Sunrise on Saturday, February 8, 2025

We decided to visit the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real del Chagres, which are the remains of a Spanish fort from the colonial era. It’s located at the mouth of the Chagres river in the San Lorenzo national forest, just a ten-minute drive from the marina. Taxis hang out at the marina, so catching a taxi to the fort was easy. However, taxis don’t hang out at the fort, so getting a taxi back out would be challenging. We were advised to pay our taxi driver to wait for us at the fort to ensure a ride back out. He charged us $35 for the round trip, including a wait time of up to 1.5 hours.
The parking lot was situated along the edge of the Chagres river, with lovely views. There were areas that were closed off and covered with tarp that were apparently currently under excavation. A sign said that we were standing on what had been part of the town of Chagres, which had co-existed alongside each iteration of the fort.
