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Day Trips |
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Visit the Canopy Tower
Our Day Trips include one delicious meal, entrance fee to Soberanía National Park, and use of the Canopy Tower's observation deck where a guide with a 77mm Leica scope will help you identify wildlife.
These trips offered subject to occupancy of the Tower.
Call to confirm availability.
Rates (US$) per person : Rates as of 12 December 2002
Still in effect for 2009
The Awakening of the Rainforest - 6:30 A.M-11:00 A.M. - $95
Dawn is the most active period of the day for the inhabitants of the rainforest. At this time the first rays illuminate the diverse activity in the dense canopy of the rainforest. Hear the thundering howls of the howler monkeys as they proclaim their territory, and observe many species of birds start their daily and never-ending search for food. There is also a guided 2-hour guided walk along Semaphore Hill Road.
Lunch on Top of the Hill - 12:30 A.M-5:00 P.M. - $95
Midday is the best time to see birds of prey (raptors) as they ride thermal currents to soar high in the sky. In the Northern Hemisphere's fall and spring seasons, this is an extraordinary place to witness thousands of hawks in their annual migration. Noon is also the best time to watch ships navigate the Culebra Cut. After lunch, guests take a guided 2-hour guided walk along Semaphore Hill Road.
The guided walk down Semaphore Hill Road provides a ground-level view of the rain forest. From atop the observation tower we may see, for example, blue cotingas, toucans, green shrike vireos, howler monkeys and iguanas. Far below, shaded by the canopy, the environment is cooler. Your guide helps you identify what you see -- we often spot manakins, antbirds, tinamous, sloths, coatis, and agoutis, and an amazing abundance of butterflies and insects. Many of the 46 species of trees that have been identified by scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have medicinal value, and most produce food for birds and mammals. Time permitting, we may even walk for a distance along Old Plantation Road. At the end of the walk, the Rainfomobile or the Birdmobile brings visitors back up Semaphore Hill to the Tower. |
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Digiscoping 2009 |
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Activities Without Birds |
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Non-birders -- partners of ardent birdwatchers and others who come to Canopy Tower -- may be concerned that they will be trapped atop a forlorn, distant tower in the company of ardent bird watchers. This is not unknown at many world-class bird-watching destinations, but Canopy Tower is different. The bright lights of Panama City, one of Central America's greatest urban centers, can be seen on the horizon at night.
During the day, non-birders find plenty of things to do, from sitting serenely high above the canopy watching the endless panoply of Nature and ships on the Canal, to daily tours to visit nearby attractions and destinations of historical, human, and natural interest. Here is a list of favorite activities that can easily be arranged; we request the favor of at least three business days advance notice.
We would be remiss were we not to admit that birds will most likely be seen on many of these excursions. Other wildlife, too. Each trip starts out and ends with a ride through Soberanía National Park, and many of these destinations are surrounded by natural beauty
1. Visit the Panama Canal Visitor Center in Miraflores Locks
There are four exhibition halls which include historic artifacts used in the construction of the Canal, interactive modules, video presentations, models of the Panama Canal, and objects used in Canal operations.
$10 entrance fee
2. Panama City Tour
On this full- or half-day excursion top one of the America's pivotal cities, you will see the ruins of Old Panama, destroyed by the famous English pirate, Sir Henry Morgan. A visit to Colonial Panama and the Interoceanic Museum explains the role Panama has played in interoceanic commerce, beginning with the Spanish conquest, the Panama Railroad and the Panama Canal.
3. Visit the Canal Museum
The Museum has artifacts from the French period and the American effort which finally succeeded. It has good audio visual presentations. The setting is a lovely building which was the original headquarters of De Lesseps' company in Panama's Plaza de la Catedral.
4. Colonial Panama
This area of the city has been declared a World Heritage Site, wonderful architecture of the Spanish period with strong French influence of the late 1800s.
This can be combined with a visit to the Canal Administration Building to see the murals depicting the construction of the Canal by William B. Van Ingen of New York, "an outstanding artist who had achieved considerable fame for his murals in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.
5. Visit Barro Colorado Nature Monument
This island in Gatun Lake, the huge body of water at the center of the Panama Canal, is administered by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute . Barro Colorado, the largest forested island in the Panama Canal waterway, is part of the Barro Colorado Nature Monument (BCNM) and is the site of an internationally recognized biological research station. Full day.
A one hour boat ride departs from Gamboa and navigates a section of the Panama Canal http://www.stri.org/
6. Visit the Smithsonian Marine Exhibit in Naos
This open-air museum at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, offers exhibits on marine science and education, conservation and interpretation of marine coastal environments. Half day.
To get there you'll drive by the site of the museum which Frank Gehry has designed for the Panamanian government. (How did we pull this one, his wife is Panamanian!)
7. Visit the Canopy Adventure in el Valle
This is a brilliant full day trip across the Canal and into the Panamanian hinterlands. Here you can bird watch (of course), shop, fly through the air at Canopy Adventure, and enjoy one of Panama's favorite vacation destinations. You may wonder, why not stay a few days? For lots more information, see the websites for our sister destinations, Canopy Lodge and Canopy Adventure .
8. Visit a settlement of Embera Drua indians
This full day excursion takes you to visit an indigenous settlement at the headwaters of the Chagres River.
9. Half day visit to Mi Pueblito
It’s a replica of a colonial town in the country side.
It consist of: Pueblito Afro-Antillano - honoring to the black workers who came to work on the construction of the Panama Canal and later stayed in the isthmus bringing their customs and culture. Pueblito Indigena - shows the way of living of our Indians groups like: Kunas, Emberas and Guaymies.
10. Visit the Nature Exhibits at Gamboa
Half day excursion for orchids and butterfly exhibits. Five exhibits at a nearby resort hotel showcase local flora and fauna as well as a replica of an Embera Indian village.
Exhibits:
- * Orchid & plant nurseries
- * Serpentarium * Butterfly house
- * Fresh water fish & reptiles ecology exhibit
- * Model Embera Village
11. Shopping in Panama City
Panama City, literally the crossroads of the world, is rightfully renowned for its shopping: Enjoy browsing for French perfumes, Oriental table cloths, Italian jewelry, Chinese art, and thousands of goods from all over the world at duty-free prices.
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Semaphore Hill |
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 The Canopy Tower
The Canopy Tower is a prime location from which to
observe the birds and other wildlife of the forest canopy. Since they
are right at eye level, it is usual to get fantastic views of birds you
would hardly see otherwise. You don't have to leave the Tower to find
birds, you don't even have to leave your bedroom! Tanagers and Tityras
can be seen right from your window, and you don't have to worry about
the rain. The dining area and the roof of the tower are better for
finding elusive canopy birds, as well as Howler Monkeys, Tamarins and
other mammals, since you can look in all directions around you. And all
this without having to venture away from the Tower. But there are many
other places to visit nearby, including the best birding spots in the
Panama Canal Area.
The Road up Semaphore Hill
You can start your explorations of the forests of
Central Panama right on the road up Semaphore Hill. This paved road is
a little more than a mile long, and passes through some of the forest
protected by Soberanía National Park. Here you will get a chance to see
birds and mammals that spend their lives closer to the forest floor,
like antbirds and Agoutis. You can walk on the road, or use one of our
modified observation vehicles, the Rainfomobile and the Birdmobile.
At night, the forest seems to be a completely
different world. More than eight species of Owls and Potoos have been
seen on this road, and since most mammals are more active at night,
it's usual to add a Two-toed Sloth or even a Rothschild's Porcupine to
your owling list.
The bird list of Semaphore Hill Road is extensive, and
includes birds from the forest interior as well as edge dwellers.
Olivaceous Flatbill and White-whiskered Puffbird are common, and
Slate-colored Grosbeak, Bay-headed Tanager, and Great Jacamar are seen
frequently. Great Tinamou and Marbled Wood-Quail are heard often, but
to see them takes a little more work. This road is also great for
raptors: White, Tiny and Bicolored Hawks have been seen, and during
migation it's easy to see more than 10 species of warblers and
migratory songbirds in one morning. Spring migration is especially
striking, as birds will be wearing their breeding plumages.
Self-guided Botanical Tour
Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute have identified and marked 46 species of trees around the
Tower and in Semaphore Hill Road. Many of these trees have medicinal
value, and most produce food for birds and mammals. We will lend you a
booklet with the description of these trees and you can walk down the
road, at your own pace, learning a little bit about them and the rich
flora of the area. Click for the Canopy Tower Tree List .
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Plantation Road |
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 Plantation Road, which starts right by the entrance to the tower, is a
good, easy graded dirt road that passes through a mature forest for
about four miles. The road follows a small creek, Río Chico Masambi,
where sometimes a Louisiana Waterthrush spends the winter. In most
places the forest is clear of undergrowth, which makes it especially
suited for observing shy, interior forest birds like tinamous and
leaftossers. Golden-crowned Spadebills are regular around the creek,
and White-breasted Wood-Wrens are very easy to find. When visiting
Plantation Road you also have a good chance to find an army ant swarm
and many of the birds that follow these swarms as they roam the forest
floor. Spotted, Bicolored and Ocellated Antbirds, Gray-headed Tanagers,
and Plain-brown, Northern Barred and (if you're lucky)
RuddyWoodcreepers. And if you're really lucky you may even find a
Hook-billed Kite.
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El Charco Trail |
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El Charco Trail is a looping trail similar to Plantation Road, and
likewise follows another creek, Río Sardinilla. Right at the entrance
to the trail proper the river has been dammed to form a pond with a
gorgeous waterfall where you are free to take a swim after an
exhausting day of stalking birds. The birdlist for El Charco trail is
similar to that for Plantation Road, but with a few interesting
additions. Rufescent Tiger-Herons have been reported from the creek,
and Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers have been known to nest right over the
pond.
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Summit Gardens |
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Summit Gardens is a park managed by the Office of the
Mayor of Panama City. There is a small zoo where you can get a better
look at King Vulture, Harpy Eagle, Great Curassow and four species of
macaws, as well as Jaguar, Spider Monkeys, and a host of other mammals.
The botanical gardens are great for migratory warblers and other
forest-edge species, and Blue Cotingas are seen every once in a while.
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Old Gamboa Road South |
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Old Gamboa Road is, you guessed it, the old road to Gamboa. The easiest
way to get on it is to turn left at the entrance to Summit Gardens.
Cross the railroad tracks and in a short while you'll get to Old Gamboa
Road proper. If you turn right you'll cross two patches of forest
before getting to the broadening of Culebra Cut. If you turn left,
you'll get to Summit Ponds, where Boat-billed Herons nest and
Capped Herons are seen every few years. Both Kiskadees, and both Green
and Striated Herons are seen regularly, as well as the more common
egrets. Going straight through the two ponds you'll be on Old Gamboa
Road South, one of the birdiest spots around. This road passes through
a variety of habitats, and has plenty of specialties: Blue Ground-Dove,
Great Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Black-tailed and Royal Flycatchers,
Lance-tailed and Golden-collared Manakins and Rosy Thrush-Tanager are a
few highlights.
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Old Gamboa Road North |
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To get on the north half of Old Gamboa Road you'll have to get to the
place where it joins Gaillard Highway: the second road to the left
after you pass the entrance to El Charco Trail. The forests on this end
of the road are not fragmented, and are more similar to the ones on the
Atlantic Slope. You may find Great Jacamar, Thrush-like Schiffornis and
other birds that rarely get on the Pacific Slope.
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Gamboa Ammo Dump |
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The Ammo Dump Pond is located just north of Gamboa, on the way to
Pipeline Road. It's the best place to see the elusive White-throated
Crake, as well as a host of other waterbirds. Least Grebes, Common
Moorhens and Purple Gallinules are common, and Rufescent Tiger-Heron
and American Pygmy-Kingfishers are around, but are not as easy to find.
Sometimes you get Limpkin and maybe even a Least Bittern, and lately a
few Snail Kites have been reported.
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Pipeline Road |
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Pipeline Road is the best place in Central Panama to find forest birds,
and plenty of them. Eight species of wrens, five trogons, four
puffbirds, three motmots, many antbirds and even more flycatchers have
been reported from the road. And if its 17 Km are not enough, there's
plenty of side trails plus eleven creeks and rivers that can be
followed into the forest. Army antswarms are found frequently, attended
sometimes by Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, and there are many Manakin
leks right beside the road. Pipeline Road is also a great place for
raptors: all three Forest-Falcons are heard if not seen with ease, and
Tiny and Plumbeous Hawks and Ornate Hawk-Eagles have been reported a
few times. A Harpy Eagle was seen one time right beside the road!
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Metropolitan Natural Park |
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Located right next to Panama City, only 25 minutes
from the Canopy Tower, the forests of the Metropolitan Natural Park are
much drier than those around Pipeline or Plantation Roads. Therefore,
you should expect to see some species of birds that are rare if not
absent in those areas. The beautiful Rosy Thrush-Tanager is common, as
is the striking Lance-tailed Manakin. It's also a good place to look
for Sepia-capped Flycatcher and you have a shot at the endemic
Yellow-green Tyrannulet as well. And if the resident birds are not
enough, each September the birdlist of the park grows substatially with
the arrival of two dozen species of warblers and other migratory birds.
Finally, the lookout at the end of Mono Tití Road is one of the best
places to witness the rivers of migrating Turkey Vultures and
Swainson's and Broad-winged Hawks that fly right over downtown Panama
City in October and November during the fall migration of raptors. The
flow reverses direction in April and May when these birds return to
their breeding grounds in North America.
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Achiote Road and San Lorenzo |
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(2 hour drive from Canopy Tower, going North)
This is the site of the famous Atlantic Christmas Bird Count held by the Panama Audubon Society every year. The number of species in this area consistently exceeds 340 in a 24-hour period, the No. 1 or No. 2 spot worldwide. Habitats are a bit more open but the birding nonetheless can be wonderful. White Hawk, Mealy Parrot, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Black-throated Trogon,
Black-breasted and Pied Puffbirds, Spot-crowned Barbet, Montezuma Oropendula, Fasciated Antshrike, Bare-crowned and Bicolored Antbirds, White-headed Wren, Red-breasted Blackbird, Yellow-rumped Tanager and Black-headed Saltator are all regularly seen here. There is also the added benefit of visiting the old Spanish fortress of San Lorenzo, a World Heritage Site, built on a promontory at the entrance of the Chagres River. In addition, to get to this area we have to cross the
Panama Canal which gives us a unique view of the locks from below.
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El Valle de Anton |
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(2 hour drive from Canopy Tower, going West)
El Valle is a picturesque little town located 3,000 ft
above sea level in the crater of a gigantic extinct volcano. It is the
largest inhabited volcano in the Western Hemisphere and the second
largest in the World, after the Ngoro-Ngoro in Africa. Here we will
look for foothill birds in the private reserve of the Arias de Para
family. For example: Tody Mot Mot, Dull-mantled Antbird, Eye-ringed
Flatbill, Buff-throated Saltator, White-tipped Sicklebill, Green
Hermit, Sunbittern, Bay-headed and Emerald tanagers and the elusive
Ground Cuckoo which has been seen occasionally in this area. Just to
get a glimpse of this almost mythical bird is worth the trip to El
Valle. The most adventurous of the group are welcomed to do the Canopy Adventure.
This thrilling cable ride among the canopy of the rain forest is
guaranteed to give you enough adrenaline to last you 24 hours. You
might also want to bring a bathing suit because there is a wonderful
swimming hole here. El Valle de Antón is also the location for a
wonderful new birding lodge, Canopy Lodge. For more information visit the Canopy Adventure & the Canopy Lodge websites.
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Boat Trip in the Panama Canal |
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| This morning at 8AM we board The Snail Kite, a 20 ft. boat with a 65hp
outboard motor, for a spectacular tour on the Panama Canal. |
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Most of the Canal is actually an artificial lake, Lake Gatun, and our
tour will take you from Gamboa, just 15 minutes from the Canopy Tower,
to the Atlantic side at Gatun Locks. |
| Along the way we will pass huge cargo ships and ocean liners and will
also visit hidden coves and beautiful inlets with fascinating fauna and
flora. |
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We will pass by the world famous Barro Colorado Island, managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. |
| We will also stop in the islands of the Primate Research Center for a
look at several species of monkeys, namely: Howler and Spider monkeys
and White-faced Capuchins. |
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We will stop in one of the many islands for a swim and a picnic lunch. We are scheduled to be back in the Canopy Tower by noon. |
| For more information on the Panama Canal, visit pancanal.com. |
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Activities 
Panamá Digiscoping Workshop 2009
