamanian coins are of the same value and size as US coins, which are also accepted.

The climate in Panama varies very little throughout the year. There are only two seasons: the dry season, from January to mid-April, and the rainy season, from mid-April to December. Temperatures usually range between 70°F and 90°F, but it can get a little cooler in the highlands, especially in the province of Chiriqui.

Spanish is the official language, but many people speak English as a second language. The country’s population of almost 3 million reflects a history of mixed ethnicities, due largely to the significant influx of immigrants that arrived during the construction of the Panama Canal. In terms of religion, the Isthmus is predominantly Roman Catholic, but there are some small groups of Muslims, Protestants, Hindus and Jews.

The capital of Panama is a modern, thriving metropolis, with plenty of restaurants, shops and entertainment. Among its main attractions are the Casco Antiguo (or Old District), Panama Viejo (or Old Panama, dating back to the 16 th Century), the Calzada de Amador and, of course, the Panama Canal. For shopping, head to Via España or to one of the new shopping malls, if you want to avoid the heat.

Panama 's economy is based on the service sector, which accounts for three-fourths of the country’s GDP. Besides the Canal, Panama City boasts an important international banking center, while Colon City, on the Caribbean coast, is home to the one of the largest free zones in the world.
 http://www.stri.si.edu/english/research/applications/coming_to_panama/index.php

Encounter with Three-Toed Sloth

El Valle de Antón, Panamá, S.A. Story by Tamara Rowe
Photos by Wendy Brausam
www.UncoverPanama.com

As Wendy and I headed out for a nice lunch and a trip to the market in the mountain town of El Valle de Antón , we saw something in the road but had no idea what it was. Wendy quickly jumped out of the car with her camera around her neck and ran to the rescue. Not knowing what it was, I was fearful for Wendy as the creature had three long claws.

This creature stopped traffic on both sides of the road. Soon people were running from their vehicles and taking pictures of this amazing photo opportunity. Wendy desperately persuaded the non-moving creature out of the road and to safety.  Wendy had little time to take photos but manage to come up with this shot. It’s a Sloth!

What’s a sloth?
Being from North America, I was unaware of sloths. So, I went on line and found that these amazing little creatures are really interesting. Sloths are extremely slow-moving mammals found in the rainforest canopies of Central and South America. There are two species of sloths: two-toed and three-toed, ours was a three toed. Most sloths are about the size of a small dog and they have short-flat heads.

Sloths are omnivores. Their main diet, consist mostly of twigs, buds and fruit leaves, mainly from Cecropia trees. The leaves, provide very little energy or nutrition and do not digest easily. Sloths therefore have very large, specialized, slow-acting stomachs with multiple compartments in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough leaves. As much as two-thirds of a well-fed sloth's body-weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take a month or more to complete. Talk about constipation…

The Sloths’ fur have specialized functions; the outer hairs grow in a direction opposite from that of other mammals. In most mammals, hairs grow toward the extremities, but because sloths spend so much time with their legs above their bodies, their hairs grow away from the extremities in order to provide protection from the elements while the sloth hangs upside down. The sloth is the world's slowest mammal, so sedentary that algae grows on its furry coat. Their fur has a greenish tint that is useful camouflage in the trees of its Central and South American rain forest home.

Three-toed sloths also have an advantage that few other mammal posses; they have an extra neck vertebrae that allows them to turn their heads some 270 degrees.

Because the three-toed sloth can not stand on level surfaces, they are rarely seen on the ground. However, it usually descends to the forest floor once a week to defecate and urinate. On land, sloths' weak hind legs provide no power and their long claws are a hindrance. They must dig into the earth with their front claws and use their strong front legs to pull themselves along, dragging their bellies across the ground.

Only the size of a small dog, if caught on land these animals have no chance to evade predators, such as big cats, and must try to defend themselves by clawing and biting. 

Sloths' claws serve as their only natural defense. A cornered sloth may swipe at its attackers in an effort to scare them away or wound them. Despite sloths' apparent defenselessness, predators do not pose special problems: sloths live in the trees and, moving only in one speed, slowly as not attract attention. Only during their infrequent visits to ground level do they become vulnerable. The main predators of sloths are the jaguar, the harpy eagle, and of course humans.

Their claws, as well as provide protection is used when hanging upside-down in a tree, they are held in place by the claws themselves. Their specialized hands and feet have long, curved claws to allow them to hang upside-down from branches without effort. While they sometimes sit on top of branches, they usually eat, sleep, and even give birth hanging from limbs. They sometimes remain hanging from branches after death.

Infant sloths normally cling to their mother's fur, but occasionally fall off. Sloths are very sturdily built and rarely die from a fall. In some cases infants die indirectly from the fall, because the mothers prove unwilling to leave the safety of the trees to retrieve the young.

Adult females produce a single baby each year. They give birth upside down hanging from a tree branch. The male sloths are very shy animals, so the females sometimes congregate together. Sloths are nocturnal; they are most active at night and sleep all day about 15 to 18 hours each day, sleeping hanging upside down. Even when awake they often remain motionless. At night they eat leaves, shoots, and fruit from the trees and get almost all of their water from plants. Sloths may live 10-20 years in the wild, some know to live up to 30 years and in the same tree.

Lunch in El Valle $12.00. Trip to the market $10.00. Encounter with the three-toed sloth--PRICELESS!Tamara & Wendy

www.UncoverPanama.com