Panama 2025

Gamboa, The Darien, Chiriquí, and Bocas del Toro

Hello Fellow Travelers!

In just a few weeks I will be on my way back to Panama. We will be visiting both the Gamboa and Chiriquí areas in one 14-day tour. On this Panama tour we will be spending 4-days in Boquete and on two of the days, we will be taking super tours up the Volcán Barú National Park, (elevation 11,398 feet), which is an active stratovolcano and the highest point in Panama. The last eruption was in the mid 1500's. Along the national park roads and trails, we will find many near-endemic species, including owls. We are very excited about this new addition to the Chiriquí tour. This tour is already full, but we have dates available in 2025 and always options for adding additional dates upon request as well as private tours. We offer tours in Panama all year round. Don't be scared of the rainy season. It does not rain all day, and we see as many birds during the "Green" season, as we do in the dry season.

Click here to view the webpages for tour availability:

Gamboa _ Chiriquí _ The Darien _ Bocas del Toro

Special offer: Included with your trip (one per room) is a copy of the field guide “The Birds of Panama” by George Angehr and Robert Dean. You will receive this when you reserve your trip so you will have time to study and know the beautiful birds of Panama.

**Pearl Islands: About 30 miles off the coast from Panama City is the island archipelago called the Pearl Islands, which includes over 200 islands. If you sign up for two tours, back to back, you will have a free day in between the tours. We can help you schedule activities for that day. We recommend a visit to one of the Pearl Islands. It is a 1.5 hour boat ride and with opportunities to view sea birds such as boobies, petrels, terns, gulls, and other birds as well. The islands offer great swimming, snorkeling and other water activities.

Recommended Reading: The complete history of the Panama Canal, written by David McCullough and titled "The Paths Between the Sea". It is excellent, and everything you ever wanted to know about the 400 hundred year history of people who dreamed, attempted, and built the Panama Canal. The book was published in 1977 and so ends just before the time that President Jimmy Carter negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaty, which was ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1978 and gave the Panamanian government control of the canal. The book weighs about 3 pounds, seriously, it doesn't travel well, so read it before you travel to Panama.

Below is a video that I took with my cell phone through the scope.

This male Harpy Eagle was sitting above the nest, overlooking a young chick. The eagle was there for about an hour, and then flew away. Check out the neck rotation of this bird!

Kaiyote Tours Harpy Eagle The Darien Panama

Gamboa Rainforest birds we have seen: Gamboa Bird List

Chiriquí Highland birds we have seen: Chiriquí Bird List

Darien Raptors Tour, birds we have seen: Darien Bird List

Bocas del Toro birds we have seen: Bocas Bird List

Animals we have seen: Four species of monkeys (Golden-mantled Howler, Geoffroy's Tamarin, Panamanian Night Monkey, Spider Monkey), Anteaters (Northern Tamandua and Giant Anteater), both 2-toed and 3-toad sloths, Coati, Crab-eating Raccoon, Agouti, Panama slender opossum, Rufous soft-furred spiny-rat, Red-tailed squirrel, Variegated squirrel, and Capybara. Many of the mammals will have babies. We see many reptiles and amphibians including the Spectacled Caiman and the American Crocodile.

If you would like to see photos from a photographer who was on a previous trip,

please click here:

Ersten Imaoka's Photo Album

More Photos below: Sometimes the newsletter is longer than what will appear in the email, and you will need to click on the "view entire message" icon to see all the photos.