PANAMA: CANOPY LODGE
2010
Saturday December 11 to Sunday December 19
Guided by Gary Rosenberg
2011
Saturday December 10 to Sunday December 18
Price: $2400
For those also taking the Panama: Canopy Tower tour, $200 can be deducted from the total combined price.
***2011 prices pending
Short tour Saturday to Sunday that stays at one very comfortable lodge. Excellent compliment to Canopy Tower tour. Six nights at Canopy Lodge in the foothills of central Panama mountains north of Panama City. Beautiful scenery and good birding around lodge. Several well-maintained trails and roads allow for easy birding. Excellent trip for foothill species, including lots of fancy tanagers and hummingbirds. Chance for mind-boggling rarities such as Black-crowned Antpitta and Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo. Wide variety of habitats including dry forest, and both east and west slope foothills. Tour begins and ends in Panama City. Views of Panama Canal.
For such a small country, Panama is incredibly diverse. Birders are now fortunate that the owners of the famous Canopy Tower have built a very birder-friendly lodge in the low mountains north of Panama City. This comfortable lodge is situated in a beautiful setting and makes an excellent base of operations to visit the many habitats and birding locations near El Valle. The birding here is really fun, and we will have the opportunity to visit lush foothill forest on both the Pacific and Caribbean slopes, both offering different specialties. We’ll also visit an area of dry forest in the Pacific lowlands, which will produce a number of unique species for the tour. The lodge itself is lovely, and the service is excellent.
Seven full days of birding will allow us ample opportunity to hit all the different habitats. In the drier Pacific-slope forest we can see fancy birds such as Pearl Kite, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Lance-tailed Manakin and Rosy-thrush Tanager. The list of foothill species found in striking distance of the lodge is impressive. One private reserve we will visit offers the chance for incredible birds such as the rare Tody Motmot, and the unique White-tipped Sicklebill. We’ll leisurely bird another set of gardens where fun species including Red-crowned Woodpecker and Flame-rumped Tanager come in to the feeders. Foothill forest birding will be the main attraction of this tour, and some of the many target birds we’ll search for includes White Hawk, Orange-bellied Trogon, Violet Saberwing, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, the incredible Snowcap, Spotted Woodcreeper, Brown-billed Scythebill, Fasciated and Russet Antshrikes, White-ruffed Manakin, Ochraceous Wren, and lots of fancy tanager, including Black-and-yellow, Dusky-faced, Tawny-crested, Silver-throated, and Plain-colored, to name a few. On most days we’ll travel short distances and return to the lodge for lunch and siesta, while on a couple of days, we’ll venture further afield, with the use of 4x4 SUVs.
For those looking for a longer trip, this tour can be taken in conjunction with our Panama: Canopy Tower tour.
