Explore Panama’s Historic Royal Road, Camino Real

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Once upon a time, long before Panama had its canal or a train, a road ran through the Panamanian jungle. This was not just any old road, however. It was the lifeline that connected Panama City, on the Pacific coast, with its Caribbean trading partner, Portobelo.

This historic road came to be known as El Camino Real de Panama, and it still exists today.

Day trip to El Camino Real

Always on the lookout for unusual things to do in Panama, we jumped at the chance to trek El Camino Real de Panama. Christian Strassnig, principal researcher and founder of the Camino Real Project, was escorting the tour. What an opportunity!

Early one Saturday morning, 20 of us headed out on a day trip from Panama City, boarding a small bus that took us to a tiny village on the edge of Lake Alajuela. Nueva Vigía has very little going for it besides one grocery store and access to the lake … oh, and it has a latrine that only the most desperate, waterlogged traveler would even consider using.

Anyway, our arrival was probably the most interesting thing that had happened there all week. Besides the occasional Camino Real tours, I doubt they see that many gringos in their neck of the woods.

But they’re probably happy to see us, because Christian hires a local man to take us onto the lake.

boats on Lake Alajuela, Panama

Out on Lake Alajuela

Down at the lake’s shore we climbed aboard a rickety-looking long wooden boat with a small motor, captained by a local. One woman balked and refused to get on because she thought it wasn’t seaworthy. (I don’t know why she was so concerned. We were, after all, wearing life jackets.) We all heaved a sigh of relief when Christian finally managed to convince her that it would do the job.

camino real de panama Panama, Central America, Destinations, Experiences

Off we went.

Boating to the Camino Real on Lake Alajuela

Lake Alajuela is not a natural lake. It’s a river that was dammed in the 1930s so that the Panama Canal would always have enough water to run in the dry season. The unfortunate side effect of the damming is that many segments of the historic road were submerged. What that meant to us was that we had to boat to the assorted spots where the Camino Real emerged from the lake.

Some segments of the road were in better condition than others.

How the Camino Real looks now

Where the road ran along the water’s edge the changing water levels had eroded the dirt under the stones, so many had moved. Actually, this made it easier to see the details of how it had been constructed. Flat stones buried on end along their edges anchor the actual cobblestones into place.

stones from the road way on the Camino Real de Panama

It is still possible to find artifacts from the colonial era in the lake’s eroded banks. Dan discovered a shoe from a mule, while I found a pre-Columbian spearhead. We left them where we found them so there would still be something interesting for future visitors to find. (Anyway, it would just be extra weight in my bag. It would probably end up forgotten, collecting dust in a box on a shelf. Our photos are enough of a souvenir.)

Horseshoe dating from the days when conquistadors traveled el Camino Real de Panama.

How Panama’s Camino Real began

Lecturing about the Camino Real in Panama, during a tour

After walking around for a while, we gathered in a shady spot to hear Christian explain the history of the Camino Real as well as how it influenced history. OK, I will admit that I vaguely remember learning about Spanish conquistadors as a schoolgirl, but Christian made it a lot more interesting than my teacher had. I finally understood why it matters.

As the Spanish began to conquer and pillage the Incas 500 years ago, the King commanded his explorers to find the shortest route from Peru to Spain. They created El Camino Real, Spanish for “Royal Road” (or “the King’s Highway,” in English). This Royal Road was a four-foot-wide stone path, just wide enough that their mule trains could carry all their precious booty across Panama. The road began at the Pacific port in Panama City and crossed through the jungle to awaiting ships at Portobelo, on the Caribbean side.

Between 1519 and the mid-1700s Panama’s Camino Real brought untold wealth back to Spain and the church. Eventually, it fell into disuse and was forgotten. Today, most of it has either been reclaimed by the jungle or buried underwater (thanks to damming for the Canal).

wall being reclaimed by the jungle near el Camino Real de Panama

Lunch with campesinos

When the sun had risen high overhead, we boated to a small lakeside peasant community for our noonday meal. This sure beat bringing a bag lunch! This is Christian’s way to help the communities that aren’t in well-traveled areas. Although it’s not a part of his official job, he’s always looking for ways to expand tourism to lesser-known sites, like this town of Quebrada Ancha. It is a way to help these forgotten people benefit.

Campesinos benefit from Cultour
Men, women and children gathered to welcome and escort us to a long table where they had prepared a traditional lunch for us.

Christian had brought along a bag of ice (no electricity = no ice maker) so they could cool the drink they had prepared for us. They added water to lime juice and sweetened the mixture with raspadura. Raspadura is evaporated sugar cane juice and tastes slightly similar to brown sugar. It certainly made our drink taste different from the limonada sold in Panama City restaurants.

Gathered for lunch on our Camino Real tour

We had a choice between two traditional campesino meals:

As we often do, Dan and I asked for different dishes so we could sample both. Both had been cooked over a fire on the community stove and were really flavorful, though not spicy at all. (Panamanian food is rarely hot-spicy.) As we ate we learned that the men had spent the morning fishing for the peacock bass we were enjoying. Those chickens running about nearby had lost a few of their friends to our sancocho as well.

Panamanian sancocho, prepared campesino style.
Panamanian sancocho, prepared campesino style.

Time for a fiesta!

After everyone had eaten, the village elder stood up. He announced that they had prepared a special treat: The boys and girls from their community would dance for us. Afterward, he promised, we would receive a surprise.

Tell you what, maybe they don’t have much by our standards but they sure know how to use what they have. As the music started we were surprised to see it was coming from a car stereo being powered by a car battery.

A car battery is evidence of resourceful locals on the Camino Real

Those kids really danced their hearts out. We all enjoyed watching them. I was especially enchanted by two very young ones who did a solo performance.

children dance for visitors

What was the surprise? The kids grabbed and brought us onto the dance floor while three men began to play toe-tapping traditional music on accordion, scraper and bongo. It was a memorable way to end our time with them.

dancing during the camino real tour
Campesino musical group

Exploring remote Panama

Back on the trail again, two of the people on our tour blessed us with their knowledge: One was trained in geology and another knew all about reptiles and insects. This made our walk to the next site even more interesting.

Christian led us to a limestone cave that was only large enough to fit about 10 people at a time. Adding to the experience a single small, brown bat flew over our heads as we entered, desperate to escape us, the unwelcome invaders. I am sure he didn’t appreciate having his sleep disturbed.

entering a cave in Panama

Beandon, our geology expert, knows all about caves and explained how this one was formed and why one side was different from the other. I won’t bore you with the details.

We also visited a “shelter cave,” so named because it was open on both ends. The huge rocks laying about us had once formed a part of its roof.

camino real de panama Panama, Central America, Destinations, Experiences

When we finally got back to Nueva Vigía, we struggled to get all the mud off our shoes before the bus took us back to Panama City. It had been a very full day.

ⓘ PRO TIP: If you take this tour, bring rain gear. Also, wear old shoes and washable pants. It might rain and you will get muddy, but so what? This unique experience is worth it.

Plan your own Panama adventure

Here are some helpful links and fun tours that we think you’ll enjoy.

PANAMA TRAVEL PLANNING ESSENTIALS
✔ Tourist bureau: The country’s official website is Tourism Panama. Besides offering tons of attraction ideas, they can tell you about special events and give you lots of travel ideas.Also check for city discount passes and tickets.
✔ Travel Guide: This book is a top seller on Amazon.
✔ Flights: Panama City’s Tocumen Airport code is PTY. Check prices here.
✔ Accommodation: Tripdavisor is a massive price comparison site. Check Vrbo for apartments.
✔ Airport transfer: Use a taxi or Uber, or book an airport shuttle for a little more. They greet you in the airport, help with bags, and take you to your hotel.
✔ Visas: Find out what you need and apply here.
✔ Travel insurance covers medical emergencies, cancellations, flight delays, baggage delays, lost luggage, and more. A wise investment. Check prices here.
✔ Getting around: Panama City has buses and a metro, and the country has an extensive public bus system. You can also take Uber or rent a car.
✔ Tickets & tours: Find dozens of fun ideas on GetYourGuide and Viator
✔ Organized trips: G Adventures has insanely affordable small-group tours + guaranteed departures.
\✔ Currency. Panama’s currency is known as the Balboa (/B.), but it only exists in coinage. In reality, the country uses the US dollar.

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Written by Linda

Linda is multilingual and has been to over 50 countries. Her insatiable love of travel, cuisine, and foreign languages inspired her to create As We Saw It, where she documents her trips, shares practical itineraries, and offers insider tips. She’s passionate about helping fellow travelers save time, money, and hassle, and loves to discover new places to explore.

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10 thoughts on “Explore Panama’s Historic Royal Road, Camino Real”

    • That village was so precious, Renuka. The people were so genuine and eager to please. I think you would also enjoy Santa Fe. At least, we did. It’s further west, up in Panama’s mountains and not as touristed, so we were surrounded by locals. Very worth the trip.

  1. What an absolutely great experience! I thought having lunch with the locals was unique enough but then they started dancing for you. That’s something I’d probably cherish the most if I was able to experience it myself. 🙂

  2. Panama is still so underrated compared with Costa Rica. I loved it, too although we didn’t have enough time to see it all.

    • Label us just a tad envious! As close as it was, crossing the border with a car is quite difficult so we never tried. We haven’t even set foot in Costa Rica’s airport yet.

  3. It is nice to see the forgotten people being remembered and being able to show the culture to others. It sure sounds like a full on day tour and you were lucky to have some experts in the group.

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