ITINERARY

Notes on the schedule: We gained a bit of time on our initial schedule, so we opted to include Cerro Colorado. This gave already a nice part of Western Panama specialities. If only we had a couple of days more we definitely would have liked to add the Volcan/Fortuna area to our itinerary...

Download kml file with all gps coordinates

PRACTICALITIES

Organization / guiding

To visit Cerro Pirre in the province of Darien, one needs permits from SENAFRONT and a guide to accompany you into the park. We got in contact with Isaac Pizarro (pizarro.3003@hotmail.com, (+507) 6245-3606). He is a local tourist guide, living in El Real de Santa Marían, Darien. He speaks very basic English, but is a very skilled bird guide. Overall, we were very pleased with Isaac's services and highly recommend him for the Pirre part. The package included the SENAFRONT permits, 3 porters, accommodation in the Rancho Frio station, food, his guidance, taxi back and forth to Pirre Uno, and a two way boat trip to the Jacamar site. Logistics were not always very smooth, but he surely did his best to make it a great trip!

Initially, our first contact was Euclides Campos (euclides17campos@gmail.com, (+507) 6398-9500). He speaks English and responded rapidly. He is an all-round freelance guide for the whole country with good knowledge of all sites and birds. Eventually, it turned out that he wasn't able to take us up to Cerro Pirre...

For the entire period, we rented a car (Hyundai Elantra) from Dollar. It had a conveniently large trunk that fitted all our main luggage. Roads were general in good condition, except for some parts between Meteti and Yaviza (Darien). The roads for both Nusagandi and Cerro Azul are in good condition. The road to Cerro Colorado has been recently renewed and is in excellent condition until the junction towards Llano Tugri from where one starts birding. Hence, no 4WD was needed towards/at the sites we visited.

Accommodation & food

In the cities and at the touristic coastal areas there was a good choice of accommodation. In more remote areas, only few options are available. In Yaviza, Nusagandi and Cerro Azul, there was not really a choice. For Cerro Colorado, we had to drive down all the way back to Las Lajas. For the Cerro Pirre part, we took our own camping gear to be sure of the quality (rain proof).

We booked some hotels on beforehand via booking.com, which is similar to Tripadvisor. Airbnb also offers a great choice of accommodation (even in remote areas), but we did not use this service.

Hotels:

Money

The official currency of Panama is the Balboa, and is at par with the US Dollar. These days US Dollar legally circulates in Panama - all notes were US Dollars, coinage was often the Balboa. ATM's were easily found in larger cities, but were sometimes broken or run out of cash.

Weather

Panama has a warm and wet, tropical climate. The wet season generally lasts from the end of April till mid-December. In between is the drier season and most birders visit the country this time. Read more at the Climates to Travel website.

We might have been lucky with the weather conditions. We had only little rain on the Pirre trek and general good birding weather during the trip. One afternoon we had quite some rain on the Pipeline Road and on the second day at Cerro Colorado clouds were persistent...

Health and safety

We encountered neither health problems nor safety problems at all. We often ate out in local restaurants and on the street and barely suffered any travellers' diseases. We only drank bottled water and made sure that we always had enough bottles in the car as the stock declined rapidly due to the hot weather. Along the Pirre trek, we used water purification tablets. We treated the water form the various streams and hed not problems. It did save a lot of carrying efforts!

We carried malaria prophylaxis with us, but none of us took it as it turned out there wasn't a high risk. Yellow fever vaccination wasn't obligatory, but rather recommended. The Zika virus is present and we saw people taking action to prevent further outbreak (spraying chemicals). The only solution is mosquito bite prevention during daytime. Read more at the site of Institute of Tropical Medecine.

Visa

No Visa was required for people from the European Union. Read more at the Embassey of Panama website.

Electricity

Most plugs encountered were type A (US type), which requires an adapter for the standard European plug and have an 100+V output. Blackouts were encountered only a few times. But it's still best to bring enough rechargeable batteries and a power bank for smartphone, iPod, etc., especially for the Pirre trek. Read more at the Worldstandards website.

VISITED SITES

Below is a list of the sites we birded. There is a great site guide covering the birding sites in Panama by Angehr et.al. "A Bird-Finding Guide to Panama". Observado and eBird were scrutinized thoroughly. More up-to-date logistical information came from various trip reports on www.cloudbirders.com. These were the most useful reports:

• Calderon, 2014
• Sargeant, 1995
• Chaves, 2016
• Hornbuckle, 2015
• Bot, 2012

San Francisco NR, Torti

On the way to Yaviza, we spent the night in Torti in order to break the long drive. Hotel and restaurant Avicar (8.92133278772, -78.3985005319) is well-known amongst birders for its hummingbird feeders.

The San Francisco Reserve is a privately owned reserve. It is only a few minutes driving Northwards from the Hotel Avicar in Torti. The entrance road is on the West side of the road at 8.96390497684, -78.4580139723 and here you should also pay an entrance fee.

As it was the first day in the neotropics for some of us, we had a nice introduction to Panamanian birds on our first morning. We birded the scrubby area along the entrance track and followed it into the forested hills. At some kind of a small quarry, we didn't seem to find any continuation of the trail. We also explored a side trail (8.95144100301, -78.4671580419) to the left across a stream.

Highlights: Snowy-bellied Hummingbird (on both visits to the Avicar Hotel, we had 2-3 birds at their feeders)

Cerro Pirre (Darien National Park)

The Darien National Park at the border with Colombia was the main birding site for this trip. It comprises forests ranging from lowland to montane rainforest. The region is underdeveloped compared to the rest of Panama and safety was considered questionable by some. Guerrilla and drug/people traffic are around in the remote areas. In the past people flew into the Caña area (GSP) as it was served by Ancon Expeditions. The site has been closed now and inspired by Calderon's report (amongst others) we contacted Isaac Pizarro to arrange a trip for us.

Isaac is a local tourist guide and a keen birder. He took care of all logistical arrangements and permits. He lives in El Real de Santa Maria, but we met him in Yaviza. From there he accompanied us for the entire trek and back to Yaviza. His English is limited to the basics but knows the bird names and has binoculars and a near complete set of bird sounds. The group consisted of the four of us, Isaac and 3 porters. All camping equipment, our (selection of) main luggage and food and water was carried up by these 3 guys. Water was directly taken from the small streams, but always purified with pills. We were packed light in order to do some proper birding while hiking.

From Yaviza, the trip started with a 45 minutes boat ride to the El Real de Santa Maria port (8.11655298807, -77.7266339958). There we transferred to a 4WD taxi and checked in with the local SENAFRONT (police). We left most of our main luggage at Isaac's place and took only the minimum needed. Once set, we drove for about 1 hour to Pirre Uno where the entrance track (8.03882701322, -77.7538940404) starts. We stayed at three different overnight sites:

Rancho Frio Research Station (lowlands, ca 100m asl) 8.01975659095, -77.7323777787. There are basic cabins with bunk beds and basic toilets/showers, but the nearby stream is a nice bathing spot. Electricity is generated via solar panels but not guaranteed. Birding was done along the entrance road, but also along a nearby trail system. A longer one is known as the Antenna trail and held an active Harpy nest at the time of our visit.

Rancho Plastico campsite (mid elevation, ca 600m asl) 7.99801410176, -77.7140383422. It is only a basic camping spot with some permanent plastic shelters. Water is about 15' hiking down. Birding is mostly restricted to the main trail as the slopes of the ridge are fairly steep. One small trail goes down to a stream where Streamcreeper can be found.

Ridge Camp campsite (upper ridge, ca 1100m asl) 7.9892089963, -77.7073700354. This is a very basic camping site at one of the few flat areas on the upper ridge. There is no water nearby. From the campsite the trail continues in both directions on the upper ridge. The ridge itself is fairly level. The montane forest here holds all real Pirre target species.

Highlights: Russet-crowned Quail-Dove (in total 3 seen and a few heard, all on the left trail up the ridge, mainly at 7.99192003906, -77.7052680217), Pirre Hummingbird (3 single birds were seen, all scattered along the upper ridge trail), Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker (only 1 bird seen between Rancho Frio and Plastico, another was heard between Rancho Plastico and the upper ridge), Beautiful Treerunner (after quite some searching we found a pair rather far up the ridge trail at 7.97600003891, -77.7089999802), Varied Solitaire (we saw 2 birds and heard another along the upper ridge trail, first at 7.99164201133, -77.7055739611), Pirre Warbler (3 birds seen and 2 more heard, all along the upper ridge, easiest next to the campsite), Pirre Bush Tanager (in the higher parts frequently groups encountered, up to 30+ on one day), Green-naped Tanager (in total 5 birds found, often in mixed flocks along the upper ridge trail), Viridian Dacnis (frustratingly, only 1 bird seen by one of us in a large mixed flock at 7.99747900106, -77.7147770394), Choco Tinamou (on two occasions two birds heard only, unfortunately, in the area below Rancho Plastico), Violaceous Quail-Dove (a calling bird flew off before we could see it, just above Rancho Plastico), Blue-throated Toucanet (a few sightings - Violet-throated ssp here), Double-banded Greytail (a pair seen in the secondary forest along the entrance road at 8.03415996954, -77.7498520352), Dull-mantled Antbird (2 seen and a few heard between Rancho Frio and Plastico), Black-crowned Antpitt (1 seen and 2 more heard, all in the Rancho Plastico area), Blue Cotinga (more than 10 birds observed in total, along the river and during the trek), Russet-winged Schiffornis (1 heard when walking in and one seen on the way out along the entrance trail 8.0216768, -77.7408253), Ochraceous Wren (only 3 seen along the ridge trails), Black-and-yellow Tanager (daily small numbers), Harpy Eagle (one adult bird at the nest), Scarlet-browed Tanager (at least 5 birds seen on a few occassions), Black-tipped Cotinga (2 birds seen from the mirador at 8.01320403814, -77.7229529992).

Arusa area

Dusky-backed Jacamar is a range restricted species, only occurring in Colombia and Panama, with most records coming from the latter country. On beforehand we asked Isaac to explicitly include a site for the Jacamar in our schedule. There seem to be 2 well-known sites, both next to a river. It took quite a while before the SENAFRONT checkpoint allowed us to continue by boat towards Arusa (upstream Rio Tuira)...

From the small village it was a short hike to an old and overgrown oxbow lake. It is actually next to the same river somewhat further upstream. The Jacamar stake-out (undisclosed site upon request from Isaac) delivered what we needed, but nothing else noteworthy. According to Isaac, in March-April it should be possible to just drive there with a 4WD.

Highlights: Dusky-backed Jacamar (it took some time to find, eventually we heard 1 bird calling distantly and soon had great views of a pair, perched high up in some trees), Black Oropendola (several groups seen along the rivers, both on the way to El Real as to the jacamar site, more than 20 birds in total)

Nusagandi

This area is part of the homeland of Kuna Indians. They have declared a large area as a reserve. The people mainly live on coral islands off the coast, but use the forested hills for hunting and gathering. We stayed at the very friendly Garduk Lodge, hosted by Yari and her parents (9.31014496833, -78.985098972). This is still in the public part.

The turnoff to Nusagandi is at 9.22390239313, -78.9657133911. From here the road is perfectly paved and free to access until you hit the checkpoint at (9.34220298193, -78.9935009927).

We mainly birded the Ibe Igar trail at KM16 marker 9.3195050396, -78.9992499724 and on the first morning the KM17 trail at 9.32810001075, -78.9982749894 as we took the wrong trail on the first day). On several occasions we waded in and followed the streams.

Further along the road, there is a short side track (9.34150803834, -78.9940449782) just before checkpoint, that takes you to the Igar Wedar and Igar Nusagandi trails as described in the site guide. The junction of these two trails is at (9.34739036824, -78.9975144303). At the checkpoint, a steep entrance fee has to be paid, allowing you to bird along the trail system.

Highlights: Speckled Antshrike (one bird was heard along the Ibe Igar trail and was frustratingly glimpsed briefly only), Olive-backed Quail-Dove (2 singles and a group of 3 birds were seen along the Ibe Igar and the KM17 trail), Dull-mantled Antbird (at least two birds seen at an antswarm along the Ibe Igar trail), Black-crowned Antpitta (2 singles birds seen), Tawny-capped Euphonia (4), Sulphur-rumped Tanager (2 birds in a mixed flock were surprisingly the only 2 for the trip), Black-and-yellow Tanager (10+), Carmiol's Tanager (daily good numbers)

Cerro Jefe / Cerro Azul

At 1 hour driving east of Panama City, an upscale gated community is the access point for exploring this mountain range. Most houses here are weekend homes for the City residents or homes of ex-pats. It can be accessed as a day trip from Panama City, but you better have a permit to access on beforehand in order to bird the area early enough. As we arrived too late for arrangements on the first night, we were not allowed inside and stayed in the lower situated Posada de Ferhisse (9.16955396533, -79.4139720406). The second night we stayed at El Nido 9.22034201212, -79.4095869642 which is located inside. This allowed us the next morning to bird freely. Several more options for renting entire homes and apartments seem to be available via Airbnb.

The turnoff towards Cerro Azul is at 9.11343824214, -79.3540599806. From there the paved road goes uphill. Just before the police office, take the turnoff to gated community of Los Altos de Cerro Azul at 9.19397342768, -79.4006794937. The office where you should pay an entrance fee is further along the road at 9.21549903229, -79.4088490214.

We parked our car at the gate towards the Cerro Jefe protected area (9.23217499629, -79.4073940068) and started birding from there. The unpaved track continues for about 1 km where it forms a T junction. Left goes to the Xenornis trail which starts after another 1 km at 9.23742097802, -79.4123339653. Right goes to a mirador and some radio antennas further along the track. The Vistamares trail starts at 9.2386729829, -79.4024930242. We birded both trails as well as the more open area along the main track.

Some residents put hummingbird feeders. As people seem to come and go, the spots where active feeders can be found changes as well. By asking around we found a house with several feeders at 9.20963304117, -79.3953389861. The people were very friendly and let us enjoy the birds in their front garden.

Highlights: Violet-capped Hummingbird (at least 4 birds seen over two days, all of them along the Vistamares trail), Tacarcuna Bush Tanager (despite much effort, only 1 bird found in the scrubby forest at 9.24088496715, -79.4017620385), Black-eared Wood Quail (we taped in 2 birds along the Vistamares Trail at 9.24699998461, -79.4020000007, another 2 were heard in the same area), Snowy-bellied Hummingbird (5+ birds seen mainly at the private feeders), Black-crowned Antpitta (2 birds along the Xenornis trail), Tawny-capped Euphonia (10+), Black-and-yellow Tanager (daily small numbers), Carmiol's Tanager (daily good numbers)

Soberania NP

Alongside the southern part of the canal Soberania National Park must be one of the most famous birding sites of Panama. It is situated only about 40 minutes from Panama City and can be visited as a day trip. Another option is the renowned Canopy Tower. We found fairly cheap accommodation in Gamboa at the Soberania Field Station.

In the entire area we didn't have many target species, but most of them were searched for along the Pipeline Road. It is a gravel road along a pipeline that crosses the isthmus. It starts just outside Gamboa (9.1207599733, -79.7159649711) near the Ammo Dump Ponds. We drove up to the turnoff to the Discovery Center (9.13364396431, -79.7202199604) and started birding from there. The public area goes until KM 5.9 at Rio Limbo (9.15807897225, -79.7425950319). From there on, the access is restricted to research and conservation. There is no real gate or checkpoint to keep people out.

Along the route we passed by the Ammo Dump Ponds (9.12019696087, -79.711733032) and had some brief birding around the ponds. The guards seem to be well used to the presence of birders with cameras and were very relaxed.

Other well-known sites for birders but not visited by us include Canopy Tower & Plantation Road (9.07768520527, -79.6491743624), Old Gamboa Road (9.05231391178, -79.6415566773) and Summit Park (9.06528417215, -79.6499840639 ).

Highlights: Slaty-backed Forest Falcon (1 bird taped in at the start of the Pipeline Road), Green Shrike-Vireo (several seen and regularly heard)

Coiba Island

Coiba Island used to be a penal colony in the past. Nowadays the entire island, including small satellite islets and the surrounding waters, are entirely protected as a National Park and is declared as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a popular place for diving, snorkelling and whale/dolphin watching. To get there, one needs a permit and a boat. We contacted Javier Elizondo from Birding Coiba who arranged the whole package for us. We did it as a day trip from Santa Catalina, but one can also spend the night in cabins on the island. The trip can be combined with snorkelling, if preferred above seeking the complete set of endemic subspecies...

The 1.5 hour boat trip was smooth but birdwise very calm. Others have seen pelagic birds on this trip, but we probably were in the low season. The way back was as smooth and despite passing by some small bird islets, nothing special was seen...

We landed right at the start of the trail to the Pozo Termales (Hot Springs) at 7.43736301549, -81.7263719905. The trail isn't too long but offered good birding.

We needed to pay a visit to the Coiba headquarters (and cabins) to register and pay the entrance fee (actually included in Javier's price) at 7.62659696862, -81.7288330011. We did only a little bit of birding here as well without much result. There are potentially interesting trails leaving there as well.

Highlights: Azuero Dove (3 individual birds were seen along the hot springs trail), Coiba Spinetail (easily found along the hot springs trail, singles or in groups, up to 7 birds in total), Snowy-bellied Hummingbird (5+ birds seen along the hot spring trail), on top of that we got about 20 endemic subspecies!

Las Lajas area

Before driving up Cerro Colorado again, we had a quick early morning visit to the coastal scrub and mangroves at Las Lajas. Our main aim was to find Veraguan Mango. It took a bit more time than expected but eventually we saw several within the village (8.16864341497, -81.8635436799).

The mudflat/lagoon (8.17375402898, -81.8652850203) on the way was scanned to top up our bird list. No real specialities here - we could not locate any Black-hooded Antshrike despite our efforts as all responding birds were Fasciateds...

Highlights: Veraguan Mango (after some searching we found 4 birds, see above)

Cerro Colorado

We gained a bit of time and decided to include this birding site in our schedule. The entire area is an indigenous homeland for the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca. There is no accommodation, but the road has been upgraded and it takes only about 1 hour driving with a regular car from the coastal touristic village of Las Lajas. To drive up, just follow the main road through San Felix and continue.

We first drove unitil the end of the tarmac road and junction to Llano Tugri at 8.51090996526, -81.7878529988. From there we birded along the unpaved road towards Hato Ramon for quite some kilometers. We did not explore the forest along the paved road to Llano Tugri.
The second day was spend in the vicinity of the antenna (8.49415403791, -81.770660961). From there we birded at several roadside stops downwards, focussing on hummingbirds. Despite much effort we only found Scintilliant...

Highlights: Yellow-green Finch (it took some time to find these, we had a pair at 8.53428298607, -81.8072089925, and singles at 8.52851196192, -81.7984010372 and near the antenna - see above), Black Guan (2 birds at the start of the track 8.51094600745, -81.7909470107 were an unexpected bonus), White-tailed Emerald (along the track to Hato Ramon, we found 3 birds foraging on the roadside flowers), Black-bellied Hummingbird (a single bird along the same track), Purple-throated Mountaingem (good numbers seen along the track to Hato Ramon, almost up to 20 sightings over the 2 days), Scintillant Hummingbird (a nice male and a female of which the id is not 100% sure seen along the main road, male at 8.48101599142, -81.7680430412), Prong-billed Barbet (up to 5 birds seen along the track to Hato Ramon), Blue-throated Toucanet (a few sightings - Blue-throated ssp here), Buffy Tuftedcheek (2 birds seen, both in mixed flock along the Hato Ramon track), Silvery-fronted Tapaculo (up to 4 birds seen and regularly heard, all over the area), Isthmian Wren (a pair seen along the main road at 8.48805301823, -81.7658800073), Ochraceous Wren (small numbers), Black-faced Solitaire (4 birds seen), Tawny-capped Euphonia (5+), Golden-browed Chlorophonia (a single bird only at 8.51576400921, -81.7924399953), Flame-throated Warbler (a single bird in a mixed flock near the antenna was a nice bonus! gps see above), Black-cheeked Warbler (2 single birds), Collared Whitestart (good numbers), Sooty-capped Bush Tanager (only one single bird in a mixed flock encountered), Spangle-cheeked Tanager (5+, often in mixed flocks), Slaty Flowerpiercer (daily small numbers)

Metropolitano Park, Panama City

Located within the boundaries of Panama City, this park is very easy to access and offers good birding for drier and second growth forest. This might be the easiest spot to connect with the Panamanian Tyrannulet, which we missed so far on the trip. From our hotel it was only a couple of minutes driving to the main entrance and ticket office (8.98517003283, -79.5467500202.

We birded the open area near the office and followed the trail system towards the mirador.

Highlights: Panamanian Tyrannulet (we missed this species in other areas, but found fairly easily near the plantation farm at 8.98899603635, -79.5450550318), Snowy-bellied Hummingbird (2 birds), Green Shrike-Vireo (several heard)

Tocumen Mudflats

We were packed and ready to go to the airport for our return flight but had some spare time. Some people visit the Tocumen marsh, but we decided just to scan the mudflats at the Costa del Este sector of Panamy City (almost Tocumen). The mudflats can be checked from the boulevard at 9.00940181804, -79.4685020894.

Highlights: none