8-Day Panama Birdwatching Tour

You arrive in Panama Tocumen Airport. Your driver welcomes you and straight you head to the Gamboa Rain Forest Resort (1 hour’ drive). Immediately you are surrounded by the tropical forest and can already do some self-exploring of the area. You stay at the comfortable Gamboa Hotel including all meals and drinks.

Meals included: dinner.

This morning you’re off for an early walk along the Pipe Line Road. It’s a very comfortable trail that takes you straight in the jungle. Here you will see a nice amount of birds for your first day. Watch out for birds like the Black-breasted Puffbird, Black-throated Trogons, Golden-collared Manakin, Purple throated Fruit crow, an Ocellated Antbird, Northern Barred and Plain-brown Woodcreepers.

You easily see here small monkeys in the trees and hear the howling monkeys everywhere. We’ll take the whole morning for this hike and all the great birds we meet along the way.

Lunch and relax at the hotel around noon.

In the afternoon we have a relaxing visit of the Panama Rain Forest Discovery Center. We learn about their conservation activities and climb up the 32 meters high observation deck for great bird watching in the tree canopy like toucans, the crimson crested woodpecker and the red-lored parrot.

Evening at leisure at the resort with all meals and drinks included.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

This morning we are off early to the Plantation Trail. We hope to see birds like the Barred Forest Falcons, a Blue Cotinga, Northern Mealy Amazons, Brown-capped Tyrannulet, Collared Aracari, and the Keel-billed Toucan.

Lunch and relax at the hotel around noon. 


In the afternoon we have an easy hike to the Summit Ponds. This lake area can give us some birds like White-throated Crake, Boat-billed Heron, Rufescent Tiger Heron, a Palm Tanager, Isthmian Wren, and hopefully sloths hanging in the trees.

We’ll pop in the local Summit Park which is a zoo and botanical garden.

Evening at leisure at the resort with all meals and drinks included.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

This morning we are doing a 2 hours boat trip on the Gatun Lake to spot waterfowl birds that like to dwell in the water along the shores. We hope to see some Snail Kites, Great Black Hawk’s or the Great-White-Egret.

Lunch and relax at the hotel around noon.

In the afternoon we have a relaxing ride on the aerial tram at the forest resort. It includes a canopy tower to check on some birding there. Afterwards we visit the ecological exhibitions of frogs, sloths and orchids.

Evening at leisure at the resort with all meals and drinks included.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

We drive out early in the morning to the San Lorenzo Park at the Caribbean Side of the Isthmus (1 hour’ drive). Here we will do the Achiote trail that gives us sightings of the White-headed Wren, the Long-tailed Tyrant or the Montezuma Oropendola. This area has world records of sightings of birds. In a half a day walk expect to see between 60 to 80 birds.

When we get tired, the guide will bring us to the Gatun Locks Visitors Center of Agua Clara to have a look at the boats passing by the improved Panama Canal.

Evening at leisure at the resort with all meals and drinks included.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Today we drive with the guide to Panama City (45 min). With the guide we visit the Museum of Biodiversity, a great place to understand the tropical nature of Panama. We have a panoramic tour of the Calzada de Amador and the Balboa Boulevard. We end up in Casco Historico, the beautiful colonial center of Panama City.

In the afternoon, the guide drops us off at the Le Meridien Hotel on the Balboa Boulevard in the center of Panama City. Overnight with breakfast and free evening.

Meals included: breakfast.

Maybe try one of the many shopping malls. Taxis are not expensive in the city and there is also a super-fast metro system.

Meals included: breakfast.

According to your international flight you have transfer to the airport by taxi.