from 203 reviews
8 days/7 nights
Daily Tour
12 people
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PRIVATE ITINERARY WITH SHARED EXCURSIONS
We will tailor make your program according to your preferences.
This will be an extraordinary “field botany adventure” replete with on-the-spot mini-lectures on the unique morphological features of many of the plants encountered, all explained in simple terms for the beginner or for the more advanced. During this 7-night all-inclusive botanical tour, you will take field trips to the biodiverse Pipeline Road and to the foothills of Cerro Jefe (home to many endemics and where your guides have discovered/published 8 new plant species), Cerro Gaital Natural Monument, the heights of Altos del Maria & other locations of botanical interest, where you will admire (and learn!) a good sampling of this country’s unique flora, some 10,000 species strong!
You will not only enjoy excellent opportunities to photograph stunningly beautiful—and some extremely rare or endemic—orchids, gesners, ericads, melastomes, heliconias, gingers, begonias, bromeliads and many more fascinating plants, but also see a host of Panama’s colorful birds, including parrots, trogons, motmots, tanagers & hummingbirds along with the mammals and insects (especially butterflies!) associated with these unique plants—all within a framework of learning some of their complex ecological relationships.
This tour is limited to 12 participants and available from May to November.This itinerary may change without prior notice due to weather, alterations in habitat or other conditions.
Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met by your driver for your transfer to the Canopy Tower, located at the top of Semaphore Hill in the rainforest of Soberanía National Park.
Once at the hotel, we suggest you to go immediately to the Tower’s observation deck for a spectacular view of Soberania National Park!
Dinner on property.
Accommodationat CANOPY TOWER.
On the first morning of your botanical tour you will visit the world famous Pipeline Road, an area of acute interest to botanists and other researchers for its diversity and ease of access.
After quick stops by the Ammo Ponds and its brushy borders, you will explore the forest edges along level Pipeline Road. Here you will get your first taste of a mature tropical rainforest, on slow pace with all eyes out for unusual wildflowers, shrubs and trees, as well as butterflies and birds.
Lunch at CANOPY TOWER
After a break you will take a leisurely walk down Semaphore Hill, passing through good forest, where a myriad of plants, especially palms, create a tapestry of color and layers of green, but always with a watchful eye out for avian and insect visitors which feed on and call these plants home.
Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.
The cloud forests associated with Cerro Jefe have been a mecca for botanists since the 1960s, because it is renowned as an area of high endemism. Of the approximately 10,000 plant species recorded in Panama, 1,300 are endemic. Roughly 230 of these are found on Cerro Jefe – and more than 70 found ONLY on Cerro Jefe!
And though the flora here is generally well-known, surprises are yet to be discovered. Here, the orchid, gesner, bromeliad & aroid diversity is astounding!
One of the highlights of today’s botanical tour will be lunch at the Harrison house, where 12 hummingbird feeders and 3 tray feeders will be swarming with hummingbirds, tanagers, euphonias, woodpeckers, motmots and, possibly, a small troop of Geoffroy’s Tamarins, Panama’s smallest monkey. During your lunch stop, you will also explore the bromeliad and orchid garden at the Harrison house.
Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.
After a good breakfast at the Canopy Tower you will continue your botanical tour two hours farther west in El Valle de Anton in Cocle Province, home to the Canopy Lodge where you will spend the next 4 nights. You will arrive in time to get settled in before lunch. You will immediately notice a cooler breeze, as the Lodge sits at 2,100 ft.
This afternoon you will visit APROVACA, the local “Orchid House” on the edge of El Valle, where hundreds of species of orchids are on display, many in bloom. The research at APROVACA promotes education & propagation of rare species for eventual reintroduction.
Immediately afterward, you will continue a short distance to an interesting area 20 minutes south of El Valle, called Valle Chiquito. Here, we hope to see species flowering that are difficult to find in other parts of central Panama.
Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY LODGE.
At Altos del Maria (altitude above 1,000M), you will pass sweeping vistas where both coasts can be seen on clear days. Today’s botanical tour highlight is exploring a paved nature trail through primary forest next to a meandering creek. The forest is ablaze with color, with Bromeliads and orchids festooning the trees and bizarre herbs and shrubs along the creek.
This area has only recently been accessed, so anything is possible here, from ground cuckoos to new plant species! This nature trail is quite level and your guide’s pace, as always, will be slow. You will enjoy a picnic lunch along the banks of a picturesque lake. After more stops for interesting plants, especially orchids, you will head back to the Lodge. If time allows and you are interested, a stop can be made at the El Valle artisan market.
Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY LODGE.
This morning the goal is to visit the highly biodiverse Cerro Gaital area, which flora is rich in orchids, aroids, gesners, begonias & melastomes and other fascinating and stunning plants. Along the way you will stop to scout for terrestrial and epiphytic orchids.
Lunch at CANOPY LODGE.
After lunch you will check the Lodge gardens then walk to the Canopy Adventure trails, where still more floral surprises await. A highlight is viewing “El Macho,” the famous waterfalls associated with the Canopy Adventure zip-line tours.
Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY LODGE.
After breakfast you will make your way to Las Minas, where you will walk up the dirt road a short distance and find a different suite of plants than the ones at other areas.
After lunch at the Canopy Lodge, you will botanize along the roadsides in the La Mesa area. These roadsides are home to several species that will be new for the trip and is also excellent for butterflies and mixed bird flocks!
Lunch at CANOPY LODGE.
Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY LODGE.
After a lovely breakfast at the Canopy Lodge, you will say good-bye and depart for your return flights home with great memories of Panama’s incredible flora!
Timothy