The Chagres Challenge - a full day jungle expedition from sunrise to sunset

Our Chagres Challenge experience was incredible! We saw parts of Panama that we would not have seen any other way. It really was an expedition. Our group was picked up in the early morning and we drove into the mountains to begin the trip. After a nice breakfast, we enjoyed some off-roading. Our driver was skilled and got us to the trailhead. We began hiking through the jungle to the river. Our guide Javier had extensive knowledge of the flora, fauna, topography and history of the area. We were able to see lots of animals and learned about the many kinds of trees and plants that exist there. It was a beautiful remote hike in the jungle. Bring shoes that can get really wet and are ok for hiking. Something like Choccos or Tevas would be ideal but, I wore water shoes with socks and was just fine. You will want something with some grip since the trail is likely to be slick. It is a rain forest. When we arrived at the river, we relaxed while Javier's team inflated the rafts and prepared the equipment. After safety training we began rafting. It had been raining more than usual and this made our rafting adventure even more fun as the river was running fast. Our raft operator Fabian was calm, skilled and exceptionally pleasant. We worked as a team with his guidance to navigate the rapids and nobody fell out. We have all been rafting before and this was unlike any other. Seeing the jungle from the river in the rain was an experience that I will never forget in the best way. The launch point is extremely remote and this meant that we had the river completely to ourselves. We had a nice meal along the river before transferring to motorized long boats that took us across Lake Alajuela where our van was waiting. Everyone in our group would highly recommend this adventure.