PANAMA 2019 - Extension Options

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Panamá

Days in the Diocese

Dates TBA, approx. Jan 16-21, 2019
Pre-WYD Only
​Spend the days before WYD with a local host parish. Pilgrims participate in spiritual, cultural, and service activities together with parishioners. The daily itinerary is determined by the Diocese, and your meals and lodging will be provided by your host parish. This is a unique opportunity to grow in fellowship with local Catholic youth. Many of our pilgrims remember Days in the Dioceses as their favorite part of World Youth Day!

Rainforest Retreat

Custom Length
​Escape the crowds of the city, and take time to prepare for or reflect upon your WYD experience while enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. Full facilities are available to groups for the needs of your self-guided retreat.

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Day Trips

Panama Canal Bonus

Dig deep into the sites of Panama City. Take in the Panama Canal’s Miraflores Locks, discover the Biodiversity Museum, and explore the ruins of Panamá Viejo.

Panama Canal Train

Ride the rails along the Panama Canal Railway. This trip follows a picturesque path, cruising alongside the locks, viewing the lush rainforest, passing through the causeways on Gatun Lake.

Panama Canal Ferry Cruise

Partially transit  the world-famous Panama Canal on the Panamar Ferry. Experience the marvels of the locks which have aided passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans for over 100 years.

Rainforest Escape

Break away from the urban landscape for a day in Soberanía National Park. Choose your adventure: an Aerial Tram tour into the treetops, or a Boating Expedition on Gatun Lake.

Aerial Tram Tour
Discover the secrets of the upper forest canopy with a ride on an aerial tram. This peaceful and relaxing tour takes you over the treetops as a naturalist guide helps you to interpret some of the jungle’s most interesting facts. The tram rises 267 feet to an observation tower offering fabulous views of the Chagres River, the Embera indigenous community and most of the Soberania National Park.

Gatun Lake Tour
This trip will take you along the world famous Panama Canal into the Gatun Lake, where you will see and learn about the fascinating tropical wildlife of the lake and surrounding forest. You will explore some of the islands formed after the creation of what was once the largest artificial lake in the world.

With a little luck and with the help of a naturalist guide, you can see crocodiles, caimans, sloths, monkeys and a host of birds native to the area.

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Custom Options

Like these ideas, but need a longer or shorter pilgrimage?

Want to visit holy sites in Colombia? or do missionary work in Guatemala?

We can modify or fully customize any pilgrimage! Use the contact form on our WYD Groups page to tell us what you have in mind, and we can create an authentic, faithful pilgrimage experience just for your group.

Costa Rica

Days in the Diocese

Dates TBA, approx. Jan 16-21, 2019
Pre-WYD Only
​Spend the days before WYD with a local host parish. Pilgrims participate in spiritual, cultural, and service activities together with parishioners. The daily itinerary is determined by the Diocese, and your meals and lodging will be provided by your host parish.

Ecotourism

3 Days / 3 Nights
​Spend the days before WYD with a local host parish. Pilgrims participate in spiritual, cultural, and service activities together with parishioners. The daily itinerary is determined by the Diocese, and your meals and lodging will be provided by your host parish.

Jan 18 (or Jan 28): Arrival
Arrive in San José, transfer to your accommodations, and meet your Guide. Dinner and overnight in San José.

Jan 19 (or Jan 29): Volcano & Hot Springs
Hike along the trails of Arenal National Park, through a tropical forest, to areas once devastated by the fury of the volcano. See a variety of flora and fauna, as well as impact craters and the lava slides of 1992. On clear days you can enjoy incredible views of the impressive Arenal Volcano, the Arenal Lake, the Tilarán mountain range and the Cerro Chato Volcano.

After lunch, discover the attractions offered at Baldí Hot Springs, the largest thermal waters resort in the world. Take advantage of 25 different thermal water pools surrounded by rich and varied local vegetation, the singing of the birds, jacuzzis, the largest sauna in Costa Rica, and extreme water slides. Return to San José for dinner and overnight.

Jan 20 (or Jan 30): White Sand Beaches
Enjoy a peaceful day in Manuel Antonio National Park, 132km from San José on the Pacific Coast. Take in the expansive white sand beaches backed by an evergreen forest that grows right up to the high tide line. The principal inhabitants are primary forest, secondary forest, mangrove swamps, lagoons and beach vegetation. See how many of the 109 species of mammals and 184 of birds you can spot during this day of relaxation in nature.

Jan 21 (or Jan 31): Departure
​Depart San José for Panamá City to continue your pilgrimage to World Youth Day, or fly home after weeks of exciting new experiences.

​Please note that for Costa Rica Ecotourism Pre-WYD, "Day 4" of this itinerary is "Day 1" of your WYD itinerary. Post-WYD, "Day 1" of this itinerary is "Day 8" of your WYD itinerary. Hence, this extension adds only 3 days and 3 nights to any WYD pilgrimage.

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Peru

Mission Trip - Limited Spaces!

4 Days / 4 Nights
​May be extended
Adventure into the mountains to serve alongside Catholic missionaries from Family Missions Company. Pilgrims enter deeply into  the corporal works of mercy by contributing to community improvement projects that provide for a variety of local needs. New friendships are formed and old ones are cemented during this cultural immersion as pilgrims and locals share their faith and practice a new language.

Jan 16 OR Jan 28: Arrival 
Arrive in Lima and transfer by plane to Tarapoto, and then drive to Picota. Meet your hosts, full-time missionaries with Family Missions Company (FMC), a lay Catholic Missionary Apostolate committed to works of evangelization and serving the poor. While you share dinner with the missionaries, be inspired by their hearts of service and mercy as they tell their faith story through works and action.

​Jan 17-20 OR Jan 29-31: Mission Days
The FMC Team will equip your group members to become quickly activated into the primary local needs during the time of your stay. Step into the relationships and infrastructure already begun through home visits, community improvement, language and faith exchange, and other projects.

Jan 21 OR Feb 1:  Departure
Depart Picota for Lima via Tarapoto. Fly to Panama City to continue your pilgrimage to World Youth Day, or fly home with new friends from around the world.

Please note that for Peru Post-WYD, "Day 1" of this itinerary is "Day 8" of your WYD itinerary. Hence, this extension adds only 4 days and 4 nights to any WYD pilgrimage.

México

Pilgrimage with Service Day

5 Days / 5 Nights
Calling all missionary pilgrims! Journey to Guadalupe, complete with a visit to El Cerrito. Explore the ancient pyramids in Teotihuacan, and visit important cultural and spiritual sites in Mexico City. Spend a day serving with the Missionaries of Charity. Make a pilgrimage to Puebla, to the Shrine of San Miguel del Milagro, the Basilica of Our Lady of Ocotlán, and to venerate incorrupt Bl. Sebastian de Aparicio.

Jan 16 (or Jan 28): Arrival
Arrive in Mexico City, transfer to your accommodations, and meet your Guide. Dinner and overnight in Mexico City.

​Jan 17 (Jan 29):
​Guadalupe & Teotihuacan Pyramids
Journey to Guadalupe and enter the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe to begin your pilgrimage with Mass in the brilliantly colored modern Basilica. Join your prayers with those of others as you kneel before the altar displaying the astounding Tilma, the actual sackcloth bearing the miraculous image of the Holy Virgin. See the Old Basilica (1709) with its twin towers, one of the most beautiful in Latin America. 
 
Continue your pilgrimage at El Cerrito, the chapel built on Tepeyac Hill at the site of the first apparition. Climb the stairs rising to the summit, and reflect upon the significance of Guadalupe’s message for our time.

In the afternoon, head north into the ancient world of Teotihuacan and its monumental archaeological discoveries. At a time when most European cities were little more than villages, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas and most likely the world. This pre-Aztec city contains the Pyramids of the Sun, an amazing 215 foot high pyramid, the awesome Pyramid of the Moon, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl with its enormous ornamental snake heads, and the grand Avenue of the Dead running the length of the city.  Return to Mexico City for dinner and overnight.

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​​Jan 18 (Jan 30): Mexico City
Visit the great sites of the Capital City, including the Plaza of Three Cultures where Aztec, Spanish, and modern Mexican cultures meet. The day tour also includes the enormous Metropolitan Cathedral (1563), the National Palace, and the Church of St Francis of Assisi, a masterpiece of Spanish baroque architecture, where you will celebrate Mass. Dinner and overnight in Mexico City.

Jan 19 (Jan 31): Mission Day
Travel through the eye-opening Mexico City suburbs for a missionary day of service at a Missionaries of Charity orphanage*. Hearts will be moved by the infants, teenagers, and elderly who have been abandoned by their families due to an array of disabilities. There will be time to play and enjoy their company, but also time to serve them by cleaning, helping at meal times, and responding to other needs and requests. At day's end, pray and give thanks for your missionary experience while celebrating Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Dinner and overnight in Mexico City.

​*Your group may serve an alternate Missionaries of Charity project, depending upon where the need is the greatest.

​Jan 20 (Feb 1): Tlaxcala, Ocotlán, & Puebla
Venture east of Mexico City towards Puebla, passing by the Great Pyramid of Cholula. Visit the holy shrine of San Miguel del Milagro. Celebrate Mass at this site where St. Michael the Archangel appeared to Diego Lazaro in 1631, directing him to the Grotto and to a well of miraculous curative waters. In the Basilica of Our Lady of Ocotlán, see the perfectly preserved statue of Our Lady that was burnt into a tree trunk after she appeared to Juan Diego Bernadino in 1541.
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​In the afternoon, explore the UNESCO World Heritage city of Puebla. Visit St. Francis of Assisi Church to pray before the incorrupt body of Blessed Sebastian de Aparicio. Dinner and overnight in Puebla. 
 
​Jan 21 (Feb 2): Departure
Depart Puebla for Mexico City. Fly to Panama City to continue your pilgrimage to World Youth Day, or fly home after weeks of exciting new experiences.

​Please note that for Mexico Pre-WYD, "Day 6" of this itinerary is "Day 1" of your WYD itinerary. For Mexico Post-WYD, "Day 1" of this itinerary is "Day 8" of your WYD itinerary. Hence, this extension adds only 5 days and 5 nights to any WYD pilgrimage.

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Ready to go?!

Fill out the contact form on our WYD Groups page, and choose which extensions are of interest to your group. We will prepare a custom quote based on your selections, and will call to discuss your needs and plans.

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