In 1671, Welsh pirate Henry Morgan laid siege to Panama City with 2,000 buccaneers and 36 ships. They overran the town's defenses, looted its treasury, and burned it to the ground. For this and other exploits -- he also seized Jamaica from the Spanish and plundered two Venezuelan cities -- Morgan was knighted by the king of England in 1673.

The legends of Captain Morgan and other pirates of the Caribbean -- including Blackbeard, Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts, and Francis Drake -- permeate the humid atmosphere of Panama. This narrow isthmus between the oceans, and between the continents, has been the scene of historic battles and ribald tales for centuries, since Columbus skirted its shores. Naturally, where there are pirates and gold, there are shipwrecks and lost treasures.

This month, Richard Bangs Adventures goes to Panama in pursuit of legends and dreams. Our guide is underwater archaeologist Barry Clifford, himself a living legend in the world of shipwreck salvage. His most famous discovery is the nearly intact wreckage of the Whydah, a pirate ship lost off the coast of Cape Cod in 1717 and located by Clifford in 1984. He's also discovered a pirate fleet lost on the reefs of Las Aves off Venezuela in 1678, and Captain Kidd's flagship, the Adventure, sunk off the coast of Madagascar in 1698.

Clifford lived for three years in Panama, and while there heard tales of the Viper Pit -- a cache of gold along the Camino Real, where Captain Morgan and others may have lost part of their treasure. We'll piece together the half-forgotten lore and scanty evidence of this little-known hoard, and see if we can rescue it from the shadows of the rain forest. And we'll dive in the crystal waters of the Las Perlas Archipelago, meet with Indians in the Darien rain forest, and make the crossing of the famous Panama Canal -- all with the prize-winning "America's Most Adventurous Family" from our sponsor Casio.

Come along for a series of live dispatches from one of Central America's most diverse and complex countries, as we go in search of the Pirates of Panama.