My Trip to Panama

March 17-April 5, 2009

Two years ago when I first saw the information on a trip to Panama I decided I wanted to go to one more Central/South America country. Not only would Panama have it’s own special species of birds but it would have large migrating flocks of birds during the time we would be there. Also this trip seemed a little “easier” because we would be staying 4-5 days in most lodges. (Little did I know – easy was not the word to describe this trip!) Then I heard that a friend, Pam Negri from Arizona, who I had met on other Cheeseman trips decided to go as well so we decided to be room mates. As time went on four other people I had traveled with decided to go too so that was fun.

Tuesday 3/17/09 Up at 3 AM for a 3:30 pick up by the shuttle. My flight from San Francisco was for 6:00 AM and I arrived in Miami some 5 hours later. I had a free pass for the Admiral’s Club so I decided to see how the frequent flyer lives the high life. It isn’t easy to get in – it is a very exclusive and expensive place to join but once there I had the run of the place. They have some simple free snacks, ice tea and coffee. Free Internet including computers to use, so I sent my family an email. They have lots of comfortable chairs and small quiet rooms and so forth. Nice but I am not willing to pay the fees to join regularly. I just happened to fly a lot on American Airlines the past couple of years – I used miles for this trip to Panama. Eventually I met Pam who also had arrived in Miami from her home in Tucson and we flew on to Panama. When we arrived we had to stand in a very long line – first to buy a visa for $5 and then we were in line for customs. I use the term “line” very loosely, no such thing as any type of organization. While there we met two other travelers – Sue and Russ Costello from Calgary so we chatted for a bit. Russ did go to check to make sure we were in the correct line. Eventually after no line movement some guy came up and said and pointed, “you four – come”. I’m not sure what else he said but he brought us up to the front where a hidden booth was and we were checked through into Panama! Guess I’ll never know why we were pushed ahead but it was nice. Then we found our luggage and went out in front to meet our driver. We looked around for him and after a while we finally found him. We trusted he was the right guy because he didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Spanish but eventually we arrived at Canopy Tower – our home for the next four nights. We were pleased to meet our leader Jim Danzenbaker and to be informed that they had saved dinner for us. Canopy Tower (http://canopytower.com/) was built by the United States in 1965 to house powerful radar used in the defense of the Panama Canal. It was used by the FAA and various other agencies in the US and Panama until 1995 when it was closed and left vacant. In November of 1996 the radar tower and the Semaphore Hill site consisting of approximately 35 acres of rainforest within Soberania National Park were transferred to Panama and then transformed into a center for the observations of the Neotropical rainforest. Each level has several small guest rooms most with private baths. The top level of the tower is used for dinning and socializing and then by climbing up to the “roof” we have a 360-degree view of the surrounding rain forest. We were at eye level with the top of the trees so we could see birds without straining our necks. Our room was very comfortable – although it was small it had so many hooks and hangers that Pam and I had no trouble finding places to unpack our clothes and other stuff. Also our bathroom was very comfortable with plenty of towels and towel racks. After a delicious dinner, including wine we were happy to retire for a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday 3/18/09 The Howler Monkeys woke us up before our alarm clock went off at 5:30. Howlers are such a symbol of the Central and South American jungle – I love hearing them and the memories they bring to me. We grabbed a cup of coffee and then climbed up to the top of the tower to watch and hear the morning wake up in the forest. We also met the rest of our fellow travelers. Alice and Dennis Spriggs from Virginia– I had met them on the Chile trip, Bill and Joan Page from Arizona with whom I had traveled with before, Sue and Russ who we met at the airport yesterday, and Ron and Susan Martin from Texas. We also met Carlos – our wonderful guide while we stayed at the Tower. We turned out to be a very compatible group and had a good time together during the whole trip. From the top of the tower we could see many miles in the distance – we could even see the Panama Canal. Occasionally in the distance we could see the top of a ship gliding through the forest – a rather surreal site. Our leader, Jim was very happy when we actually saw a Green Shrike-vireo, one of the most verbal birds in the forest - we continued hearing it throughout our trip but hardly ever saw it again. At least we didn’t have to drive ourselves nuts looking for it every time we heard it – it hides very well in the trees. Eventually we went down inside the tower and had a wonderful breakfast. All our meals here were very good – served buffet style with plenty of food and choices. I was pleased to have good non-egg choices for breakfast since I can’t eat eggs. After breakfast we walked down Semaphore Hill birding along the way. It was great birding and Carlos was a wonderful guide. He made a special point to make sure everyone saw all the birds seen and he was very good at putting us on the bird. He continued this the whole time he was with us. After a few hours of birding someone brought us snacks and drinks – what a treat. In fact during this whole trip we were given snacks every morning and afternoon and we always had plenty of water – both while hiking and in the bus when we traveled – it was wonderful. Then as it was getting hot we went back for lunch – salad, vegetables, and pasta. We had plenty of vegetables on this trip – most was grown very near where we were. Another treat was that we were able to drink the water from the tap at all the places and also the plumbing was good enough that we were able to flush toilet paper down the toilet. The infrastructure shows the influence of the American presence in Panama. After lunch we had a two-hour break during the heat of the day. I took a short nap to help me catch up on the lack of sleep from yesterday. Then I went through the bird list and found that the Red-capped Manakin I saw this morning was my 2500 world species. After this point I stopped keeping track of new species – I’ll figure out how many new species I got in Panama after I get home and have time to enter my bird list on the computer. After our rest we drove to the Gamboa area and the ammo ponds, which are next to the canal. The train that runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific runs along the canal also. Some of this area is fenced off and still guarded but we had plenty of places to see new birds. Of course in these early days of the trip we are seeing lots of new species. Even on this short trip we had drinks and snacks – it is so great to have plenty of liquid available. Back to the tower and a very good dinner. We were served wine with dinner, which was another treat. After dinner we went over the bird list for the day – we did this every night. Then we went off to bed in our comfortable room.

Thursday 3/19/09 Our alarm was set for 5:30 but the Howler Monkeys woke us up at 5:15. So we got up, had an early breakfast and left at 6:30 for the Pipeline Road – a well known “hot” birding spot in Panama. It is called Pipeline road because there is a pipeline all along the road. It was first built by the Americans to be able to pipe oil to the bases in case of any kind of military attack on either end of the canal. It currently is empty and has actually been blown up in parts so it cannot be used. This area is now used for birding and research. This was an absolutely wonderful birding spot – in the middle of Soberania National Park. We spent the morning enjoying a wide variety of jungle habitat and birds. We had an absolutely wonderful lunch - sandwiches with sliced chicken, salad, fruit and plenty of water. We ate so well on this whole trip I actually gained 5 pounds! (which I then lost the first week back.) Throughout the day we heard the howlers and we also saw some sloths – they are so much fun to watch, especially as they slowly more their heads to check us out. There were lots of butterflies and Ron and Susan knew the names of several of them – I got a good photo of a banded peacock butterfly. One fun bird we saw was the Black-Capped Pygmy-Tyrant – the smallest Panamanian passerine. We also saw lots of ant-things (birds, wrens, pitta and so forth). I was pleased to actually see some of them. These birds are called “ant” – things because of their habit of following swarms of ants. They don’t actually eat the ants but instead feast on the other insects that the swarms of ants disturb. So whenever we see a swarm of ants we also check closely to see if there are any types of ant birds. We got back to the Tower about an hour before dinner so we had time to shower and wash some clothes. The main bug we were concerned about was chiggers so we tried to keep our clothes free of those little bugs as much as possible. Some people got bit a lot during the trip. I only got bit a few times. I think taking mega doses of Vitamin B1 helps to keep me from reacting to the bits. But they sure itch a lot when they do bite. Anyway we had another wonderful dinner and enjoyed visiting with each other talking about our exciting day in the field.

Friday 3/20/09 Today we drove to Old Gamboa Road where we walked around and enjoyed birding at two ponds. All of these areas we have been covering are well known birding spots in Panama – many birding articles mention these places so it will be fun to read those articles and to be able to picture the places in my mind. We were again treated to the amazing spectacle of hundred and thousands of migrating hawks. A lot of the birds we have seen (and will see) are birds that are migrating north for nesting season. But the hawks are migrating in large rafts and they are a sight to behold. Today we saw hundreds of Broadwing Hawks, hundreds of Swainson Hawks and thousands of Turkey Vultures. It was great birding. We also visited briefly with a student from the University of Mississippi who was banding birds as part of a study of hormones in birds. He had a Golden Collared Manakin in his hand. Fortunately we saw this bird later in the trip so we didn’t have to be tempted to “count” a bird that we only saw in hand. We walked through the forest and enjoyed more birds. It is interesting to note that the dominant plant in the forest is Palm – and there are a lot of varieties of them. Then we went back to another good lunch and some of us rested for an hour and others went for a walk down the hill. When Carlos drove us down the hill to meet the others he suddenly stopped – his marvelous ears heard something – it turned out to be an Ocellated Antbird following an ant swarm. So Carlos ran down the hill to get the others while we feasted on a display of Antbirds; bicolored, spotted, and ocellated. After enjoying this fantastic scene for some while we took a walk on the Plantain road where we had wonderful views of the White Hawk and two Sun Bittern – also a Capuchin Monkey. After dinner (a special outside barbeque) we went on a night drive – I usually don’t go on night walks/drive because I don’t see that well but I’m glad I went on this one as we saw an Olingo – an animal I had never heard of! It is something like a kinkajou. We also saw both sloths – two toed and three toed, bats, and an opossum. Great end to our last night at the Tower.

Saturday 3/21/09 Another early day – we drove to the nearby Panama Rainforest Discovery Center on the Pipeline road. They have a 100-foot tower for bird watching – the tower was built by hand to avoid disrupting the surrounding forest. The visitor center was mostly built from old buildings from the canal area and they did have a few souvenirs for sale – bookmarks and post cards. This was the only place on our whole trip where I could buy anything to take home – aside from the coffee at the coffee plantation. This turned out to be a good place to bird and we did see new species for our “list”. After this we went back to our room and loaded up our bus for the trip to our next stop – the Canopy Lodge which is in El Valle de Anton – an area about 60 miles south/west from Panama city near Volcan Baru. (http://www.canopylodge.com/) (The peak of the extinct volcano, Volcan Baru is 11,490 feet and the highest point in Panama.) It is located next to the protected area of Gerro Gaital Natural Monument. The drive was interesting – several towns more or less on the style of most Central/South American small towns but the homes were in a little better shape than some areas I have seen. The homes were mostly made of cement and small poorer type homes were often right next to more middle class homes. Many were of two levels sometimes with shops below. Some small towns with a few simple stores and then other bigger towns with a variety of shops and services. There were lots of prosperous looking farms – small and large and most with small comfortable homes on them. The main road we were on was in very good shape – we were on the Pan American Highway part of the time. The part of the Pan American Highway in Panama was built during World War II – a road built the United States to the Panama Canal. I have been on the northern most part of the Pan American Highway in Alaska and the Southern most part in Chile or Argentina. (The particular road is not clearly defined in some areas. – especially in the U.S.) We arrived at Canopy Lodge around lunchtime and were served a delicious lunch. The Canopy Lodge is owned and run by the same person as the Canopy Tower and our wonderful service continued here. The dinning area was an open room – with a solid roof but the sides are open to the trees and the birds. There was a lounge area next to it with comfortable chairs and lots of books to read. After lunch we moved into our rooms – very comfortable and large rooms with plenty of space to unpack our clothes for a four-day stay. Next to our dinning tables was an area to sit and enjoy watching the birds at hummingbird feeders and banana trays for the tanagers (and the ubiquitous squirrels). After an hour or so we walked up the hill with our guide to bird along the forest edges. The road was a very busy road as it was the only road to the area beyond and over the hill. Eventually we took a lovely forest road and walked along the stream and into the forest where we were able to see 2 Mottled Owls that hang out in a staked out place. I always enjoy seeing owls in daylight – hard as it is to find them it is a lot easy in daytime than at night. We wandered back to our rooms with time to shower and clean up for dinner. We had a lovely buffet dinner served with wine – good company – did our bird list – enjoyed some of the feeder birds and we were actually in bed by 8:00.

Sunday 3/22/09 We got up early and loaded up to drive up the hill beyond the development of “Paradise” to the foothills of Serro Gaital. We spent some time walking around hoping to see a ground-cuckoo but no luck. But we did see lots of other birds and I enjoyed the waiting time while we just sat quietly, listening to the sounds of the forest, the creaking trees, the wind in the leaves, and the ever present Howler Monkeys. Once while we were standing there waiting for the bird I was actually attacked by a rabbit. We were quietly standing there when two things happened at once, we heard and barely saw something like a falcon fly through the trees and I let out a yelp as I felt something climb up the front of my leg. I shook it off and when we looked down we saw a mountain rabbit running into the forest floor. Even writing about it I can still feel that rabbit on my leg. Fortunately I had long pants on and there was no tear in the material. This animal attack is becoming a habit on my bird trips. I have been chased by a cow, barked at by an elephant seal, growled at by a fur seal, buzzed by a hummingbird, chased by dogs several times, hissed at by cockroaches, approached by hungry squirrels, and attacked by fish on the Amazon River. Now I can add an attack rabbit to the list. Well I guess these are more interesting than the chiggers which attacked everyone else! We went to another place nearby to look for other birds – the fog was very thick but then this is a cloud forest. We saw a few birds but we also found a sloth very close to the ground on a tree – took lots of photos of him. We didn’t do much walking today – less than a mile. I wore my pedometer most days and we seldom walked more than 2 miles in a day. We did lots of standing around and lots of slow shuffling that probably didn’t register. Back for dinner - salad, pork, zucchini, and rice. We sure have plenty to eat – we also had a delicious cake for dessert – obvious that a baker works here. I was cold in the morning but very pleasant by evening – humid with a little fog but not really cold. But at night the wind was howling all night long and the upper windows in our room had only screens – so we could hear the noise all night long.

Monday 3/23/09 We drove 2 hours this morning to the Altos del Maria (http://altosdelmaria.com/) housing development which is being built in the middle of a wonderful Cloud Forest. It is almost unbelievable how huge the development all ready is and how big it is going to become. I think there are currently 800 homes and will be 2000. What a tremendous amount of destruction is being done. We were lucky to be able to see the area before it was gone. We saw lots of birds and enjoyed walking around the area. They brought us great snacks and a delicious lunch and plenty of water. I guess I keep mentioning the water because I have been on trips where not enough water was available and it was awful. I think that is why I so appreciated all the water we had. Also we seldom – if ever are supplied with so many good snacks so that was a treat too. Back for dinner where we celebrated Sue’s birthday with a delicious lasagna and outstanding pumpkin soufflé. Another great day.

Tuesday 3/24/09 Today we walked along a road outside the town of El Valle. It is the start of a high class housing development – lots of second homes for Panama City people as well as for foreigners. Very attractive homes and gardens but loosing the forest is hard on the birds and the environment. Part of the trail was very steep – I was glad I had brought my walking stick – it sure has been useful for me. (Unfortunately my stick broke towards the end of the trip but I was still able to use it to help on the hills. I took it back to REI and they replaced it for absolutely no charge. REI sure has a good satisfaction guaranteed policy.) Anyway after a great morning of birding we went back for lunch and a bit of a rest. We went back out at 2:30 climbing up another steep trail looking for a Tody MotMot but no luck. But it was a beautiful trail in the dark deep forest – jungle type atmosphere. But the trail was narrow and slippery so eventually I started back so I could go down slowly and I went back to the room for a nice shower and finally started working on my bird list. I was so far behind it took me several days to catch up on my list. The problem with getting behind on my list is that I can’t always read my writing. But I finally got the list done.

Wednesday 3/25/09 Today we drove up the road from the lodge. We drove in three four wheel drive vehicles – one of them had no windows or doors – it was fun to ride in. We were on a very rough dirt road and drove to a home on a small farm. They had a feeder where we added banana and sat for a long time watching the colorful tanagers, plus many other birds coming in to eat. At times it looked like a Christmas decoration with the variety of colors on the tray and on the nearby trees. The home was obviously not a prosperous home but it was well constructed with cement – as were many of the other homes on this dirt road. They also had an outhouse and the only water supply seemed to come from a pump that was set into an outdoor sink. But that was a lot better than having to haul the water up from the river and the area looked a lot better than living areas at other places of South American and Costa Rica that I have seen in the past. After enjoying these birds we stopped again at Cerro Gatail Park and even though this was our third time there we still saw a new species (lesser elania). The we went back to the lodge and packed up and left for the airport stopping at the canal on the way. What an impressive site that was to visit. It is hard to imagine all the work that was done to get that canal built. Yes I know it has totally changed the environment that used to exist but it still is a marvel. We watched ships being pulled from one lock to another. The big ships are pulled by diesel engines call donkeys. Some of the smaller ships are towed/pushed by tug boats. It is a fascinating operations. The Panamax ships are the largest ones that can fit through the canal and they are about 5 inches from each side – it is quite a sight. I bought a book that explained how the canal works and it is very interesting. Flying over the area is very interesting. The canal area is about 50 miles from coast to coast but there is a huge man made lake (Gaital) where they get the fresh water to use in the canal. They do not want to use water from one ocean to go into the other ocean because that would be a way to introduce species. They are currently widening the canal so that the large oil tankers will be able to fit. The canal is a major source of Panama’s economy. The average toll for ships using the canal is about 70-80 thousand dollars and takes about 8 hours to be lifted the 85 feet in three lockages of the canal. A ship is in the canal waters between 14 and 16 hours. After watching a while we drove to the airport. We didn’t have too much trouble checking in although they did open up all our luggage and hand checked it. I sure hate having strangers paw through my stuff. We had heard that weight limits would be imposed and were concerned about not being allowed to check in heavy baggage so we had left behind some luggage to pick up on the way back. But we had no trouble and even overweight baggage went through. Coming back from David some did have to pay for overweight luggage but at least they took it. So we had a short flight to David – they even served us cookies and drinks. It was a very small plane – about 30 passengers – a turbo prop. A bus met us and drove us to Los Quetzales – our next stop. Los Quetzales is a small hotel in Guadalupe - near Volcan Baru National Park. (http://www.losquetzales.com/) . It is at about 7000 feet – a bit higher than Panama City. This was another lovely lodge. Pam and I had two rooms – second level with a wonderful view of the river and the mountains, including Sierra de Punta – the highest point of the area. Again this place had wonderful food. We had a choice of dinner each night from the menu served with wine. We had dinner, did the bird list, and then went to bed.

Thursday 3/26/09 After an early breakfast we drove up some very rough roads – we really needed the heavy duty four wheel drive vehicles. Then we arrived at one the cabins hidden up here. These cabins are in the National Park and perfectly delightful. While I was envying them I was reminded that our cabin in the Sierra Mountains had very much of the same ambiance. The story behind these cabins started in 1970 – Carlos (the owner of the cabins and Los Quetzales Lodge) bought a small piece of property in the park with some friends and they built the cement foundation for a cabin, carrying the cement up by horse back. But then they never finished it. He went on and worked in Panama City for some 20 years or so until he came back and built the cabin. He built a second one for his brother who never used it so Carlos started renting them out. Eventually he built more and b
ought the lodge down in Guadalupe. He is still building more but is doing what he can to preserve the cloud forest. There is no electricity to the cabins and each has water from a spring that is safe to drink. There are not roads to the cabins – equipment has to be carried by hand. He has built and maintained these cabin in an environmentally sound way and it does help to preserve the forest while supplying an income for the local residents. It is truly a spot for someone to stay who wants to be isolated. We spent the morning on the deck of one unoccupied cabin that had a lot of bird feeders. From here we saw an amazing variety of birds including some Quetzals, hummingbirds of every color, and several wonderful chlorophonia – birds that look like some kids colored them using a whole box of Crayola’s crayons. We had two wonderful guides, Jose and Jonathan – both with excellent eyes and ears. They brought us snacks and hot coffee and chocolate as well as lunch so we spent a good part of the day up there. Then some decided to stay up there until night time for the chance to see kinkajous. As much as I would like to see kinkajous since I don’t see well enough in the dark to walk the trail from the car to the cabin I decided to go back with a couple of other people. They did have a great time with the kinkajous while Joan, Russ, and I went back and had dinner together at the lodge and I just relaxed. I had hoped to send and read some email because this place is supposed to have it. But a truck had knocked out the tower so the lodge had no email and no phone service – practically cut off from the outside world. Funny though the post cards I gave Carlos here to mail for me arrived two weeks before the ones I mailed from the first lodge a week ago. Even these postcards arrived a week after I came home. We should never complain about our postal service.

Friday 3/27/09 Today we drove to the Sunluario de Vidu NP (Sanctuary of Life National Park) – a nearby Cloud Forest. We were greeted by a family of Quetzals – this is the place where they are “staked out” This area too has a lot of mountain homes for people who come occasionally. We started our hike at the end of the rough road and the house here is owned by a lady who lives in England – she comes 3/4 times a year to visit. The caretaker told us we could walk around the gardens which we did and saw a lot of birds, especially hummingbirds. We are really enjoying our guide Carlos (#2 guide) – he knows a lot of the history of the area and natural history in general and was very thoughtful about taking care of us. And of course it was wonderful that he spoke such good English as none of us spoke much Spanish. We walked up the hill into the forest on a road that I doubt even our four wheel drive could handle, but even here we saw some more homes although they did look pretty simple. Surprisingly in the middle of this forest was a large cleared area that was being farmed. I asked Carlos (the owner) how they could do this in a National Forest and he said it was illegal but there was little enforcement. There were two men spraying the fields by hand – it was obviously poison because I could smell it – I covered my nose but they didn’t even have masks. I can’t imagine what their future holds – and of course the spray would be running into the streams that were along the trail – streams from which people were taking their drinking water. Ugh. We took a couple of hours to get to the top of the hill – about 7-8 thousand feet above sea level. Because this hill was so rough and steep Susan and I started to go down the hill so we could go slowly. On the way down we saw a Ruddy-capped Nightingale-thrush catch a dragon fly and eat it. I was thrilled because I had missed this bird several times this morning. Missing a bird isn’t a bad thing because when you finally see the bird it is a special thrill. Birding never ceases to give me pleasure. When we got to the bottom of the hill where Carlos had the car parked he had a table set up with a lot of snacks and drinks. We all decided there was enough food for lunch so we called the lodge and told them we would not be back for lunch. After a good meal we drove on La Nation al de Ambient (The Friendship National Park). This park is in both Panama and Costa Rica. This area is all second growth since 1989. Noriega’s generals had clear cut the forest to make money for themselves during his regime. (It would have been interesting to discuss how Panama citizens felt about the whole Noriega business but the opportunity to talk about this never seemed to arise during our visit. But I wonder.) We climbed up the hill where we had good looks at a trogon. But we were looking for a Tapaculo which is one of those little brown birds that skulks in the underbrush. Well you can just forget about finding that! Eventually it started raining to the point where we all put on our rain gear. I had a new poncho that I had bought and I was glad to try it out – it was great. I could even sit on my stool and be completely covered up. (I used my stool extensively throughout the trip – it was great. Standing still is very painful and sitting is like an instant pain pill – it has enabled me to continue birding.) Anyway it started raining harder and we decided we’d better head down the hill. We got to the shelter just in time to avoid a tremendous downpour – this is a rain forest after all. At the shelter we had hot chocolate and cookies – boy they do take good care of us. We talked about what to do. Not that we are “fair weather birders” but enough is enough and we decided to go back to our lodge. It was nice to dry out, take a shower, and catch up on my notes. We had a lovely dinner with Carlos (the guide) as our guest – it was his 30^th birthday so we had a cake and speeches. He is such a delightful young man.

Saturday 3/28/09 Today we drove about an hour to Santa Clara – near the border of Costa Rica – and visited Finca Hartmann. (http://www.fincahartmann.com/). This farm was started in 1940 by the son of the first Hartmann to come to Panama in the early 1900’s from Moravia. They grow mostly shade grown coffee – coffee grown in the shade of the trees of the rain forest. This is better for the wildlife as it still give them – especially the birds - the food and habitat that they need. We first birded around the garden areas where we again found some new species of birds. Then we were served coffee and sweets, all very good. I did buy some of the coffee – turns out it was the only thing I was able to buy and bring home for “gifts”. Alice and her four brothers run this operation – each having a different role to play. the father who started this is now 88 and was “relaxing” on the front porch. It seems like a well run place. We then spent 2 hours walking along the trail seeing more birds – new species of several. This was second growth forest from the 40’s. We walked along the stream that used to supply the electricity for the farm. (There was an old electric station along the trail.) Also it looks like the stream still supplies some of the water for the homes and farm. We started back after a really good picnic lunch – it was interesting to see the same communities – mostly small square homes with lots of produce growing around the houses and along the roads. They grow a big variety of vegetables. We drove to the Volcan Ponds to see if we could see some new species of birds – we did but we stayed 10 minutes too long as it started raining hard and we dashed back to the bus. Went back to the lodge and lit the fire in our room and took warm showers to warm up.

Sunday 3/29/09 Most of the group went back up the four wheel drive road to bird around the cabins. I stayed back to write postcards and catch up on my bird list. It takes half an hour per day to keep up my notes but I haven’t been doing it. I hope to keep up with it from now on. Then we had lunch and packed up for our next lodge. We had to drive south first, then east and then north to get to Finca Lerida which was over the mountain range. Again it was interesting to see the towns and communities along the way – lots of small square cement houses – many next to much larger richer homes. The area was very mixed regarding quality of homes and business – the main road was in good shape but many towns had only dirt in front of the store fronts. As we approached the “charming town of Boquete we started seeing clusters of brand new homes. These large developments were plopped down in the middle of “nowhere” – rather like the housing developments you see in the desert when flying over Arizona or the Central Valley in California (especially the Tracy area). These are like the very large million dollar homes we see in California. These homes are marketed to well to do people in Panama City for retirement homes and to foreign people as a place to retire. This marketing started about 10 years ago and it is interesting to read the articles encouraging people to retire to Panama. One reason given is that Panama has no hurricanes or major earthquakes. People are responding from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Russia. These home are some way from the town of Boquete so it would be quite a drive for any entertainment or shopping. Boquette was supposed to be a charming town with perfect weather so we were somewhat disappointed to arrive in the town of Boquete – I found it to be a dull, dirty, rough town with nothing charming about it. We stopped here for a bit because Jim had to send some business emails and they had an Internet café. I decided to try to use a computer there to find out what was going on back home but it was nothing but trouble. The first computer I tried froze up so the guy had to reset it twice – then I tried the one Carlos was using but it was with a Spanish keyboard so that was hard and then it froze up too. Then at the last minute before we had to leave Jim let me use his and I did get to quickly check my email – I just took the time to read one and I was very touch to read that my son had gone to visit his Grandfather. (My Dad died 5 days after I got home 3 days after I last visited him.) Anyway I was very much touched to hear that but there just wasn’t time to answer it as the bus was loaded and people were waiting for me and I was in a state anyway. I can’t believe how dependent we have become on email in what seems like such a short time. I remember enjoying some of my travels because of the lack of available contact with the rest of the world! Well I was able to acknowledge the email that evening when I used my cell for a quick two minute call to my son’s home. ($5 and it was worth it.) Eventually we arrived at Finca Lerida – a charming lodge at 5000 feet on a coffee plantation. I think it was close to dinner time when we arrived so we settled in our room and went down to a delicious dinner.

Monday 3/30/09 Finca Lerida (http://www.fincalerida.com/) has a lodge of approximately 11 rooms on the coffee plantation, which is surrounded by a nature, preserve. The property was purchased in 1911 by an engineer working on the Panama Canal. He was looking for a place to relax and bought some property here. Eventually after finishing his work on the canal he moved here and built some homes. The Collins family bought it in the early 50’s and continue to run the farm now. They are able to keep a lot of the primary and secondary growth forest for birding groups and they grow a lot of coffee of the area around the lodge. They are having problems getting the labor to pick the coffee beans so they are looking into ways to improve that situation. Meanwhile people come to stay for the nature and the birds. One of the first birds we heard was the Bellbird. What a noise that bird makes and how hard it is to find him. But eventually on our morning walk we found the Three-wattled Bellbird and all eventually had good looks, wattles and all. The area we walked in was a cloud forest next to Volcan Baru National Park. It was a lovely walk along with a great lunch that was brought to us at a lovely spot. We could see the valley below and several mountain ranges. The weather went from warm to cold. In the afternoon we drove back to the lodge and walked around that area – past the coffee trees were forest trees so we had a variety of birds. As I was walking back by myself I saw a new bird and was able to identify it by myself, which was fun. It was Yellow-throated Brush-Finch. I always remember birds I identify myself or find myself the best. It was a lovely spot to walk quietly by myself. We had a wonderful dinner – I had a steak that was quite good along with the usual good salad and tonight I tried the Tres Leche dessert – a rich creamy pudding that was more like a cake.

Tuesday 3/31/09 After breakfast we walked up the hill behind the lodge through the coffee trees until the nature forest started. Eventually the group turned to take a steep road down so I decided to continue on up. I walked along one trail with the coffee trees below me and the forest above – at these edges I had a large variety of species of birds – it was fun. As I stood and watched them many birds came so close I could watch them very well without binoculars. There were a lot of bamboo tunnels to walk through and I was rather enjoying myself and the quite until I turned the corner and saw a man who was mowing the trail with a “weed whacker”. I waited until I got his attention so I could safely walk past him – he was surprised to see me and said something but I’m not sure what. I walked to the end of the trail where I could see the whole farm below me and across the valley where it went up the other side. Then I went back and walked on another trail into the deeper and darker forest. I don’t know where it went because I just walked half an hour and then turned back. But I thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quite and being alone. Traveling with a group is fun and has many advantages but there are times when it is nice to be alone. We took the bus to the David airport where we checked in and then went upstairs to have lunch. I had a hamburger that was pretty good. This time we had a slightly bigger plane – probably carried about 50 people. We arrived in Panama City and were met by our bus driver, Fernando. He would drive us for the rest of the trip. Also there was a bus from Canopy Tower with the luggage we had left behind. So we loaded up and headed for Colon, which is where the canal starts on the Caribbean side of Panama. The drive here was definitely in a poorer section of Panama with a lot of trash along the road and poor homes in the various communities. It was a very busy place. 50 percent of the Panama population live in the Colon area and Panama City area. We arrived in late afternoon at the Nature Center (http://www.natturpanama.com/). This is a charming facility located on a peninsula on Lake Gatun. There were several buildings with a bedroom in each corner and a lounge in the center. Everything look lovely but there was one problem – it was hot and humid outside and it was ten times worse in the rooms. I could barely stand to go into the room to dump my suitcase and use the bathroom – 5 minutes inside the room and I was soaking wet. There was a floor fan but there was no electricity until 7:00 so they were of no help. Take a shower for dinner and become soaking wet as soon as you got dressed. Once they turned the electricity on the fans did help – if you stood in front of them – they really needed ceiling fans. Then they would be turning off the electricity at night so then we’d suffer again. But fortunately for us one member of our group needed a CPAP machine to sleep at night so they had to leave the electricity on all night so we were able to sleep. We also ate our meals outside which was more or less all right as they did have a canvas top for some shade – just needed to be wider. But I really enjoyed this place – there was a sense of adventure here. The family that ran the place was delightful although they were not quite used to dealing with a birding group such as ours. But they turned out to be most accommodating – getting us our breakfasts early, packing our lunches and snacks and so forth. They had a butterfly house here and it was fun to go in there and see what they had. The family has been here for some 27 years – I think they run this in conjunction with the government. I know that one day they had several tours of people from the cruise ships stopping in Colon. They take them on a walk through the forest and explain things about nature. The husband Willie does this. His wife does most of the cooking and she was a wonder – we had such delicious meals. The daughter acts as the hostess and was most accommodating once she got used to us! The son did the shopping and other errands – nice family. We walked around the area before dinner and spent some time at a deck area that was loaded with hummingbird feeders – so many kinds of hummingbirds and such beautiful colors. No trouble sleeping despite the heat.

Wednesday 4/1/09 We left at 6:30 in the morning to go to the birding famous Achiote Road which is on the west side of the Panama Canal in a rainforest on the Caribbean Slope. We drove through the outskirts of Colon – definitely a poorer section of Panama. This area was settled longer ago than most other areas in Panama. It was founded around the time of the 1849’ers some who would sail down to Colon – take the train across Panama and then another ship up to SF. The train here was the first transcontinental railroad in the Western Hemisphere built by 1855. Anyway along this road and on into San Lorenza National Park we found still more new species of birds. It was hot and humid but we all survived. We saw coati and wonderful swallow tail kites over head and hundreds of Swainson Hawks in migration. The migration of the hawks we have seen on this trip is nothing short of amazing, what a spectacular mystery of nature to observe. We had lunch on the bus with plenty of water – once again I repeat how great it is to have plenty of water to drink – not like some trips I have been on without enough water! In the afternoon we came back to the lodge and birded around the grounds. I enjoyed going into the butterfly gardens and watching them up close. Of course it was like a sauna but that is all right. We had such a good dinner and enjoyed such a beautiful sky – it is great to see so many stars and the Milky Way.

Thursday 4/2/09 Six of us went back to the forest at 7 AM (left at 6 AM after an early breakfast). We saw lots of great birds and I saw the White-headed Wren which I had missed yesterday. I saw several of them and they were nesting! We also saw thousands of migrating kites and hawks – awesome. Then Jim and a couple others decided to help me look for the Bentbill – a flycatcher I missed three times yesterday. We stood around waiting for it and were just giving up when a small bird flew in front of my face – yes it was a bentbill. My best look at it was close up without binoculars – birding always has special treats. After a delicious lunch at the lodge we loaded up and drove to Ceres Azul area – very rough roads and terrible driving. I just decided the driver didn’t want to die any more than I did so I stopped watching the cars and roads. Part of our trip – today and other days – was on the Pan American Highway which was in somewhat of better shape. In town we ladies had to have a potty stop so we stopped at a MacDonald’s – they are world wide. The ladies restroom was locked and the poor guy didn’t have a chance with several pushy American ladies. I’m not sure what he said but we got in. Several of us bought a snack afterwards – I got a chocolate Sunday – for $1.00 same price and same name as in the U.S. We eventually arrive at our last home – Hostal Casa de Campo in the cloud forest in Las Nubes, Cerro Azul bordering the Chagres National Park. (http://www.panamacasadecampo.com/) This area, being only a couple of hours from Panama City, has a lot of second home plus homes for retired people. But it is a small and unpretentious community. It reminded me of the area of our cabin in the Sierra foothills. After we checked into our rooms and settled a bit we went out for a walk in the neighborhood. A lady invited us into her garden where they had several hummingbird feeders plus a tray for bananas which attracted lots of tanagers and other great birds. They live in Panama City and come up here on the weekends. It was a lovely garden and we really enjoyed their hospitality. We went back to our lodge and a delicious dinner. The owner arrived from Panama City with a birthday cake for Alice – it was her birthday. We have had several birthdays on this trip which was a lot of fun. The current owners father built this house some 40 years ago adding on to it as his family grew and wanted to come for visits. It is an older looking house, dark wood with funny room arrangements. He added other buildings, a swimming pool, spa and other amenities and retired here until he was too old to live out here on his own. His daughter decided to turn it into a tourist facility and with the help of the Panama tourist board has done so. She has done a great job and it is very comfortable and attractive place although some rooms had various problems. Pam and I had one of the nicer rooms – it use to be hers when she was younger.

Friday 4/3/09 We drove out in the early morning to a place near Chagres National Park. The president of the Panama Audubon Society owns a house here that she rents out and also lets groups come to set up bird watching duties. Fernando brought our breakfast and set it up on the porch and we enjoyed our breakfast while watching the birds. There were a lot of hummingbird feeders plus the house was open so we could use the bathrooms. It would be a great place to stay but only about 5 or 6 people could stay at a time. We watched the hummingbirds at the feeders and the birds in the trees, plus lots of migrating hawks, including hundreds of Mississippi Kites. What a wonderful site that was. After a while the caretaker came over and offered to take us down the trail to help us find some of the special birds in the forest. It was a lovely trail through a dark and deep cloud forest but as usual I was the last of the group – I just can’t keep up with these fast walkers on these types of trails. By the time I got down to the bottom of the trail most of the group had seen the White-tipped Sicklebill ( a hummingbird with a very long decurved bill). We waited around for a while hoping it would come back as they are birds that are pretty local. Good thing we waited because we saw a family of Geoffroy’s Tamarind – beautiful monkeys and fun to watch. Eventually everyone was ready to go – Jim stayed with me for a while hoping I could see the bird but finally I said enough is enough and we followed where they were looking for more birds. They were going so fast and the trail was so rough and steep I decided to go back to the house and I joined a few other people who were there watching the hummingbirds and other local birds. It was very relaxing and pleasant but after a while I decided to go out for a walk. I was feeling sorry for myself – thinking I’d have to give up this kind of birding because I was just getting too old so I just started walking – no walking stick, no stool, no water, just my binoculars. I walked around the forest for a while and eventually got to the bottom of the trail. I sat there for a while thinking about things when after about 10 minutes a bird buzzed me so close I felt him on my hair and then he flew up to the heliconia where he spent a few minutes using his distinctly long curved bill – no question as to which bird it was. Sometimes God speaks to me through my birding experiences – it was as though He was saying “Penelope stop feeling sorry for yourself – you still have plenty of things to do and to be thankful for.” I had a wonderful walk back up the hill – slowly at my own pace. I was happy to tell everyone that I finally saw the sicklebill. After lunch we drove to Los Altos de Cerro Azul for what turned out to be a “death march”. It was hot and sunny and we climbed half a mile straight up a hot dry, no shade road with no relief from the sun and no birds to make the hike worth while. We went up to the top of an observation tower and watched for a while hoping to see a bird or two but then it started raining so some of us started walking back. We were afraid that if the red clay on the road got too wet it would be dangerously slippery to walk down. This area is the Cerra Jefe Forest, We waited out the rain in the bus for an hour or so until the rest of the group came back. Nobody saw many birds in this area. We drove back to the lodge for a good shower and clean clothes and a nice dinner.

Saturday 4/4/09 We got up early this morning to hike back up to the observation tower in Cere Jefe. The group started hiking up but since I can’t function without breakfast I stopped first to eat my breakfast. Then I went up to the tower and joined the group looking for the birds – it was cloudy and wet and not much in the way of birds. We walked down another steep narrow trail where we did see a few birds with better looks at Black and Yellow Tanagers. Finally we went back to Birder’s View – the Audubon home – where we watched hummingbirds for a while. Then some went looking for birds in the deeper forest and some of us took an easier hike. I finally saw the Scale-crested Pygmy-tyrant that I had missed before. We had a nice forest walk and then watched the hummingbirds and the migrating Swallow-tailed Kites overhead. Then we drove back to Panama City heading for the coast in order to look for shorebirds. The traffic was absolutely awful and we drove very slowly. We drove through Panama Viejo – founded in 1519 it is the oldest European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas. There are lots of remains from the old city but we just observed them as we drove slowly by. Eventually we reached the Pacific Coast and went to the shoreline to see what we could see. The tide was way out so our views were mostly scope views but we were able to add new species to our trip lists – lots of birds but mostly things that we see back at home. This was near the county office buildings so we had nice rest rooms. We had hoped to visit their museum and gift shop but the clerk was out to lunch the whole time we were there. It would have been nice to be able to pick up a couple of souvenirs, I bought less on this trip than I ever had before. I usually like to get something as it is educational for the children and my grandchildren always remember where the gift was bought. Well they did like the bookmarks with animals I was able to get them. I would think the lodges would look into having a few things available – they might be able to help their profit by carrying some local items to sell. Finally we decided to go back to the lodge getting back at 3:30 for lunch – I don’t function too well without regular meals – today was hard. We had time to pack up for our trip home and then had a wonderful dinner, cream lasagna that was delicious. I got to talk a bit with Anna Maria – the owner. It was interesting to hear about some of the work she is doing and what is going on in the tourist industry. She also works as a consultant for people starting a business – especially a spa.

Sunday 4/5/09 we left at 5:15 for the airport – Fernando had overslept and Jim couldn’t find where he was sleeping but soon enough we got on our way and checked in. We had time to get something to eat at the airport and walked around looking at the shops. There was nothing for sale that was made in Panama. I would have thought they would have sold some Panama chocolate but they only had Swiss chocolate. Pam, Bill, Joan and I flew to Dallas and had time there for a good lunch before we went on our separate ways. I arrived home Sunday night – not too tired – did some laundry, visited my Dad on Monday and flew to Colorado Springs on Wednesday to visit my grandchildren. So now that I am back home I am revisiting my trip by going through my notes and photos and trying to remember my experiences. All in all it was a great trip and I really enjoyed it. I do enjoy seeing all the wonderful birds. I hope I will be able to go on another trip sometime soon. I saw a total of 355 species of birds in Panama - the group saw about 425 species. Of my species 74 were new for me. After so many trips in Central and South America I'm amazed I saw so many new ones.

Written by Penelope K. Bowen on 4/20/09 from my notes, photos, and memory.

revised 4/21/09

My photos are posted at at www.shutterfly.com. I'm not sure if you can access my photos but if you send me a note to : PbowenD@aol.com I will send you an invitation to view the photos.