Grand Voyage: Caribbean to the Panama Canal & Antarctica

New York City comprises 5 boroughs sitting where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean. At its core is Manhattan, a densely populated borough that’s among the world’s major commercial, financial and cultural centers. Its iconic sites include skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building and sprawling Central Park. Broadway theater is staged in neon-lit Times Square.

Baltimore is a major city in Maryland with a long history as an important seaport. Fort McHenry, birthplace of the U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” sits at the mouth of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Today, this harbor area offers shops, upscale crab shacks and attractions like the Civil War–era warship the USS Constellation and the National Aquarium, showcasing thousands of marine creatures.

Baltimore is a major city in Maryland with a long history as an important seaport. Fort McHenry, birthplace of the U.S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” sits at the mouth of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Today, this harbor area offers shops, upscale crab shacks and attractions like the Civil War–era warship the USS Constellation and the National Aquarium, showcasing thousands of marine creatures.

Wilmington is a port city in North Carolina. It’s known as a gateway to Cape Fear Coast beaches like Wrightsville, with its strong surf, and Carolina, with its long boardwalk. Part of downtown’s Historic District, the Riverwalk is lined with restaurants, galleries and shops. It runs along the Cape Fear River, where the Battleship North Carolina is moored. Artifacts on the ship explore WWII naval combat history.

Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas. It lies on the island of New Providence, with neighboring Paradise Island accessible via Nassau Harbor bridges. A popular cruise-ship stop, the city has a hilly landscape and is known for beaches as well as its offshore coral reefs, popular for diving and snorkeling. It retains many of its typical pastel-colored British colonial buildings, like the pink-hued Government House.

Miami, officially the City of Miami, is a metropolis located in southeastern Florida in the United States. It is the third most populous metropolis on the East coast of the United States, and it is the seventh largest in the country.

Cartagena is a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. By the sea is the walled Old Town, founded in the 16th century, with squares, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. With a tropical climate, the city is also a popular beach destination. Reachable by boat are Isla de Barú, with white-sand beaches and palm trees, and the Islas del Rosario, known for their coral reefs.

The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands and cays, of which 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the Panama Canal. A part of the comarca Guna Yala along the Caribbean coast of Panama is home to the Kuna people.

The Bocas del Toro Archipelago is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea in the northwest of Panama. The archipelago separates Almirante Bay and Chiriquí Lagoon from the open Caribbean Sea. The archipelago is part of the Bocas del Toro District which is part of Bocas del Toro Province.

The Panama Canal is an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade.

Panama City, the capital of Panama, is a modern city framed by the Pacific Ocean and man-made Panama Canal. Casco Viejo, its cobblestoned historic center, is famed for colonial-era landmarks like the neoclassical Palacio Presidencial and bougainvillea-filled plazas lined with cafes and bars. The Miraflores Locks offers views of ships traversing the canal, an essential shipping route linking the Atlantic and Pacific.

Darién National Park is a world heritage site in Panama. It is about 325 kilometers from Panama City, and is the most extensive of all national parks of Panama and is one of the most important world heritage sites in Central America. The Darién National Park is a natural bridge spanning North and South America.

The Utría National Natural Park is a national park in the Chocó Department, Colombia. It contains diverse flora and fauna in a lush, mountainous rainforest environment with some of the highest rainfall in the world, at up to 10,000 millimetres annually.

Manta is a port city on Ecuador’s central coast. It’s known for its tuna-fishing industry. The popular Murciélago Beach is on the city’s northwestern tip. Bars and restaurants are clustered along the Malecón Escénico promenade and nearby streets. The low-key Tarqui Beach has a waterside fish market. Nearby, the Central Bank Museum contains pre-Columbian relics from indigenous tribes.

Salaverry is a port town located 14 kilometres southeast of Trujillo city in the La Libertad Region, Peru. It is the capital of Salaverry District and it is located at around 8°13′16″S 78°58′34″W. The port, rebuilt in the 1960s by an English company, is able to accommodate large cruise ships.

Paracas is a town on Peru’s west coast. It’s known for beaches, like El Chaco, set on sheltered Paracas Bay. The town is a launch point for the uninhabited Ballestas Islands, home to sea lions, pelicans and Humboldt penguins. Rugged, wildlife-rich Paracas National Reserve spans desert, ocean, islands and the Paracas Peninsula. The peninsula’s Paracas Candelabra is a huge prehistoric geoglyph, etched into a hillside.

Valparaíso is a port city on Chile’s coast. It’s known for its steep funiculars and colorful, clifftop homes. La Sebastiana, the quirky former residence of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, is now a museum with far-reaching Pacific views. During the 19th century, an influx of European immigrants left their mark on the city’s architecture and cultural institutions, many of which congregate around downtown’s Plaza Sotomayor.

Puerto Montt is a port city in southern Chile’s Lake District, known as a gateway to the Andes mountains and the Patagonian fjords. The city’s neoclassical cathedral, built from wood in the 19th century, overlooks Plaza de Armas square. Nearby, Casa del Arte Diego Rivera displays contemporary works by local and national artists. Just outside the city lie Caleta de Angelmó Market and Calbuco, an active volcano.

Castro is a city on Chiloé Island in Chile’s Lake District. Colorful wooden stilt houses line the waterfront. On Plaza de Armas, the yellow, early-20th-century San Francisco Church has 2 steeples and a distinctive wooden interior. Nearby, woven baskets are sold at the craft fair. The Museum of Modern Art Chiloé displays works by Chilean artists. To the west, Chiloé National Park is home to sea lions.

Punta Arenas is a city near the tip of Chile’s southernmost Patagonia region. Located on the Strait of Magellan, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, it’s often used as base for excursions to the surrounding wilderness and Antarctica. The Plaza Muñoz Gamero has a memorial to explorer Ferdinand Magellan, and the Museo Nao Victoria features a replica of one of his galleons

Cape Horn is a rocky headland on Hornos Island, in southern Chile’s Tierra del Fuego archipelago. It’s surrounded by wild seas off the southern tip of South America where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet. The albatross-shaped Cape Horn Monument commemorates the lives of thousands of seafarers who perished attempting to sail around the cape. A secluded lighthouse and the tiny Stella-Maris Chapel are nearby.

Ushuaia is a resort town in Argentina. It’s located on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, the southernmost tip of South America, nicknamed the “End of the World.” The windswept town, perched on a steep hill, is surrounded by the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel. It’s the gateway to Antarctica cruises and tours to nearby Isla Yécapasela, known as “Penguin Island” for its penguin colonies.

The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as the Palmer Peninsula in the US and Graham Land in the United Kingdom, is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica.

The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as the Palmer Peninsula in the US and Graham Land in the United Kingdom, is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica.

The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as the Palmer Peninsula in the US and Graham Land in the United Kingdom, is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica.

The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as the Palmer Peninsula in the US and Graham Land in the United Kingdom, is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica.

The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as the Palmer Peninsula in the US and Graham Land in the United Kingdom, is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica.

The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as the Palmer Peninsula in the US and Graham Land in the United Kingdom, is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica.

The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O’Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as the Palmer Peninsula in the US and Graham Land in the United Kingdom, is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica.

Ushuaia is a resort town in Argentina. It’s located on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, the southernmost tip of South America, nicknamed the “End of the World.” The windswept town, perched on a steep hill, is surrounded by the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel. It’s the gateway to Antarctica cruises and tours to nearby Isla Yécapasela, known as “Penguin Island” for its penguin colonies.