PACIFIC EXPLORER:  FOCUS ON COSTA RICA & PANAMA CRUISING 

Pearls of the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea

Explore lush tropical forests filled with wildlife, and drop anchor at pristine offshore islands without docks - or even people. Visit traditional native cultures in Panama's Darien Jungle and the San Blas Islands, and swim, snorkel, and kayak off some of the most spectacular tropical beaches anywhere on earth. 

From fortresses once besieged by pirates to wildlife-filled national parks, your cruise trough the warm tropical waters of Costa Rica and Panama is a true voyage of exploration. Drop anchor at a pristine beach, or a tiny island without a trace of human habitation. Then seek macaws, monkeys, sloths and iguanas in the forest, and swim, snorkel, or explore by Zodiac launch. Many of these natural wonders, some completely uninhabited by people, are accessible only from a small ship. The Pacific is Explorer's English-speaking crew delight in sharing the best of their native lands. Your voyage of exploration i n Costa Rica and Panama allows you to experience the tropical exuberance of nature. Many of the pristine parks and nature reserves you will visit offer outstanding wildlife viewing in the water, in the air and in the forest. As we enjoy this natural voyage of exploration, “home base” is a comfortable stateroom on board. There is simply nothing better than relaxing on deck, or looking out the picture window, as spectacular views and enchanting islands appear. 

White-faced capuchin monkeys cavort high in the rainforest canopy, as scarlet macaws flash through the foliage. Crumbling Spanish forts and silent cannons stand watch over harbors once infested by pirates. Colorfully dressed indigenous people cherish their cultural traditions. And a grand canal, one of the most impressive engineering feats on the planet, links two sides of the globe. Your voyage of exploration in Costa Rica and Panama is a true insider's experience. You will meet fascinating local people, and visit tropical gardens and wildlife reserves accessible only by special arrangement - and only by small ship. Far upriver in Panama's Darien jungle, you step from a cayuco canoe onto a huge gnarled root in the stream bank. A handsome, tattooed man, the headman of this Embera village, welcomes you ashore with a smile and a handshake. It's market day here in the village, and people have assembled from miles upriver to trade their impressive crafts: intricately patterned basketwork, and fine rosewood carvings.

Passage aboard a small ship through the Panama Canal is an unforgettable experience, equally vivid by night as by day. Your Exploration Leader and expert Costa Rican naturalists lead nature walks in the forest, identifying the exotic species of flora and fauna you will encounter.

Small numbers enhance your Experience
The ship that carries you to these tropical wonders is the 100-guest Pacific Explorer. She is completely air-conditioned, with spacious lounges and a Sun Deck with unobstructed views on all sides. All cabins feature view windows. Limited numbers of fellow travelers ensure that your experience, both on board and ashore, is up-close, intimate, and very personal, whether you re meeting the Kuna Indians of Panama's San Bias Islands, or seeking wildlife in a Costa Rican Jungle. You and your fellow travelers never overwhelm a village, a beach, or an island - especially when you're the only ones there.

Costa Rica and Panama are ideal for exploration by sea. Small ships provide delightful access to rarely-visited wildlife preserves and tiny tropical islands. Small ships exist for freedom of movement. You can go most anywhere that a private boater can go, and you also range farther and faster. You're exploring tiny islets - mere specks in the sea, many with not a trace of human habitation. Your ship drops anchor in a secluded bay, the ship's Zodiacs are launched, and you're off to experience a rare adventure, in places where docks will never be built. 

In Costa Rica and Panama, your travel experience can be very active, or as leisurely as you like. In wildlife-rich parks and reserves you can opt for an invigorating hike in the forest - or an idyllic morning on the beach. You're always in full control of your personal travel experience. At many points, you have a choice of activity levels. High energy? Try kayaking, snorkeling or hiking in the tropical forest. Feel' like taking it easy? Just bring a book to the beach, take a nap in your air-conditioned cabin, or enjoy a pina colada in the breeze out on the Sun Deck. No pressure, no group calisthenics. Beach activities, and walks seeking wildlife in the forests directly behind, are a constant delight as you cruise these tropical waters. From your ship, Zodiacs zoom to an idyllic beach where there are no footprints but your own. When you're ready to return, the Zodiac functions as your own private water taxi back to the ship. 

Shore access from the Pacific Explorer is an absolute delight. After the ship drops anchor in a secluded bay, you walk down a stairway leading right to the water, step over a rubber bow, and you're off and away. The Pacific Explorer's Zodiacs zoom right to the beach. During breakfast the crew has brought kayaks, beach chairs and refreshments from the ship, so you're set for a morning of tropical enchantment. Any time you want to return to the ship, your own private water taxi is instantly on call. The Zodiacs are key to up-close exploration as well. You're in intimate contact with the water, close enough to trail your fingers in the sea. Motor slowly along, a few feet from wave-lapped rocks, watching for blue-footed boobies, red-billed oystercatchers, and magnificent frigate birds. All in the balmiest of climates. 

EXTRAORDINARY VALUE OF YOUR CRUISE

• Enrichment by guest lecturers, local naturalists, and our Exploration Leaders
• Snorkel and kayak gear, with instructions and guides
• Zodiac launches provide access to islands without docks
• Fine American/continental cuisine with Latin American specialties
• Casual dining with open seating
• Casual dress
• Outdoor barbecues
• Complimentary soft drinks, coffee, tea, cocoa throughout the trip
• TV monitor/VCR in every cabin.
• Seek three-toed sloths and whitefaced capuchins in the rainforest
• Snorkel crystal-clear waters teeming with colorful fish
• Watch for scarlet macaws, toucans, and frigate birds
• Experience traditional Embera and Kuna Indian cultures in Panama
• Select sailings include a transit through the Panama Canal.

The very first moment you step from the beach into the dense Costa Rican forest, your Exploration Leader whispers "I hear them! The monkeys are coming". And indeed, a whole troupe of white-faced capuchins comes scampering through the branches, including a mother with her baby. The pack settles on branches about 30 feet away, to wonder at these visitors to their realm.

COSTA RICA
The peaceful, pastoral nation of Costa Rica has set aside a quarter of its territory in nature preserves. Offering a breathtaking array of landscapes from cloud forests in the volcanic highlands to pristine jungle-clad coast, Costa Rica has become a magnet for environmentally aware travelers and lovers of tropical bliss alike. Costa Rica possesses a charm that captivates its visitors and entices them to return again and again.

MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK
One of Costa Rica's smallest, at 1,685 acres, and most popular national parks, Manuel Antonio boasts beautiful coral-sand beaches. The cove at Escondido Harbor features blue-green waters surrounded by underwater caves, with the outer cliffs pounded by surf. The islands of Manuel Antonio provide an important refu , mating and nesting site for frigate birds, brown pelicans, brown boobies, white ibis and anhingas. On the pleasant walking trails through the forest, watch for white-faced capuchin, howler and squirrel monkeys, sloths, agoutis, coatimundis, and large iguanas basking on the beachside logs.

CURU WILDLIFE REFUGE & TORTUGA
The Curu Wildlife Refuge is a 208acre protected area comprising five distinctive habitats, from mangrove lagoons and shore woodlands to dry hill forest. Despite its small size, the reserve offers sanctuary to a surprising diversity of plants and animals, including over one hundred species of land and sea birds ranging from the magnificent frigate bird to delicate flycatchers, and such easy-tospot animals as the black iguana and capuchin monkey. Curu's three scenic beaches are ideal for swimming and snorkeling. Nearby the beautiful island of Tortuga's powdery white sand beach is lapped by emerald green water, very inviting for a refreshing swim, kayaking .or snorkeling. Weather and tide permitting, the Pacific Explorer crew will set up a beach barbecue here.

CORCOVADO CONSERVATION AREA
Corcovado, much of which is a Costa Rican national park, is comprised of 134,768 acres of pristine rain forest on the remote Osa Peninsula on the southeastern coast. Year-round access to this area is possible only by sea. The forests of Corcovado represent one of the most complex ecological systems on the planet, with many endemic species found only here. Enormous buttressed tree trunks, draped with lianas and epiphytes, rise 150 to 250 feet from the forest floor Rumors of hidden treasure have haunted this area for centuries`- Sir Francis Drake visited today's Drake's Bay in 1574, and pirates are known to have infested these waters. 

PANAMA
From Panama's Pearl Islands to the Panama Canal and Portobelo, your voyage in Panama evokes a vast panorama of history, from pre-Conquest civilizations to the legends of  the pirates of the Spanish Main. When stout Balboa beheld the far Pacific, lonely on a hill in Darien, he could not have foreseen the literal link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that would be created in Panama four centuries later. While a transit through the Panama Canal is a fascinating experience, Panama offers much more, with island national parks, colorful traditional cultures, and well-preserved tropical ecosystems teeming with rare wildlife. Nearly 1,000 bird species, native, migratory and endemic, have been spotted in Panama, including the great green macaw, the three-waffled bellbird, and the resplendent quetzal. Most of the regions we visit in Panama are best - or only - accessible by small ships, including the Islas Perlas, Darien Jungle, Isla de Coiba and the San Blas Islands.

ISLA DE COIBA
This one-time presidio or prison island became a Panamanian national park in 1991, though penal colonies without walls persist. Most of Panama's largest island is covered with heavy virgin forest. Along the shore, rocky headlands separate sandy beaches and mangrove estuaries. Over 15 species of coral brighten the reefs of Coiba and its tiny neighbor islets, making Coiba a favored destination for snorkelers and divers, who search for reef sharks, groupers and sea turtles. Humpback whales, bottle-nose dolphins, orcas and other whales are also present in park waters.

ISLAS PERLAS
The 90 or so islands of Archipielago de las Perlas - Pearl Archipelago - are ringed by pristine beaches offering excellent snorkeling. White-sand beaches, turquoise waters, swaying palms, colorful tropical fish and sea turtles make this island paradise a world-class travel destination. Scarlet macaws, toucans and many species of parrots add color to the forest foliage.

DARIEN JUNGLE
Over one million acres of the southern Darien in easternmost Panama are protected in the Parque Nacional Darien, the crown jewel of Panama's parks. Like a landscape from an "Indiana Jones" adventure, the area offers sandy beaches, rocky coasts, mangroves, palm forest swamps and four mountain ranges covered with triple-canopy jungle. Rare wildlife abounds, and the only ''roads" are rivers. Giant anteaters, jaguars, ocelots, howler monkeys, Baird's tapirs, white-lipped peccaries - the roll of honor goes on and on. Even the traditional  culture of the region's native Embera remains much as it has since time immemorial.

THE PANAMA CANAL
The USA's construction of the Panama Canal was one of the great sagas of the 20th century. The 50-mile cut rather surprisingly travels west to east from Colon on the Caribbean side to Panama City on the Pacific, and conveys over 12,000 ocean-going vessels per year across the isthmus. Many large ships are specifically builtto fit into the canal locks. Watching a huge ship squeeze through the locks with only feet to spare on each side is an impressive sight.

PORTOBELO
The village of Portobelo on Panama's Caribbean coast was once one of the richest ports in the known world. Tons of gold and silver treasure flowed  through the tiny port en route to the Spanish king. The harbor was protected by huge stone forts, but that did not stop pirate Henry Morgan. In 1671 the pirates swarmed in from the landward side,  to loot and level the town. Today, Portobelo slumbers in the sun. Here you will explore the ruins of Fort Geronimo, Fort Santiago, and Fort San Fernando, to seek echoes of the clash of cutlasses, and the boom of old cannon.

SAN BLAS ISLANDS
The beautiful Archipielago de San Blas is home to the self-governing Kuna Indians, who live in communities of bamboo-sided, thatch-roofed houses on only 40 of the keys.  The remainder of the 400 islands, fit to adorn the covers of travel magazines, are left to coconut trees, sea turtles and iguanas. Though the islands barely rise above the blue-green waters of the Caribbean, protective reefs to the north and east soften the force of the wind and waves. The Kuna have preserved many of their traditional ways. For island-toisland travel, the Kuna use the cayuco, a dugout made from a burnt and hollowed-out tree trunk. The women dress as their ancestors did, with brilliantly colored mo/a shawls, long strands of beads wrapping their legs, and a gold ring through their nose.