South America

Located at the entrance to the Panama Canal, Colón’s Canal Expansion Observation Center has viewing platforms over the Atlantic locks and Gatún Lake. Embark MS Fram and spend the night aboard in port.

The marvel of the famous Panama Canal crossing.

Early in the morning, we depart Colón and enter the Panama Canal, a marvel of modern engineering. We experience the canal transit and the ingenuity of the lock's system firsthand as MS Fram is lifted over 26 metres above sea level, bringing us from the Atlantic side over to the Pacific Ocean.

You’ll be on quite the adventure today as we head to an authentic Embera settlement in the middle of the jungle in Darien National Park. The indigenous Embera have lived in this area for centuries, long before the first Spanish explorer set foot in the New World. The tribe here doesn’t receive visitors regularly and we have worked closely with them to give you this rare opportunity. We’ll brief you beforehand on how to make sure our visit to this isolated community is a respectful one and always in line with their customs on courtesy.

In order to get there, we will anchor up in La Chunga bay and head up the Sambu River through the jungle using our small expedition boats. As we will be travelling inland, it will usually be a lot hotter and you’ll want to have good protection from the sun and the mosquitos. The journey up river will take approximately one hour but will be well worth it. Along the way, keep your eyes open and your camera ready to capture birds like herons, egrets, osprey and Harpy Eagles.

When we arrive at the Embera settlement, you’ll be able to greet and meet the people here and explore the village. You can learn about their traditional clothing and medicine, much of it sourced from the surrounding jungle. There might also be an opportunity to join a local guide on a short walk through the jungle to learn about various medicinal plants and insects of interest. Back in the village, the residents are likely to be having fun themselves as they offer to give you a temporary tribal tattoo and even let you try on their traditional dress.

The little town of Bahía Solano is the largest settlement on Colombia’s Chocó coast, near the mouth of Rio Jella and surrounded by thick jungle. It is also named Ciudad Mutis after the 18th century Spanish botanist, perhaps a reference to the natural biodiversity that exists in the area’s jungles, mangroves, mountains, marshes, rivers, and bays.

The community here opens their town to us and warmly invite you on a hosted walk through their settlement. Along the way, you’ll meet and talk to the mainly Afro Colombian residents who live alongside indigenous Embera and other Colombians from the interior. Passing by the main church and kindergarten, we’ll come to the local secondary school where students will greet you with a traditional welcome song and show you around their classrooms. Over at the small fishing port, you’ll learn about the town’s fishing co-operative, which is the main source of income for the community. Your tour ends at the seafront where you’ll be treated to a performance of unique Afro Pacific Colombian music and dance.

There is an optional excursion to the Botanic Gardens located on the long sandy beach of Playa Mecana. The gardens are actually a 170-acre jungle reserve with fascinating nature trails and home to a seed bank plus different reforestation projects. Another potential optional excursion might take you to the fishing village at Playa Huina where you’ll have the opportunity to walk through the jungle to waterfalls with crystal clear swimming holes or to visit a local indigenous community.

Spend time relaxing in the serenity of the sea. Join lectures as our experienced lecturers share their extensive knowledge and meet our Expedition Team on deck to spot marine wildlife and sea birds. As we cross the Equator, it’s our tradition to hold a ceremony seeking King Neptune’s blessing. He may even make an appearance.

As we cross the Equator, it’s our tradition to hold a ceremony seeking King Neptune’s blessing. He may even make an appearance before we reach our first call in Ecuador. Manta is a bustling port with high-rise buildings and lovely beaches. You can visit the city museum which showcases artefacts from local pre-Colombian culture, a collection of Ecuadorian art, and weird and wonderful fishing paraphernalia. We recommend an excursion to nearby Montecristi where traditional Panamanian straw hats are hand woven.

Isla de la Plata is a part of Parque National Machalilla, Ecuador’s only coastal national park. The island sits quite far off the coast and is prone to large waves that can make landings a challenge. Its name as the ‘Island of Silver’ is thought to come from the belief that English seaman Francis Drake buried a bunch of silver treasure here. Or it’s possibly because all the bird guano reflected in the sunshine gave the island a shiny, silvery look when seen from the mainland. No treasure has ever been found on the island though which only measures less than 6 square kilometres.

Still, whatever the island lacks in size or silver, it more than makes up for in a range of wildlife that rivals that of the Galápagos Islands. If we are able to go ashore here successfully, keen bird watchers among you will enjoy walking on the island with binoculars at the ready to spot some of the 32 species of bird found here, like famous blue-footed boobies, nesting waved albatrosses, pelicans, gannets, and frigate birds. The waters around the island are equally diverse and you might be lucky enough to see whales, manta rays, green turtles, and dolphins.

Known as the banana capital of the world, this area is surrounded by banana plantations - approximately 80% of Ecuador’s bananas are shipped through Puerto Bolivar. Join an optional excursion to an organic plantation and learn about their unique process of growing their banana plants – by playing classical music for them. Further ashore you can explore the Buenaventura Reserve where you have the chance to observe hummingbirds, hawks and parakeets, or walk amongst fossilized trees, flowers, and plants in the Petrified Forest of Puyango on one of our optional excursions.

Our Expedition Team will continue the lecture programme to share their knowledge and experience, as well as summarise the voyage so far and let you know about plans for the exciting days to come. Our onboard Expedition Photographer will be available to help you with the basics of expedition photography.

Discover the ruins of the Chimu Kingdom.

Next is the port of Salaverry, the starting point for two optional excursions. Visit the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site of Chan Chan (`Sun Sun´) to see the mud-brick ruins of the ancient Chimú kingdom. Or tour the Mochican temples of the Sun and Moon, the former being the largest adobe pyramid in Peru.

We dock in Callao and travel a short distance to Lima airport for your flight to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. After you arrive and the transfer brings you to your hotel, you’ll have the rest of the day to explore at your leisure, with dinner served at the hotel.

Originally settled by the Quitu tribe in the first millennium, Quito was eventually integrated into the Inca Empire before being refounded in 1534 by Spanish conqueror Sebastian de Benalcásar. Take a walk in the city’s historic centre to see splendidly restored period buildings and colonial-era churches lining the narrow, cobbled streets. You’ll understand why Quito’s historic centre is described as the largest, least-altered, and best-preserved historic areas in the Americas. For those reasons, it was among the first places to ever be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.

Don’t be surprised if you should feel a little short of breath when exploring the city though. At 2,850 metres above sea level, Quito is the second highest capital in the world after La Paz in Bolivia which is about 650 metres higher.

Once you have enjoyed your breakfast, we’ll take you to Intiñan Museum in the aptly named City in the Middle of the World which claims to be built right on the equator. Here, you’ll see a range of totem poles and observe gravitational effects that can only occur at the equator. You’ll also learn about the traditions of rural life, including the customs and rituals of indigenous Quechua-speaking tribes of the Amazon.

We then ascend the Teleférico, one of Quito’s most popular attractions that connects the city centre to Cruz Loma hill on the east side of the Pichincha volcano. The ride lasts only 10 minutes, but you’ll shoot up to an altitude of 4,050 metres for an incredible view of Quito, the surrounding valleys and the snow-covered volcanoes. It can get chilly up there so remember to bring something warm to wear!

When we return in Quito, we’ll have lunch in the charming colonial quarter before enjoying a sightseeing tour of the area. Dinner will be served at the hotel and the evening is spent at your leisure.

You’ll start your day with breakfast at the hotel before we drive to Quito Airport for the flight to the Galápagos Islands (via Guayaquil). When we arrive at Baltra’s airport, our local representative will transfer you to Itabaca Channel where a small ferry brings you to the island of Santa Cruz.

We’ll travel through a rural agricultural area surrounded by wild landscapes and many different species of flora and fauna. If you are lucky, you might spot a few of the famous finches which inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution. The highlands are one of the best places on the island to observe giant tortoises in their natural habitat. Easy to spot, they lumber around eating grass and leaves and wallow in the small, muddy rain-formed pools. Younger ones tend to be smaller with shinier carapaces while the larger, older ones wear weathered and worn shells like the distinguished armour of a long life – over 100 years in the wild.

Once you’ve settled into your hotel in the town of Puerto Ayora, we’ll walk to the nearby Charles Darwin Research Station. The station hosts educational museums on both the history and development of the Galápagos Islands and the range of protections given to this natural heritage. Native giant land tortoises can also be observed here, and the station is the only place in the Galápagos where most of the different species reside at one site.

The afternoon is at your leisure to explore the small, picturesque Puerto Ayora and its many local arts and crafts shops. See the colourful murals at the churches around town or take a short walk to Tortuga Bay to look for marine iguanas, crabs, and white tip reef sharks among the mangroves. Dinner will be served at the hotel´s restaurant.

After breakfast, we'll begin to explore the islands that have become synonymous with the theory of evolution and hailed as a natural laboratory for natural selection. The range of wildlife on display in the islands is mind-boggling, full of endemic species and subspecies from the wonderful to the weird and everything in between. Over two days, you’ll visit two islands out of a possible six, going to one island each day by boat. Which ones you’ll see will be on the say-so of the park authorities who regulate and assign visitors a month beforehand.

Will it be Bartolomé Island, famous for the dramatic Pinnacle Rock and the rare colony of Galápagos penguins at its base? Or perhaps, it’ll be North Seymour Island, site of large populations of the hilarious blue-footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls and magnificent frigatebirds? Santa Fe Island is known to have some of the most beautiful coves in the archipelago with beaches covered in lounging sea lions. Or maybe you’ll go to South Plaza Island where a growing colony of land iguanas roam among the prickly pear cactus trees. Perhaps it’ll be southernmost Floreana Island for the flamingo lagoon and, with some luck, signs of the bright green and red marine iguanas usually found here. Or will it be the largest of all the islands, Isabela, home to a variety of mangroves and more wild tortoises than anywhere in the archipelago?

It’s clear that whichever two islands you get to set foot on and explore, you’re in for a real treat! You’ll go on walks ashore and learn about the island’s geology, human history, and the exceptionally diverse wildlife all around you. After two days, you’ll understand just why Darwin was so impressed by the islands and why they inspired his world-changing theory.

After breakfast at the hotel, it’ll be time to make our way to Baltra airport to fly to Guayaquil and from there on to your connecting flight home. But, on the way to Baltra airport, we’ll have just enough time to squeeze in one last stop to see 'Los Gemelos' – a pair of sinkholes often mistaken for volcanic craters in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island. Keep an eye out for the striking vermilion flycatcher and the endemic short-ear owl of the Galápagos which are often seen in this area.

With that, your expedition is over. You’ll have journeyed from the marvel of human engineering at the Panama Canal and its complex lock system through to the Galápagos Islands, birthplace of Darwin’s radical biological theory of natural selection and a sanctuary for unique wildlife found nowhere else in the world.