The Fundación Tierra Nueva is a non-profit organization whose main mission is “working towards the sustainable development of people of the Darién Rainforest”. The property is the home of a technical school focusing on applications in agriculture.
On the way to the Foundation we passed a house that this Great Curassow on the porch of a family. Domi told us they found it abandoned and brought it home to be raised with their chickens. It stays with them as more of a pet.
Great Curassow - female
Great Curassow - female
Great Curassow - female
typical Indigenous house
large troupe of Howler Monkeys
White-dashed Metalmark
Hecale Longwing
interesting plant
Hecale Longwings
adult 3-toed Sloth
We drove on to another location close by:
the birds loved these flowers
bridge over the river
Spot-breasted Woodpecker
Buff-breasted Wren
Buff-breasted Wrens
Buff-breasted Wren
Buff-breasted Wren - singing loudly
the trail
machete in the road
small Coral Snake
Streaked-headed Woodcreeper
Greater Ani
Great Potoo
Great Potoo
Golden-headed Manakin
Gray-cheeked Nunlet
Gray-cheeked Nunlet
Embera' waiting for the boat bus
Back at camp for lunch and a wander about the grounds:
White-vented Plumeteer
White-vented Plumeteer
Golden-hooded Tanager
Golden-hooded Tanager
Crimson-backed Tanager
Olivaceous Flatbill
Golden-collared Manakins in the Lek
young Crested Caracara sitting on a cow
Spot-breasted Woodpecker
Lineated Woodpecker
Roadside Hawk
Savanna Hawk
Collared Aracari
Collared Aracari
Yellow-tailed Oriole
Striped Cuckoo
sights along the way
parrots flying over head
AM: May 7 - Nuevo Vigia (45 minutes from Canopy Camp)
FULL DAY
Nuevo Vigia is an Embera' village nestled north of the Panamerican Highway,
surrounded by great secondary growth dry forest and two small lakes.
The village is accessible by "piragua", locally-made dugout
canoes.
piragua we boarded to take us to the village
man bathing in river & man going to bathe and brush his teeth
he held his toothbrush up not to lose the paste
then he brushed his teeth
We explored the Chucunaque
and Tuquesa Rivers on the way to the village.
Amazon Kingfisher
Gray-headed Kite
me in the blue life vest, Dennis and the guide in front
Collared Aracari
We got out and walked a short trail and had a mid morning snack.
Senafront coming down the river Greg on the left and Domi on the right
Senafront boat
Senafront boat
mushrooms
view of the river from the trail
Domi leading us down the trail
me in the bamboo
Spectacled Parrolet
Greater Ani
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Rufous-tailed Jacamar
Rufous-tailed Jacamar with an insect
Great Potoo
Red-billed Scythebill
we got back in the canoe and continued on to the village
it's a public water bus
kids at the village waiting for us
doing laundry in the river
doing laundry in the river
Embera' waiting for us
we walked around their village
school
these boys asked to have their picture taken
We then walked the Kingfisher trail with our Embera' guide and Domi.
Black-tailed Trogon - female
these migrate through and this one didn't make it
Rufescent Tiger-Heron
Rufescent Tiger-Heron
Rufescent Tiger-Heron drying its' wings
Agami Heron
American Pygmy Kingfisher
American Pygmy Kingfisher
American Pygmy Kingfisher
caiman
Green Ibis
We walked back to the village and shopped at their craft market and then had our picnic lunch.
Dennis & I shopping
In the village of Nuevo
Vigia, local artisans weave colorful decorative masks and plates out of palm
fronds and carve cocobolo wood and tagua nuts into animals and plants. The villagers watched intently as we shopped. Every time you picked up something that the one that made it, she exclaimed. You felt guilty setting it back down to check out another one. After our decisions were made, one woman was in charge of collecting the money and logging it in their book. The entire tribe watched her closely. She carefully removed the price sticker and put it in the book next to the name of the artist and the description. Any leftover food was left behind for them and the guide and driver of our canoe also had a bit of lunch and cold drinks with us.
All too soon it was time to return by canoe back to our vehicle.
laundry
bathing
bathing
laundry
the seats of the canoes were slanted that you almost laid down
back at the dock
repairing the road
our canoe driver & guide
I hope they meant to have this in the water???
Senafront building & officer wearing shorts
local children as we were driving away
school
We were back in the early afternoon and we got packed up and relaxed and even had time to shower before dinner today! We had our last dinner there and then it was early to bed since we had an early departure the next day.
Darién, Panamá - May 8 - Birding and home
We said our goodbyes to the ladies that cooked and cleaned for us all week. Food and service was above and beyond. Today, we had some rain, so we shortened our birding on the way back to Panama City.
We stopped briefly at the San Francisco Nature Reserve, a private forest reserve
owned and managed by the St. Francis Foundation, covering 1,300 acres in
eastern Panama Province. It was raining and our binocs and cameras were fogged from getting out of the cold vehicle to the warm and wet outdoors so birding at first was challenging despite there being a ton of birds when we first got out of the car.
The San Francisco
Reserve was established in 2001 by Father Pablo Kasuboski, an American priest
from Wisconsin who came to Panama in 1988. The reserve serves as a wildlife
refuge and protects the headwaters of the main rivers of the area. The foundation created by Padre Pablo, as
Father Kasuboski is called, also works on infrastructure development in the
area by building and maintaining aqueducts, roads, schools and churches.
Senafront Checkpoint
We stopped at the same restaurant in Torti for lunch.
young chicken on the patio
moth on the patio
the cabanas
Long-billed Starthroat
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Long-billed Starthroat
Long-billed Starthroat
Black-throated Mango
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
PM: Bayano Lake, Panama’s second largest lake & Return
to Panama City
We saw quite a few birds here, but the rain really made it a short stop. After such a fantastic week, no one cared. Domi dropped us at the offsite parking to get our car and Dennis continued on to spend 3 nights at Canopy Tower. We stopped to grab some pizza at the shopping center partway home and then drove home.
We were home 3 nights and 2 days before flying out to Iowa to visit Dad and then Florida for some shopping.
Cool bird and people shots.
ReplyDeleteIt's taken me a long time to take advantage of your spectacular photos and travelogue, and even longer to respond. Thank you for your amazing photos and meticulous (with a good dose of humor) documentation.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane! I thought of you when we stayed at Canopy Tower a while back. Hope to see you guys in Panama soon! (at least once before we leave)
ReplyDelete