Panama
Grit and Glory: Exposing the Panama Canal
Program No. 9901RJ
Learn the story of the Panama Canal as you journey through this feat of engineering, get close-up views of the new locks and visit historic sites during explorations along the canal!
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800-454-5768
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DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
Nov 11 - Nov 16, 2024
Starting at
2,749Not seeing the date you're looking for?
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6 days
5 nights
14 meals
5B 4L 5D
2
Casco Viejo, Miraflores Locks Visitor Center
Panama City
At a Glance
The Spanish thought about it. The French drew plans for it. In the end, though, it took a revolution, technology, money, determination and grit to complete the Panama Canal. On this unique journey, traverse the canal by boat and learn about the epic struggle to carve a nautical shortcut from one ocean to another. Learn about the canal’s construction and its impact on world history, commerce and medicine.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking and standing for up to 90 minutes at a time in hot, humid weather. Getting on/off a boat, ascending/descending steps, no wheelchair access.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Learn about the history of the Panama Canal during exclusive boat transit.
- Witness the workings of the busy Miraflores and Gatun Locks and the Alajuela Dam.
- Admire the eclectic architecture of Casco Viejo — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — during a walking exploration of its cobblestone streets.
General Notes
The group size for this popular program is limited to 52 to make our exclusive Panama Canal Transit possible. Some departures include a full Canal transit (Panama City to Colon) and others a partial Canal transit (Panama City to Gamboa). Please refer to the program date notes for details.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Patricio Roca
Patricio Roca is a Panamanian expedition leader with expertise in environmental education and sustainability. Before beginning his career leading groups in 2000, he was an operations specialist in the U.S. Army. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and majored in elementary education at the National University of Panama. Patricio regularly volunteers to help with environmental projects such as tropical reforestation and beach clean-ups. In his free time, he enjoys adventure activities such as trekking, rappelling, and swimming.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Patricio Roca
View biography
Patricio Roca is a Panamanian expedition leader with expertise in environmental education and sustainability. Before beginning his career leading groups in 2000, he was an operations specialist in the U.S. Army. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and majored in elementary education at the National University of Panama. Patricio regularly volunteers to help with environmental projects such as tropical reforestation and beach clean-ups. In his free time, he enjoys adventure activities such as trekking, rappelling, and swimming.
Edwin Miranda
View biography
Edwin Miranda left Panama as a teen and lived in the U.S. until completing university. Once back, he worked as an administrative civilian on military bases in the Canal Zone, and trained and worked as a birding leader at the Canopy Tower. For close to twenty years, he was part of the operational staff in the Panama Canal’s ship lock processes. Edwin now works for the Canal as an expert and instructor, providing technical and historical education to visitors on land and aboard transiting ships.
Jaime Robleto
View biography
Jaime Robleto is an authority on all things regarding the Panama Canal. For almost twenty years, he worked for the Canal Authority, educating students and international visitors. This included boarding cruise ships to narrate the transit and provide historical and technical facts. He has collaborated with the Universidad de Panama on curriculum updates for their bachelor’s degree in historical and cultural tourism. Jaime has a sociology degree from the Universidad Santa Maria la Antigua and studied tourism through the Panamanian Tourism Bureau.
Luis Melendez
View biography
Luis "Tavo" Melendez is a Panamanian expedition leader with a passion for travel, history, and culture. He attended Lindenwood University in Missouri and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Luis spent many years living abroad in Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the U.S. before returning permanently to Panama in 2008. When Luis is not leading programs or spending time with his family and various pets, he can likely be found practicing his surfing and body-boarding techniques at the beach.
Suggested Reading List
(20 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Grit and Glory: Exposing the Panama Canal
Program Number: 9901
A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama
This Nova program, narrated by David McCullough (The Path Between the Seas, CAM32), covers the epic 30-year construction of the Panama Canal. With historic film footage, rare archival photographs and commentary.
How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal
An intriguing look into the treachery, behind-the-scenes financial wrangling and Roosevelt-era dollar diplomacy that resulted in both the Panama Canal and the establishment of Panama as an independent nation.
Redeemers, Ideas and Power in Latin America
Jose Marti, Octavio Paz, Eva Peron, Che Guevara and Hugo Chavez all get a chapter in this illuminating history of political thought in modern Latin America. 12 thinkers in all.
The Birds of Panama
Created for the field, with range maps, illustrations and descriptions on facing pages.
The Tailor of Panama
Set in Panama, this thriller by master storyteller John Le Carre includes spymasters, corrupt officials, arms manufacturers and other unsavory types.
Portrait of the Panama Canal, from Construction to the Twenty-First Century
Featuring 60 color and 10 archival images, this photo-essay includes contemporary and archival photographs of the Panama Canal as well as a short history.
Latin America in Colonial Times
This scholarly primer considers the history of the continent from the arrival of the first Conquistadors in the 16th century to the dying embers of empire 300 years later, giving equal weight to the histories of the colonial rulers, the African slaves brought over to work in the New World and the indigenous groups whose lives and lands were forever changed by conquest.
Panama Canal by Cruise Ship
This outstanding guide to the Panama Canal and popular ports of call in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America features a mile-by-mile guide to the transit, a history of the building of the canal and a detailed pullout map.
National Geographic Panama
Award-winning travel writer and photographer Christopher Baker introduces the history, nature and attractions of Panama, thoroughly illustrated in National Geographic’s style.
Emperors in the Jungle, The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama
A history and expose of U.S. military adventures and incursions in Panama, from the building of the Panama Canal, to a decades-long Army program of chemical weapons testing, and an analysis of the 1989 invasion.
Panama Adventure Map
With natural areas, attractions and two inset maps of Panama City. 1:475,000.
The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographs
These archival photographs tell the story of the people who built the Panama Canal, the engineers who designed it and the changes wrought on the landscape through its construction.
The Monkey's Bridge, Mysteries of Evolution in Central America
Opening this absorbing account of the history and biogeography of the Central American isthmus with the tale of Columbus, Wallace often weaves his own travels in the region with a crisp overview of exploration, nature and evolution. Natural history buffs and ecologically minded travelers will appreciate this valuable resource.
The Captain and the Enemy
Graham Greene returns to classic themes of mystery, deceit and espionage in this accomplished short novel, his 23rd and last book, set in Panama.
Tropical Nature
Two uncommonly observant and thoughtful field biologists offer a lucid portrait of the tropics through 17 marvelous essays that introduce the habitats, ecology, plants and animals of the Central and South American rainforests.
The Path Between the Seas
A great story, admirably told in vivid, page-turning detail, this is the one book to read on the creation of the Panama Canal.
Panama Fever, The Epic History of One of the Greatest Engineering Triumphs of All Time: the Building of the Panama Canal
Parker's epic historical adventure shows all the politics, power and bravado of building the fiercely contested route across Central America.
A Brief History of Central America
A good overview of the region’s economic, political and social history through the 1980s by a professor at the University of Costa Rica. Well-written, informative and concise.
Panama Wildlife Guide
This handy 14-panel fold-up card features expert color illustrations of dozens of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles.
Culture Smart! Panama
This practical guide to local customs, etiquette and culture is concise and well-illustrated.
Program No.
9901
Duration
6 days
Program Begins
Panama City
Program Concludes
Gamboa
Activity Level
At a Glance
The Spanish thought about it. The French drew plans for it. In the end, though, it took a revolution, technology, money, determination and grit to complete the Panama Canal. On this unique journey, traverse the canal by boat and learn about the epic struggle to carve a nautical shortcut from one ocean to another. Learn about the canal’s construction and its impact on world history, commerce and medicine.
Best of all, you'll...
- Learn about the history of the Panama Canal during exclusive boat transit.
- Witness the workings of the busy Miraflores and Gatun Locks and the Alajuela Dam.
- Admire the eclectic architecture of Casco Viejo — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — during a walking exploration of its cobblestone streets.
General Notes
The group size for this popular program is limited to 52 to make our exclusive Panama Canal Transit possible. Some departures include a full Canal transit (Panama City to Colon) and others a partial Canal transit (Panama City to Gamboa). Please refer to the program date notes for details.
Featured Expert
Patricio Roca
Patricio Roca is a Panamanian expedition leader with expertise in environmental education and sustainability. Before beginning his career leading groups in 2000, he was an operations specialist in the U.S. Army. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and majored in elementary education at the National University of Panama. Patricio regularly volunteers to help with environmental projects such as tropical reforestation and beach clean-ups. In his free time, he enjoys adventure activities such as trekking, rappelling, and swimming.
Please Note:
This expert may not be available for every date of the program
Edwin Miranda
Edwin Miranda left Panama as a teen and lived in the U.S. until completing university. Once back, he worked as an administrative civilian on military bases in the Canal Zone, and trained and worked as a birding leader at the Canopy Tower. For close to twenty years, he was part of the operational staff in the Panama Canal’s ship lock processes. Edwin now works for the Canal as an expert and instructor, providing technical and historical education to visitors on land and aboard transiting ships.
Jaime Robleto
Jaime Robleto is an authority on all things regarding the Panama Canal. For almost twenty years, he worked for the Canal Authority, educating students and international visitors. This included boarding cruise ships to narrate the transit and provide historical and technical facts. He has collaborated with the Universidad de Panama on curriculum updates for their bachelor’s degree in historical and cultural tourism. Jaime has a sociology degree from the Universidad Santa Maria la Antigua and studied tourism through the Panamanian Tourism Bureau.
Luis Melendez
Luis "Tavo" Melendez is a Panamanian expedition leader with a passion for travel, history, and culture. He attended Lindenwood University in Missouri and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Luis spent many years living abroad in Venezuela, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the U.S. before returning permanently to Panama in 2008. When Luis is not leading programs or spending time with his family and various pets, he can likely be found practicing his surfing and body-boarding techniques at the beach.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking and standing for up to 90 minutes at a time in hot, humid weather. Getting on/off a boat, ascending/descending steps, no wheelchair access.
Suggested Reading List
View Full List: 20 Books
You can also find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
Prefer to enroll or inquire by phone?
We can help. Give us a call, and we can answer all of your questions!
Call
800-454-5768
