By Margot  Thomas

IT'S BEEN  six years since my first waterborne “jungle safari ” on Lake Gatun,   visiting Panama’s only floating lodge, and traveling   down a tree shrouded tunnel to a  hidden beach before  picknicking  on the edge of the jungle.

It was a memorable experience that I have frequently revisited and, like an old fairy story well told, the journey never palls.

Each voyage    provides new experiences, different  wild life  a fresh camera angle,  a varied menu, and some  freshly dug  nugget of information from the encyclopedic  running commentary  of  the irrerepressible  “Captain Carl” Davis.

Carl operates one of the most satisfying back to nature trips in the region. Over the years I have recommended his Jungle Land  Explore adventure to scores of visors from Canada, the US and Europe and never a report of failed expectations

Carl’s journey to creating his waterborne exploration business began when, as a young marine he did his jungle training at Fort Sherman, near Colon’s San Lorenzo Fort..

After leaving the service he entered the tourism industry, first as a crew member on cruise ships, and later creating tours for passengers in the Caribbean, until he finally sailed back to Panama with the first part of his houseboat, later enlarged with a second floating home, constructed in the US and towed to Lake Gatun to form a lodge. Since my first visit it has added two floors and additional recreational space.
Moored to the lodge is a mini fleet of his own cruise craft, each holding up to 20 passengers along with cayucos kayaks and canoes.

Carl’s water safaris last  six and a half hours including the lunch break and your opportunity to explore the hidden beach and waterfall, kayak or go fishing

The start point is the public wharf a short distance past the El Renacer prison on the road from Panama City to the Gamboa Resort.
For those new to Panama, the route is an enthralling introduction to tropical vegetation and you have some 30 minutes of driving to wonder at the   hardiness of the 49’ers trekking across the Isthmus on their way to getting a ship to the goldfields of California.

At the wharf you board your jungle tour craft, and from the moment you set sail on Lake Gatun, created during the building of the Canal, you get a non- stop presentation in ecotourism, history, and the progress of the current widening.
Carl has a hard to beat knowledge of the 1200 varieties of trees that surround the lake and the canal, identifying them by name, detailing the fruit they provide and which wild life lives or feeds there.
There is the expected stop at Monkey Island where the inhabitants, recognizing the floating supermarket are on the canopy before the craft stops, hands ready to collect the proffered peanuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tOKSEtxjlU

Soon after the lodge  comes into sight,  but first a stop at an adjacent small island occupied by only four Rufus napped Tamarin Monkeys, a tiny breed but with big appetites for their favorite bananas They take small slices from your hand with demonstrably more courtesy than their larger Monkey Island cousins.

At the lodge . Carl moves to the upperdeck and loads the barbecue while his staff get to the work in the kitchen, preparing local dishes.

Over lunch  Carl demonstrates his knowledge of the original canal construction, and the building of the railroad linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
We also get to meet some of his fellow boarders including a lively toucan who takes Carl’s finger in his beak and plays tug or a six years-old boa constrictor draped around the host’s neck, a large iguana who looks ready to nip like a crocodile, and a lemurin night monkey who happily curls up on an available shoulder, and like a new born in diapers sometimes  leaves a small warm pool to mark his arrival.

After lunch it’s time for the adventurous to climb into a kayak or canoe, or for others  a powered cayuco.
This is where the journey become truly jungle as you are hidden from the sun moving slowly under canopies of  tropical shrubbery, towards a hidden waterfall where Carl has constructed a mini beach giving visitors the opportunity to swim in a crystal clear pool at the foot of the falls..
Back at the houseboat a quick visit to the small but well stocked souvenir shop before heading for the public wharf, and a drive back to city life, only 30 minutes away. Hard to believe.

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