Panama
El Camino Real Jungle Trek
El Camino Real, literally translated as the royal road, is referred to in English as the King's road or the King's highway.
El Camino Real is a road crossing the isthmus through the jungle of Panama, connecting Panama city and the city of Balboa (also the city of Portobelo).
Vasco Nunez Balboa was the first Spaniard to hack his way through the isthmus of Panama and stressed the need to build a road connecting the two oceans. Later the King of Spain commissioned to have the road built using Panama locals as slaves. The Spanish used the road to get the gold from Inca raids either from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean where the gold could be sailed to California or from the Pacific to the Caribbean where it could be sailed to Spain. It was this same road that the Pirate Henry Morgan used in 1672 to sack Panama City.
The Camino Real Trek is a backpackers dream trip. It is an 8 day expedition exploring two major cities of Panama, hiking 50 miles through the jungle, and then travailing the transcontinental Panama railway.
Day 1 (Saturday) Arrive to Panama
Night at METRO HOTEL
Day 2 (Sunday) Historic Panama City - Embera Village
Night in the jungle in screened hammocks
Day 3 - 5 (Monday-Wednesday) Chagres National Park
3 nights in hammocks in the jungle
Day 6 (Thursday) Portobelo
Night in waterfront lodge in Portobelo
Day 7 (Friday) Bay of Portobelo - Panama City
Railway back to Panama City
Night at METRO HOTEL
Day 8 (Saturday) Depart Panama
Tocumen International Airport. Fly home
Total Cost: $1720
Cost includes everything including meals, hotels, and transportation (does not include airfare)
Biodiversity in Panama
Mammals - 218 different species
Reptiles - 242 different species
Amphibians - 182 different species
Birds - 940 different species (Panama is home to more bird species than any other place in the world
125 of these animal species cannot be found anywhere else in the world
Plants - Over 9,915 different known species
One Reason for Panama's large Biodiversity is because it served as a land bridge between North and South America. Panama is a country where we can see the merger of North and South American Species.
There are still thousands of species in the the rainforests of Panama presumed unknown or unnamed
Currently many researchers are working to identify species of the Panama rainforest and to estimate their biomass. One group currently working in the rainforests of Panama is the Darwin Initiative.
There is no telling how many species were eradicated or hurt during the making of the Panama Canal. In order to create the Canal the forests were flooded destroying many micro-ecosystems and hurting many species.