Fuerte Amador, Panama
Núñez de Balboa’s tortuous trek from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 1513 demonstrated that the isthmus was indeed the path between the seas. In 1519, Pedro Arias Dávila founded Panama City. The area changed “ownership” many times. The port was destroyed by pirates in 1671and in 1717 was under New Granada. Eventually it became part of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the construction of the Panama Canal to be completed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914.
Fuerte Amador is a man-made peninsula located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. It is made up of four islands: Flamenco, Perico, Culebra, and Naos. The peninsula was created in the 1990s by filling in the area between the islands with material excavated from the Panama Canal.
Fuerte Amador is now a popular tourist destination, home to a variety of hotels, restaurants, shops, and attractions. It is also a major cruise ship port, and is a convenient base for exploring the Panama Canal and the surrounding area.
Monkey watch and canal natural cruise was a hoot (or a howl). This natural adventure combined the thrill of speeding through the Panama Canal next to the big ships, with the emphasis on BIG, transiting this manmade wonder and seeing nature up close. An exhilarating (and maybe a few other expletives) 30-minute boat ride at high speed (hold on to your hats) takes you right through the heart of the Panama Canal.
We did slow down to enter the labyrinth of jungle-covered islands of Lake Gatún. In this protected area, the wildlife is plentiful. We saw capuchin monkeys, three-toed sloth, howler monkeys, Panamanian tamarins, various birds, as well as crocodiles, turtles and numerous butterflies. This is an exceptional place to experience the sights and sounds of the jungle up close. An if you are interested, I have a whole lot more pictures of monkeys. I have trouble picking just a few.
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Suzi Travels 
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