Just being here you can't help but get a better understanding of History and how things were and why they have developed they way they have. Many of the  places you will be seeing are living history, many have not changed since Columbus arrived, others are very much like they were BEFORE he got here.

(So far, no one claims to have found it...see the treasure hunting portion of the program.)

Look back before the Spanish Conquistadors and you will find a rich cultural history of native peoples that have since disappeared. Old clay pots with multi- colored designs, strange symbolic drawings, and even more beautiful, hand-worked gold jewelry.

The huacas, as these are called, bring archaeologists from all over to investigate the peoples that created them.

Today, you will see and meet  tribes that have survived the plunder of civilization in niches and pockets of this land.

The island living Kuna Yala of San Blas, have shunned much of the modern world and continue with their old traditions.

The Embera of the Rainforest also have continued a culture from thousands of years ago.

You can see in this living history what we once were nd compare how far we have "progressed".

History can also be seen here in a more contemporary light too. Many of the 49ers on the way to California stopped and stayed here. You will get an opportunity to see some of their old gold mines. You'll also see and maybe ride on the first transcontinental railroad of the hemisphere, and the greatest engineering masterpiece of America, the Canal.

The Canal idea itself  has been a focus of great men, since the visit of  Ulysses S.Grant, all the way to President Carter. Here you can get a feel for the size and complexity of this job. The statistics are staggering... the dirt moved could build a wall ten feet  high around the world, the sticks of dynamite, laid end to end would reach around to the moon and back.

All this was built without a single bull dozer or other heavy equipment as we know it. Ingenuity found a way to succeed where every other nation had failed.

This is proud History.

You will also see the historical influence on architecture of the diverse people that have come through the isthmus. From the Spanish colonial in the Citadel quarter, to the wrought iron in the French Quarter to the Gingerbread -Caribbean along the coast, to the monolithic American style of the old Zone.

EduQuest lets you better understand history over the ages in one place, from pre-historic to Colonial to modern times.

For even more focus on the History and Archaeology of the area you can include extensions to the "dig" sites of pre-Columbian Man and visit other sites focusing on History.

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