In January 2025, I flew to Panama City and embarked on my first cruise with National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions, which was also the first cruise I’ve ever been on in my life.
I had also never been to Latin America before. It was a life-changing experience and I can’t wait to share. Here’s what the first three days looked like.
Day 0: Arrival in Panama City
I took a red eye from Los Angeles to Panama City and arrived early in the morning the day before embarkation (January 15). I spent most of the day resting at the hotel, but after my family arrived in the afternoon, we got out for some exploring.
Day 1: Panama City & Panama Canal
We had some time before we were due to board the bus to the dock, so we took a cab to San Felipe (old town) and checked out some beautiful streets and historic buildings. We also had a delicious lunch at the Snack Shack.
Around 4:00pm we boarded the National Geographic Quest. As this was my first-ever cruise, I was imagining tiny cabins. I was pleasantly surprised at how spacious and luxurious the cabins felt.
After orientation, we got lucky and started the process of traversing the Panama Canal lock system just before sunset, making for a golden hour experience of this engineering marvel. My dad, a civil engineer, really appreciated the expert information shared over the ship’s loudspeaker as we observed from the deck.
Day 2: Gatun Lake, Barro Colorado Island and Gamboa Rainforest
On our first expedition day, we had a choice of (1) a panga ride followed by a drive inland to the Gamboa Rainforest where several hiking options were available, (2) a hike through the Barro Colorado Island nature preserve with wildlife spotting led by Smithsonian scientists, or (3) Zodiac tours around the perimeter of the island. I chose the Barro Colorado Island hike.
This hike was hot and muggy, and the first part was all steps straight uphill. I really enjoyed hearing from our guide, a research scientist from the Smithsonian institute. We had our first wildlife spottings – several monkeys, birds, an opossum, and coatis, which look like little raccons.
Later that night we again traversed the Panama Canal locking system. This time, we got a late time slot and it made for a rough night of little sleep.
Day 3: Isla Iguana Wildlife Refuge and Gulf of Panama
The next day, we cruised along the Gulf of Panama to reach Iguana Island. We all received training on snorkeling safety and were fitted with equipment. I had not been snorkeling since I visited Hawaii in 2020, and I felt nervous. However, I had a much better experience this time because I was confident from the training and felt supported by the expedition staff.
I couldn’t take photos underwater, but I saw lots of coral and colorful fish.
We were visited by an iguana on Isla Iguana!
It only got better from here – stay tuned for Panama & Costa Rica: Part 2.
Dervla Travels 
Leave a comment