Chagres National Park

In the Chagres National Park you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the rainforest, rivers, mountains and waterfalls, as well as visit the unique Indian village of the people of the tribe of Embera-Vounaan and get acquainted with their distinctive culture.

Location:

The Chagres National Park in Panama is only 40 km from the capital of the state. Its territory belongs at once to two provinces - Panama and Colon .

History of the park

The purpose of the creation of this reserve was the protection of river ecosystems that supply the Panama Canal with water and are sources of drinking water for the country's large cities, as well as a source of electricity for Panama and Kolon. If you go back to the history of the reserve, then it should be said that in the Middle Ages, the Chagres Park was used by the Spaniards as a storehouse of gold and silver riches brought from other South American colonies. Today, parts of the two oldest roads - the Camino de Cruces and the Camino Real, on which the Inca gold was exported - have been preserved here.

Climate

In this area, the tropical subequatorial climate prevails throughout the year, almost always hot and high in humidity. It is best to schedule a visit to the Chagres Park between mid-December and April, when the dry season is observed here. During the rest of the year, tropical showers are possible, although short-lived, but quite abundant.

Attractions of the park

The main property of the Chagres National Park is Lake Gatun and Alajuela , where huge bird colonies are concentrated, and the Chagres River itself. For all these ponds, you can take a leisurely ride on rafts, sailboats or a ferry. Fans of outdoor activities and extreme entertainment will be offered a choice of water skiing, motorcycles or scooters. In addition, you can rent a fishing pole and fish.

Camping is permitted in Chagres. This is in fact a unique place where you can spend the night in a tent in a rainforest.

Excursion around the reserve is very diverse. The main peak on Lake Alajuela is Cerro Hefe, located at an altitude of 1000 m above sea level. Other significant peaks are called Cerro Bruja and Cerro Asul, with them you can see the Panama Canal, and in good and clear weather - wonderful panoramas of the ocean expanses. Speaking of Lake Gatun, the first thing to note is the artificial origin of the lake, which was created at the beginning of the 20th century, and at that time was the largest man-made lake on the planet. On Lake Gatun, pay attention to the island of the Apes, where charming capuchins and quite large monkeys-howler live. Scientists and researchers will be interested in the island of Barro Colorado , which is a tropical scientific station.

Finally, the most interesting part of the excursion is a visit to the Chagres River valley, where the Indians of the Embera-Vounaan tribe live. You can be reached by a rocky path to a small waterfall and swim in its transparent overthrown waters, and then taken by boat to an Indian village where you can get acquainted with the culture of the aborigines, listen to the orchestra from there, go to a local restaurant in the open air and participate in rituals and dances.

You can also choose souvenirs to your liking - handmade baskets, sculptures from Tagua, coconuts decorated with carvings, and much more.

More than 50 species of fish, otters, caimans and crocodiles live in the Chagres National Park in Panama, in the forests are found salamanders, tapirs, eagles, jaguars. Among the birds it is worth noting especially rare - the striped woodpecker and tanagra.

In general, in the Chagres Reserve every visitor will be fascinated by the excursion and find something interesting for themselves, because there are steep mountain slopes, beautiful valleys of the river, lakes, waterfalls , tropical forests.

How to get there?

Since there are no direct flights from Russia to Panama, it is necessary to fly to the country's capital with a transfer through Havana, the USA or Europe (Madrid, Amsterdam, Frankfurt). Further from the city ​​of Panama you can reach the National Park Chagres by taxi or rent a car. The road to the reserve takes approximately 35-40 minutes.