National Geographic Explorer begins with a transit of the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and the Pacific. Along the Pacific coast of South America, we explore an exciting sequence of off-the-beaten-track expedition calls, ranging from the fabled treasure island of Cocos, off the coast of Costa Rica, to Lobos de Tierra off the coast of Peru, a significant breeding place for the masked booby. And the stunning National Park at Isla Coiba in Panama, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Fauna and Flora Sanctuary at Isla Malpelo, some 300 miles off the Colombian coast, with its schools of hammerhead sharks and colonies of rare algae, lichens and mosses.

Pre-Columbian archaeology will be another highlight of this voyage. In Peru, the temples of the sun and moon were built by the Moche in the fifth century and the world’s largest adobe city, constructed at Chan Chan at the turn of the first millennium by the Chimú people. In Lima, we visit the Larco Herrara Muusem with its internationally renowned pre-Columbian gold collection.