Casco Viejo, the islands of Bocas del Toro and the Osa rainforest in eight nights.
Eight nights from the old quarter of Panama City to the Caribbean islands and on to the Pacific rainforest of Costa Rica, by private flight. The canal and the Smithsonian's research island in Gatun Lake, an Emberá village up the river, a villa over the water, and a reserve on the Osa where a local family keeps open house.
01
Days 1 to 4 · three nights
Casco Viejo on foot, a tasting of Geisha coffee, the Biomuseo with an architect, and the canal at Miraflores Locks with an engineer. The hotel was the Union Club from 1917, host to Carnival balls, presidential inaugurations, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth II, and its guided tour tells that story. A day in Chagres National Park, by dugout canoe to an Emberá community for a traditional lunch; or a boat from Gamboa across Gatun Lake to Barro Colorado Island, the Smithsonian's research station, for a guided rainforest walk of about three kilometres.
Where you stay
Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo occupies the old Union Club, built in 1917 to a design by James C. Wright and restored to reopen as a hotel in 2022. It stands at the water's edge in the old town, with the largest pool in Casco Viejo and Ammi, a rooftop bar and grill.
02
Days 4 to 6 · two nights
A private flight to the Caribbean archipelago. The resort's captains are trained naturalists, so a private boat makes the day: a sunset cruise in Dolphin Bay, a day on a private yacht, snorkelling on the reef, a picnic and a dinner on the beach. The concierge also arranges the starfish beach, sloth island and the bays that glow with bioluminescence.
Where you stay
Nayara Bocas del Toro is an adults-only resort on a private island, built on stilts and off the grid, with all its fresh water drawn from rain. Overwater villas have a saltwater pool and steps down to the sea, and treehouses stand 50 feet up, looking over forest, mangroves and ocean.
03
Days 6 to 9 · three nights
A private flight of an hour to Costa Rica. A walk at night, a hike to a rainforest waterfall, birding at sunset, a private boat on the Golfo Dulce and the coastal path to Matapalo beach. A naturalist walks the forest's medicinal plants, and a half day at Piro Ranch ends with lunch with the Sanchez family, for five guests or more. Then a short flight to San José for home.
Where you stay
Lapa Rios Lodge stands in a private reserve of 1,000 acres on the Osa Peninsula, near Corcovado National Park, as part of an effort to protect the last tropical lowland rainforests of Central America. Scarlet macaws, sloths, monkeys and more than 300 species of birds live in the forest around the suites.
A boat across Gatun Lake, with views of the canal, to the Smithsonian's research station, and a guided walk of about three kilometres through forest where researchers work; Tuesday to Thursday and at weekends, by advance booking, for those 12 and over.
A guided tour of the hotel's history as the Union Club from 1917, where Carnival balls and presidential inaugurations were held.
Nayara's captains are trained naturalists, and a private boat takes in dolphins at sunset, coral reefs, a starfish beach and bioluminescent bays.
A half day at a ranch and reserve in the Sanchez family for more than 150 years, ending with lunch with Miguel Sanchez and his family; for five guests or more.
A naturalist walks the medicinal and edible plants of the rainforest and how they have been used for healing and food.
Subject to availability.
This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.
Most travel is bought. This is designed.
Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.
The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.
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