Panama Romantic Adventure

horseback riding in the highlands

Start your trip with EcoCircuitos in the vibrant capital of Panama City with its modern skyscrapers, charming old towns.  The tour starts with kayaking the Panama Canal while looking out for wildlife and watching huge vessels passing by. Stay in the boutique American Trade Hotel located in the Old Town, offering a first-hand experience of Panama City`s extensive nightlife. Get on a snorkelling tour the next day to explore coral reefs and picturesque Caribbean Beaches.

The next stop is the charming little town of Boquete in the highlands. Watch out for birds and other wildlife in this area blessed with a spring-like climate all year. Get on a breathtaking Skywalk tour offering direct insights in the life of the cloud forest with unique views of surrounding landscapes. At the end of the tour, get on an exciting canopy zip lining adventure through the treetops.

The last stop of the tour leads to the romantic laid-back Island Plantation Resort surrounded by jungle and tropical beaches on the archipelago of Bocas del Toro. Snorkel colourful coral reefs; explore dream beaches by boat; hike through lush rainforests or gain deep relaxation enjoying a double-cabin massage before returning to Panama City.

For more information about our honeymoon programs, please contact us at info@ecocircuitos.com

Educaciontal Trips and Academic adventures in Panama

Recently we had the visit from a wonderful group of 13 students from Saint Andrews College located in Texas. The group explored Panama in a comprehensive itinerary that took them to different areas of the country to learn about the history, geology, ecology and the culture of Panama. They visited Guna Yala, Darien National Park, Coclé Province, Chiriqui Highlands and Panama City with our team of guides.

Fabio Trujillo, our senior guide and tour leader for this group mentioned that it was a wonderful experience and life changing for most of the participants that were truly touched by the different communities visited during their trip to Panama.

Supporting local communities

Students working at the community

EcoCircuitos Slow Adventure Tours

The independent traveler defined slow travel as an offshoot of the slow food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980’s. The slow food movement purposes are to preserve local cuisine, local farming and traditional food preparation methods. This cultural initiative has since multiplied into a whole way of life known as the Slow Movement, which emphasizes connection — connection to food, and, in the case of travel and tourism, connection to the local’s, culture, gastronomy and history. Slow travel then is the opportunity to become part of the local way of life and thinking.

Picture by Cubita, Chitré.

In today’s world we live a fast culture of stressful work, traffic and abuse of technology, that become sometimes the way of our travels. Rushing from one destination to another and not enjoying fully the landscape, a beautiful small town, a local bakery, tasting the local flavors or discovering the real people. The slow travel could be an interesting way to experience Panama for tourists that are burned out from their daily routines and the constant use of technology.

Our tailored slow experiences will allow you to truly connect with the place you are visiting, spend more time in fewer places. Immerse yourself with the local culture and connect with the community. Visit local markets, sit in a local restaurant and drink a coffee or read the paper in the plaza, while watching the community that surrounds you. EcoCircuitos´ Slow Experiences have been uniquely designed in places where visitors can interact with local people, carry out daily adventures and relax just as the locals do. Some slow destinations include Boquete and Volcan located in the Chiriqui Highlands, Pedasi and Chitré in the Azuero Peninsula and some other beautiful towns and communities. Make traveling special again with a slow adventure tour. Contact us today to find out more about these experiential slow travel options! http://www.ecocircuitos.com

4,000 YEAR OLD SHAMAN STONES DISCOVERED NEAR BOQUETE

Archaeologists from Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama have uncovered a cache of unusual stones in a prehistoric Rock shelter known as Casa de Piedra.

The twelve stones were found buried and clustered tightly together in a way that suggests they were stored in a bundle or basked which has decomposed since.

The cache consists of a small Dacite stone fashioned into a cylindrical tool; a small flake of white, translucent Quartz; a bladed Quartz and Jarosite aggregate; a Quartz crystal aggregate; several Pyrite nodules that showed evidence of use; a small, worn and abraded piece of Chalcedony; a magnetic Andesite flake; a large Chalcedony vein stone; and a small magnetic Kaolinite stone naturally eroded into an unusual shape, similar to a flower. This unusual selection and careful storage strongly suggests that these stones were once used by a Shaman or healer.

Indigenous groups who lived in the area during the time the stones were stored there include  Ngäbe, Buglé, Bribri, Cabécar and the now-extinct Dorasque peoples. Healers and Shamans of these and other cultures are known to feature unusual or special stones and crystals in their rituals.

The rock shelter itself has been known to archaeologists since the 1970s, who established that it was used for cooking and stone tool manufacture, possibly as early as 9,000 years ago and that it had been used by humans for thousands of years since then. The newest research shows that the people who would have benefitted from the shaman’s knowledge  practiced small-scale farming of manioc, maize and arrowroot, and collected palm nuts, fruits and roots. They also probably hunted and fished in the nearby hills and streams, but the humid soils in the shelter destroyed any evidence of animal bones.

From: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Photos from STRI

Boquete Jazz Festival – March 1 – 4, 2012

The beautiful Chiriqui Highlands have long been one of Panama’s most favorite vacation and retirement spots, and the jewel of Chiriqui province is beautiful Boquete. Located at an elevation of 3000ft it is also the home of some of the best coffees in the world. The cool, crisp mountain air, delicious fresh mountain water, an abundant nature with lots of flowers, flamboyantly flowering trees and hundreds of species of birds plus the closeness to two oceans have attracted visitors from all over the world.The natural beauty of Boquete is the perfect setting to stimulate the creative talents and artistic abilities of those who live here as well as those who come for a visit. So it is no surprise that this small town hosts a lively art and music scene which culminates in the annual Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival.

Right from the start in 2007 the Boquete Jazz & Blues Festival has been the biggest music event in the province of Chiriqui. The 2012 edition will also be the first ever festival in Panama to showcase first-class international Blues acts in addition to notable Panamanian and Latin American artists featuring Jazz and Latin American music styles.

For organize trips to Boquete and reservations, please contact us at info@ecocircuitos.com