Dear friends,

The World Cup is finally over and Spain won! ¡QUE VIVA ESPAÑA!

I now have the peace of mind necessary to write these lines to you. I must confess that my first choice was Brazil and then, after Brazil was eliminated, I decided to back any team from Latin America. But when Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay lost, I was again left without a team, forcing me to choose between Holland and Spain--not exactly what I had in mind! My initial choice was Holland, because we are seeing an increasing number of Dutch birders in our lodges, and this was my way of saying “thank you” to all of them. However, a couple of hours before the game, I remembered that my great-great grandfather, Don Ramón Arias Menéndez, came to Panamá from Spain in 1815. My Spanish blood suddenly surfaced with surprising strength and vitality! I just could not back Holland! No way! Soy Español, pues hombre! I had no choice but to cheer for Spain, la Madre Patria! ¡OLÉ!

I’m very sorry Jan, Toon, Wilhem, Maarten, Enno, Roelf, et al. I hope you will understand.

On another matter, in our last newsletter I mentioned that the Green Season (May to September) was a great time to see young critters around the Canopy Tower, because most birds and mammals synchronize their reproductive cycles with the rains in order to assure plenty of food for their young. Well, we have some amazing pictures to illustrate this point, which you can look at in our section Young Visitors. The first one is of a Geoffroy’s Tamarin adult and baby (Saguinus geoffroyi), taken by our top guide, Jose Soto, and the other is of a Mantled Howler and baby (Alouatta palliata), taken by our guest, Daniel Hinckley--both taken from the dining room of the Canopy Tower within the last three weeks! Both have also captured the tenderness of parental care and the innocence of the very young. I estimate that the baby tamarin is only days old (notice that there is little hair on its back and arm). The baby howler is a little older, perhaps a couple of weeks old, as its fur has not reached the coal-black color of its mother on whose back it is riding, somewhat apprehensively, I might add.

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Panamanian Night Monkey (Aotus zonalis)
by Carlos Bethancourt

Read the itinerary by clicking here

Geoffroy´s Tamarin, also known as the Panamanian or Rufous-naped Tamarin, is a Cebid monkey similar to marmosets of South America, and the only tamarin species native to Central America.  This small, squirrel-sized monkey has a mottled black and creamy-yellow back, a mostly white front and legs, and a long, black non-prehensile tail with red at the base.  Geoffroy´s Tamarins inhabit humid tropical rainforests of eastern and central Panama, living predominantly in the sub-canopy and shrub levels.  They feed on flowers, fruit and insects.  One of their favorite foods are the flowers/fruit of the Cecropia tree. The Canopy Tower is surrounded by these trees and about three times daily, a family of 6 Tamarins comes around to feed (see picture), and you can see them right from the dining room—less than 20 feet away!  They often announce their arrival by giving birdlike twitters or whistles, so always have your binoculars and cameras ready for this special moment. As this picture shows, the young are carried on the back of an adult member of the group, it can be either parent or another member of the family (in this case the young is being carried by a male).  Females usually give birth to twins.

Known locally as Mono Aullador, this common, large, folivorous (leaf-eating) monkey inhabits the canopy level of the tropical rainforest, from lowlands to foothills.  The Mantled Howler is primarily black, except for a fringe (mantle) of goldish-buff hair on each side.  Because their diet consists mainly of leaves (but also fruit and flowers), which provides very little immediate energy, they spend most of the day resting and sleeping in the trees, where they slowly digest their meals. Communication between troops is done vocally.  The male has a large, hollow bone in his throat, the hyoid, which produces one of the loudest sounds made by an arboreal (tree-dwelling) mammal—and one of the loudest sounds emitted in the animal world.  The howler's call is audible for nearly 3 miles!   The troop (averaging 8-20 individuals) consists of mostly females and young, with usually one to three adult males.  Females give birth to one infant, after a six month gestation period. The young is carried and fed by the mother only.  At least once a week a family of about ten Mantled Howlers forages in the trees next to the Canopy Tower.  They sometimes stay nearby for several days and, on those mornings, they will give you a wakeup call at about 5:30!  So no need to worry if you forget your alarm clock. They are not called "howlers" for nothing! Yes, the sound of howlers at dawn is one of the characteristic sounds of the Central American Neotropics, and one which conjures images of a healthy, vibrant rainforest teeming with life.

1. 

   Fodor’s Choice Award for Canopy Lodge.
   The Canopy Lodge has been recognized by Fodor’s Travel, the foremost name in travel publishing, as a 2010 Fodor’s Choice selection. This distinction represents a remarkable achievement and recognizes Canopy Lodge as a leader in its field for service, quality, and value in the 2010 year.

2. Top 50 Eco-Lodges of the World 2009, National Geographic Adventure Magazine
3. The Top 100 Birding Sites of the World, by Dominic Couzens, University of California Press, 2009
4. A Year of Watching Wildlife, a Guide to the World's Best Animal Encounters, in the Birdwatching category, Lonely Planet Publications, 2009