Zip line adventure tour Panama City, Panama

 

 

While visiting Panama City, I wanted to see the countryside outside of the city and I decided to try an outdoor adventure experience.  I signed up for a Zip line tour with tour provider Project Expedition, and they offer a variety of recreation and adventure tours including a Zip line tour located close to the city of Colon and facing Gatun Lake, which is about an hour and a half drive from Panama City. This mostly forested area above Gatun Lake you’ll find some beautiful vistas of  the lake and hilltop terrain where the zip line floats above some valleys, outlooks and directly over the lake itself in one of the longest zip line rides in the country. The drive to the Zip line base goes through scenic landscapes and two lane roads that skirt the Panama Canal and both locks that large container ships go through from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean and back.

 

 

Passing through the Panama Canal locks

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to Gatun Lake, we drive past the previous US base which housed the engineers and workers who helped build the Panama Canal. Further down the road we pass through one of the largest national parks in Panama and we stopped briefly to take photographs by a scenic waterfall just off the side of the highway. This national park hosts a variety of exotic wildlife and weird animals that thrive in Panama and Central America. The drive along this forested road is a wonderful way to experience the lush countryside not far from the urban sprawl and we finally reach the perimeter of the Coastal city of Colon and head uphill on a road towards Gatun Lake.

 

The private land where the zip line is located hosts a hostel, restaurant, water recreation activities and the zip line tour which goes over a small stretch of the lake.

 

 

 

 

After a quick check in process and signing documents, we drive a short way uphill to the first launch with a small tree house overlooking several scenic spots around Gatun Lake. Despite the looking dark clouds ahead, the views are really magnificent. Our guide translates the process of doing the zip line with the local guides who will be with us for the entire tour and gives us a quick demo of what to expect and how to use our hands, gloves to slide through the cables on the way down. This is really old school with one heavy leather glove that is used for your braking system and I was a little apprehensive with the rain and wet cable if we would be able to brake effectively.

 

Zip lining along the hills of Colon and Gatun Lake

We get ready for our first zip line which is a short ride through the hilltops and it is a breeze, I ended up putting a little more pressure on the brake glove to make sure that I can control the process on the wet cable. The next run is a steeper downhill through a small canyon and the rain changes from a light rain to a downpour. The whole experience is more dramatic with the heavy rain falling directly on my face and I end up hitting the punching bag/break because of the fast speed.

 

 

Zip line demo time

 

 

 

Getting ready for our first zip line in Panama

 

 

 

Next we climb the largest tower with the longest zip line that spans an entire finger lake portion of Gatun Lake and the experience is totally surreal, racing really fast and direct into the lake it seems with monsoon like rain pelting my face and the long expansive lake to traverse. The ride didn’t seem to end and it almost felt like it would actually go into the lake which was exciting and scary at the same time. Of course the guides didn’t think anything of this and immediately dove into the zip line. You might think that this would be the highlight, but you first zip down to an island on Gatun and have to zip out to the bank where the tour ends which the 2^nd time around doesn’t seem as bad despite the awful weather.

 

 

 

Distance view from Gatun Lake

 

 

 

 

Zipping down a long expanse over Gatun Lake

 

Zipping through the trees and into another lake traverse at Gatun Lake

 

 

 

Just clearing through the trees and past Gatun Lake

 

 

 

Fortunately when we finally finished our tour  the rain had finally subsided and we hiked back uphill slowly to an empty restaurant where we use the bathrooms to dry off and then change into dry clothes and things are back to normal. We hike up a quarter mile to where the car is stationed and our driver takes us back to the city. Despite the terrible weather the experience was really out of this world and the rain actually added to the dramatic experience zipping through jungle areas, mountain peaks with panoramic views of Gatun Lake and going through the lake in two spots which was something I’ve never experienced in this long a zip line tour.

 

 

 

 

The rain was relentless when we entered Panama City and we asked our guide to drop us off a local restaurant serving the traditional Chicken Soup which is one of the most popular dishes in Panama and yes it was a perfect end to this wet and cold day which normally would have been a wasted day exploring in the city. That was quite an adventure experience in extreme wet conditions, I’m sure it would have been prettier on a sunny day – but it was dramatic and we didn’t wimp out, which made it even more eventful.

The tour I booked with Project Expedition was effortless and easy to arrange on their website especially if you want to customize your program. I definitely would do another tour in Panama when I visit the area and other Central America locations.

 

 

 

Having some delicious Panamanian chicken soup

 

 

Thanks for visiting today and checking out this post on the Zip line adventure tour Panama City, Panama, hopefully you will be able to see and experience Panama City and some of these wonderful attractions and landmarks for yourself. If you enjoyed the images and post, could you please share it with any of the social media buttons located around the post. Thanks to Project Expedition for allowing me to share this experience – all thoughts and opinions were my own.

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