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Panama
High Life’ at the Canopy Tower

Saturday 26 January - Sunday 3 February 2008 (9 days)
Saturday 14 - Sunday 22 June 2008 (9 days)

Teu-teu-teu... A Greenshank? Not up here, high above the rainforest of Panama's Canal Zone! That was the elusive Green Shrike-vireo calling - and we can see it now, down there in the treetops: leaf-green body, yellow throat, blue nape... There is much more to follow. Endemic Geoffroy's Tamarins perform acrobatics at eye-level, disturbing a sleeping sloth which woefully looks at us as we sip our coffee and goes back to sleep. From the valley below, a party of Keel-billed Toucans calls noisily. As we train our 'scopes on them, a startling flash of electric-blue blasts into sight: Blue Cotinga, one of the loveliest of that stunning neotropical family! The views of such notoriously hard-to-see canopy dwellers are incredible - yet typical - of the many delights that await as we settle in for a week of exhilarating forest birding at Panama's unique Canopy Tower.

From our perch aloft the rooftop gallery of this former US radar tower, the views are almost as spectacular as the birding. Overlooking the famous Canal, we can gaze out across the narrow isthmus that is Panama, south to Panama City and the Pacific Ocean, and north to Lake Gatun, just one lock away from the Caribbean. Beneath us lies the bountiful lowland forest of Soberania National Park, a veritable melting pot of birds from North, Central and South America.

One could easily spend each and every day captivated by the rooftop birding, or enchanted by the hummingbird feeders below. But the forest beckons. Howler Monkeys roar their treetop challenges, and just one nearby trail has had more than 400 species recorded along its 18-km length! Should we be lucky enough to encounter a swarm of Army ants we will find a frenetic following of woodcreepers, ant-tanagers, motmots, antbirds and antshrikes, while fruiting trees attract Violaceous Trogon and Purple-throated Fruit Crow.

Though we’ll generally begin our days early, don't let the prospect of dawn starts (optional) put you off: June is in Panama’s ‘Green Season’, when midday rains provide a cooling of the humid climate and make siestas after lunch a good idea. And with first-rate hospitality and cuisine to boot - recipes for dinner come direct from the owner’s sister, a TV celebrity chef in Panama - a wonderful week is in store at this top-drawer example of an eco-lodge! This year we are also offering a second departure, at the end of January, during Panama’s ‘dry season’. Both trips offer unbeatable birding!

Prices:
Jan 2008 - £ 2,595
Jun 2008 - £ 2,295

Single supps*.:
Jan 2008 - please see below*
Jun 2008 - please see below*
Deposit: £ 400 per person

The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of return scheduled flights London-Panama with meals on-board as appropriate, full board accommodation, meals (and some drinks), surface transport, entrance fees, tips to local guide, airport taxes, map, bird checklist and services of the leaders.

The price excludes travel insurance, additional drinks and other personal expenses.

* Please note: Single rooms are limited and have shared facilities, but the single supplement is NOT charged on these rooms (which are subject to availability). The single supplement is applicable only to single occupancy of en suite twin rooms (also subject to availability).

Both trips will be operated in conjunction with Limosa Holidays.

Leaders: Jan 2008: Robin Chittenden and local guide
Jun 2008: Dave Holman and local guide

Itinerary
Day 1
Our holiday begins with a flight to Panama City and a one-hour transfer by road to the Canopy Tower, which will be our base throughout the holiday. Hospitality and food here are exceptional - and great birding begins right outside your bedroom window!
Overnight Canopy Tower

Days 2 - 7
Our first full day will start with a dawn watch across the tree-tops from the upper level of the tower. Poking up through the verdant crown of the forest, the roof-top gallery gives a rare perspective on activity in the very tops of the trees, and it's here we are likely to enjoy our best views of such delights as Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Red-lored Parrot, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Green Shrike-vireo, Double-toothed Kite and the exquisite Blue Cotinga. The noise and activity as the first rays of the sun flood the forest is an experience that's impossible to convey - but one definitely not to be missed!

Lured away by breakfast (another of this tour’s many eagerly anticipated highlights!), our thoughts turn to sampling other of Panama's rich treats in store We'll pause to enjoy the frenzy of activity from Blue-chested, Violet-bellied and Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds and White-vented Plumeleteers around the tower's hummingbird feeders before heading out into the forest. Perhaps on foot, for a stroll down Semaphore Hill (on which our remarkable lodgings are perched), in search of manakins, motmots, puffbirds and the mixed species flocks that encapsulate rainforest birding. Or perhaps by 'rainfomobile' (the Tower’s own open, bus-like vehicle), on a series of bird-filled excursions that will take us from the celebrated Pipeline Road, on Panama's Caribbean slope, to the equally-productive (but rather different birdlife) of Summit Botanical Gardens on the country's Pacific slope, to walk the nearby Plantation Trail or the Old Gamboa Road.

Magnificent Frigatebird, Rufescent Tiger-heron, Wattled Jacana, Snail Kite, Crane Hawk, Black Hawk-eagle, Spectacled Owl, Giant and Common Potoos, Pheasant Cuckoo, comical Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, White-whiskered and Black-breasted Puffbirds, the huge red and black Lineated Woodpecker, Cocoa and Streak-headed Woodcreepers, Chestnut-backed, Bicoloured, Ocellated and Spotted Antbirds, Streak-breasted Antpitta, Red-capped and Blue-crowned Manakins, Royal Flycatcher, Black-capped Pygmy-tyrant, Golden-fronted Greenlet, Crimson-backed Tanager and Thick-billed Euphonia are among the feast of birds that await. Indeed, the species list for the Pipeline Road alone rivals that for the whole of Europe!

Mantled Howler Monkeys, endemic Geoffroy's Tamarins, White-faced Capuchin, Jaguarundi, Capybara, Agouti and White-nosed Coatis provide diurnal mammal interest, while the dappled forest sunshine entices enormous flashing Blue Morpho butterflies and huge 'Helicopter Damselflies' to flit along the trails.

We shall doubtless find it impossible to resist making a couple of nocturnal excursions during our stay, too. Passing the daylight hours in the guise of avian 'tree-stumps', the bizarre Common Potoo and larger Great Potoo inhabit the forests of Semaphore Hill, where owls to tempt us include the handsome Black-and-white, and the recently-split Chaco Screech Owl. We should encounter some of Panama's more elusive canopy-dwelling mammals too, such as Three-toed and Two-toed Sloths, the ginger and white Woolly Opossum and maybe even Rothschild's Porcupine, a Lemurine Night Monkey or perhaps a Kinkajou.

Starting right by the entrance to the tower, Plantation Road is an excellent place to begin - a good, easy graded dirt road that runs for about four miles through a mature forest. The road follows a small creek - Río Chico Masambi - and in most places the forest is clear of undergrowth, which makes it especially suited for observing shy forest dwellers like tinamous and leaftossers. Golden-crowned Spadebills are regularly seen around the stream and White-breasted Wood-Wrens are easy to find, while Grey-headed Tanager, Plain-brown and Northern Barred Woodcreepers and various antbirds may also come our way should we be lucky enough to encounter an ant swarm.

Nearby, El Charco is a looping trail with similar birds to Plantation Road, and likewise follows another creek, the Río Sardinilla. Rufescent Tiger-Heron is possible along the stream and we’ll look for Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher, a species that has nested over the pond at the start the trail.

Located right next to Panama City itself - and only twenty-five minutes drive from the Canopy Tower - the forests of Metropolitan Natural Park are much drier than those found around about. The beautiful Rosy Thrush-tanager - one of Panama’s loveliest birds - is common here, as is the aptly-named Lance-tailed Manakin, the jet-black males absolutely stunning with their distinctive blue saddle and bright red crown. The park is also a good spot to look for the rather more testing Sepia-capped Flycatcher and that spritely endemic, Yellow-green Tyrannulet.

Close to the start of the Old Gamboa Road, we’ll check the Summit Ponds for Great and Lesser Kiskadees and the unusual - and decidedly less demonstrative! - Boat-billed Heron. We may be lucky to find the very attractive Capped Heron here, too. Passing through a variety of bird-rich habitats, the birding along the Gamboa road itself can be very rewarding, with Great Jacamar, Great Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Black-tailed Flycatcher, Golden-collared Manakin and Thrush-like Schiffornis among a number of local specialities to watch for.

Continuing on across the Chagres River, Ammo Dump Pond lies just to the north of Gamboa and we’ll call in here on our way to the celebrated Pipeline Road. This is the best place to look for the elusive White-throated Crake, as well as a host of other waterbirds. The familiar Moorhen will quickly makes us feel at home, occurring commonly alongside Least Grebe and Purple Gallinule, as we try to find the more elusive American Pygmy Kingfisher, Limpkin or a visiting Snail Kite.

Last but not least, 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 recorded along the road. And if its seventeen kilometre length is not enough, there are plenty of side trails plus eleven creeks and rivers that can be followed into the forest, too. Army ant swarms are frequently encountered, and there are many manakin leks right beside the road. The Pipeline Road is also a great place for raptors: all three Forest-falcons - Barred, Forest and Slaty-backed - can usually be heard (if not seen!) with ease, and scarcer possibilities include Tiny and Plumbeous Hawks, while the handsome Ornate Hawk-Eagle has been reported a few times.
Six nights Canopy Tower

Days 8 - 9
If flight times permit, we'll enjoy some final birdwatching at the Canopy Tower before bidding farewell to the 'high life' in Panama’s rainforest treasure-house. A short drive carries us back to Panama City, where we’ll catch our flight home (Day 8), with arrival back in London on Day 9.

Accommodation: In comfortable en suite twin rooms at the unique Canopy Tower. Single room availability is limited here to five small single rooms, each with a big window, a twin-size bed, desk and a place for your clothes. Single rooms have shared bathroom facilities - but the single supplement is not charged on these rooms. (The single supplement shown below is only applicable where twin rooms are given up for single occupancy, where available). Bedrooms are located on the second and third floors of the tower, with the restaurant, lounge and library areas on the fourth floor, and the roof-top observation deck - still with the distinctive old radar dome - situated on the fifth level.

Meals: All included in the price. Meals are another highlight on this tour. Some lunches will be picnics. Some soft drinks, bottled water and wine are included in the tour price.

Walking: Easy with no strenuous walking involved. Slow walks on forest trails (as with all rainforest trails, these can be muddy at times). Some hills, but all taken at a gentle pace. Walks interspersed with periods birding from the roof of the Canopy Tower itself!

Ground Transport: By small coach or 'rainfomobile', the latter being an open bus/truck ideal for seeing birds as we drive shorter distances.

Insects
Mosquitoes are generally not a problem on this tour, but taking precautions against chiggers is advisable - keeping to recognised paths helps greatly. Spraying or dusting ones ankles with repellent or sulphur powder (the latter freely available at the tower) is recommended before venturing into the field.

Accommodation
We stay in quality hotels and lodges with all rooms en suite.

Numbers: Max. 12 clients