July 11 - Grounds of Gamboa Rainforest Resort & July 12 Pipeline Road
Canopy Tower background (from their website):
“The structure destined to become the Canopy Tower was built
in 1965 by the United States Air Force to house a powerful radar used in the
defense of the Panama Canal. By 1969, the site was jointly used by the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) to control air traffic in the area, and by the
Panama Canal Commission (PCC) as a communications tower.
In September of 1988, the radar tower received an important
new assignment when it was activated as Site One in the Caribbean Basin Radar
Network (CBRN). This network of radars was used by the United States government
to detect airplanes suspected of carrying drugs from South America. The tower
played this role until June of 1995 when it was closed and left vacant waiting
for better days.
In November of 1996, the radar tower and the Semaphore Hill
site, consisting of approximately 35 acres of rainforest within Soberanía
National Park, was transferred to Panama in compliance with the Torrijos-Carter
Treaties.
In August of 1997, the government of Panama signed a
long-term contract with Raul Arias de Para to transform the site into a center
for neotropical-rainforest observation and ecotourism.
In January of 1999, the Canopy Tower was inaugurated and the
rest, as they say, is history.”
The Canopy Tower, sitting at the summit of Semaphore Hill,
is almost 1,000ft above sea level. Nighttime temperatures often drop to the
mid-to-low 70s°F (21°C). Daytime temperatures range from the mid-70s°F (23°C)
to the upper-80s°F (31°C). Due to the elevation there is often a nice breeze.
Information on the room we chose:
Blue Cotinga Suite
"Our finest accommodation, the Blue Cotinga Suite, is on the
second floor (2 floors above the ground floor lobby), 28 feet high and situated
at the canopy level of the trees. It has an area of 366 square feet, two big
windows overlooking the forest, two ¾ beds (which can be joined together to
make a queen bed), a desk with a chair, a place to put your clothes/luggage, an
overhead fan and a private bathroom with a window. It also has a hammock and a
small balcony with a Brookstone hanging chair.
This is one of the favorite spots in the Canopy Tower. You
can see lots of birds real close from your personal balcony and, if you are
lucky, see monkeys during the day and kinkajous at night."
Day 1
We stopped at the Discovery Center Store to
see if they had rubber boots that fit, but we did not find any. We knew the Pipeline trail would be muddy and they would have come in handy.
We didn't think our package included lunch the first day, so we had lunch at the City of Knowledge.
(Scott & Sonya, we stopped there with you guys) There are a lot of different food stalls there and it was packed with students.
Here is a cute sign we saw in the parking lot:
We drove the short distance from there to the road to Canopy Tower at the top of Semaphore Hill.
the road
Coati along side of the road
arrival at Canopy Tower
The Tower
Upon arrival we were greeted by
Carlos and Jen (we met them both during our Darien trip). We were shown our room and asked if we wanted lunch. (not
thinking that was included the first day we already ate) We were greeted by a
Puffbird outside of our room. We were shown around the tower to see where we
would have meals and the observation deck on top. Cute little 3 toed sloth
outside of the dining room. Then we came back to the room to unpack and there
were Howler monkeys outside of our balcony.
sign on the door to our room
our "suite"
Black-breasted Puffbird
Howler Monkeys
Three-toed Sloth
social/dining/library room on the 3rd floor
our room was on this floor (second floor)
pictures on the walls around the tower
the entry way
entry way & second floor
stairs to all floors
their largest tour vehicle
smaller tour vehicle
We had an afternoon tour with Carlos, which was around the grounds of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort.
Common Tody Flycatcher in nest
Common Tody Flycatcher
Tropical Mockingbird
Buff-throated Saltator
Fasciated Antshrike - male
Fasciated Antshrike - female
Fasciated Antshrike - male
immature Slaty-tailed Trogon
immature Slaty-tailed Trogon
immature Slaty-tailed Trogon
Tropical Wood Pewee
Piratic Flycatcher
female Thick-billed Euphonia
Variable Seedeater
children playing with a hose
driving across the one-way bridge
We also
got to go inside the animal rehab center there and saw a beautiful Jaguar that
was rescued when really young and nursed back to health. They wanted to use the guides powerful
flashlight to do surgery on a caiman, so while we were waiting they let us see the animals they have rescued.
rescued Agouti
rescued Sloth
Back at the Tower we still had Howlers outside our room and the dining room. There were 5 of us at the Tower. John, a very nice older gentleman from Maryland and a couple from California that were leaving the next morning.
Day 2 - A.M.
Carlos was our guide again in the morning. We met up on the observation deck at 6:30 and found birds
galore. Then we had breakfast at 7:30 and afterwards we hiked on Pipeline Road.
very wet Three-toed Sloth from the observation deck
view from the tower - quite misty
Collared Aracari in the mist
Pipeline Trail Morning:
White-breasted Wood-Wren
Slaty-tailed Trogon
mushrooms
Short-billed Pigeon
Cocoa Woodcreeper
Cocoa Woodcreeper
Black-throated Trogon
Black-throated Trogon
Red-capped Manakin
Cydno Longwing
Dimorphic Skipper
Ocellated Antbird
It's 2 bad photos of the Streaked-chested Antpitta, but the best we saw him all trip.
We came back for lunch and then after a
break where I sat out on the chair on the balcony and read and watched for birds & monkeys. We went back to Pipeline road and went a bit farther on the trail. Domi (from the Darien
trip) was our guide in the afternoon. It was great to see Domi again. He really is very enthusiastic and just has a knack for finding the birds. On foot when we have hiked Pipeline on our own, we only go a short distance because of the mud. The Canopy vehicles can drive a long ways so we got to see parts of the trail we have never seen before.
while we were having lunch this little guy entertained us
he was in the tree with the sloth
view of the city from the observation deck
Palm Tanager
Female Green Honeycreeper
Blue-chested Hummingbird
baby iguanas just a few inches long outside the Tower
Long-billed Hermit Hummingbird
White-vented Plumeleteer
Pipeline Trail Afternoon:
waiting to cross the one-way bridge
immature Sslaty-tailed Trogon
Red-capped Manakin
Greg, John & Domi on the bridge
Crimson-crested Woodpecker
Band-tailed Barbthroat
Band-tailed Barbthroat
Broad-billed Motmot
Black-crowned Antshrike
Black-crowned Antshrike
Blue-crowned Manakin
stream
A family arrived tonight, but they were doing “their own thing” for tours. They were a family of 3 (mother and 2 almost adult sons).
After dinner we went to the observation deck:
view of the Century Bridge over the Panama Canal
Every evening the guides do a checklist with everyone to keep track of the birds/mammals seen that day, while having appetizers. Then, everyone eats together at one table. Exhausted, we were ready for bed.
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