Get ready for a one-of-a-kind tour that explores iconic sights of Panama Canal history. Did you know that there was an entire American community tucked away in Panama from 1903 until the year 2000? This was the community that built the Panama Canal, lived in the Canal Zone and kept the waterway operating for 86 years.
During this tour, you will hear accounts of what life was like in the Canal Zone and get a true sense of this forgotten part of Panama history.
A guide will pick you up at your hotel and take you to Balboa. Here you will explore the Canal Administration Building.
With original visual aids (photos and newspaper articles) from the Canal Zone era, your certified guide will explain some of the incidents that led to the eventual turnover of the Panama Canal to Panamanian administration. We will explore some historical anecdotes as we visit iconic Zonian sites important in their social and work life.
We will stop at a traditional cafeteria to sample traditional Panamanian food and see its display of historic Canal Zone photographs.
Next, we will drive through some of the former U.S. Military bases and point out some of the key historical sites. We will visit with a real Zonian whose personal stories tell what life was like for Americans in Panama and give unique insight into the American Canal era (lots of funny anecdotes).
We will visit a site of the historic railroad that aided in the building of the Panama Canal and connected the two oceans.
As we drive parallel to the Canal, we will point out some important Zonian neighborhoods as well as look out for wildlife in the park-like surroundings. You will get an education on how the Canal works and was built. At Pedro Miguel, you will be able to see the locks, and if we are lucky, we can witness a ship entering or leaving a locks chamber.
This tour is unique because it explores the American community that ran the Canal. The last generations of Zonians (1960-1999) lived through political turmoil and the eventual transfer to Panamanian administration. After those who call themselves Zonians pass, their stories will also fade away.
