• • Full day hike to Pirre Cloud Forest Camp
• • Visit the community of Boca de Cupe, navigate the following days downwards to Tuira River in a motorized piragua
• • Visit the Embera village at Mogue river and end your trip at the Golf of San Miguel

Details

 

 

 

 

Mar 8 - 21, 2010 
July 5 - 18, 2010 
Nov 22 - Dec 5, 2010

 

Detailed Itinerary

 

Day 1 - Depart U.S. / Arrive Panama City, Panama
Upon arrival in Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, you will be met by your guide outside the customs and immigration area at the airport. Your guide will transfer you to the hotel where you will enjoy a trip orientation.

• Overnight: La Estancia Bed & Breakfast

 

Day 2 - Cana Field Station
Early this morning you will meet with the Expedition Leader and the rest of the group for breakfast and orientation. You will then be transferred to Panama City’s Albrook airport to board our chartered flight (approximately 1.5 hours) to the Cana Field Station in the Darien National Park. Accommodations at Cana are basic but comfortable with shared bathrooms and hot water showers. This afternoon we explore the adjacent trails.

• Overnight: Cana Field Station
• All Meals Included

 

Day 3 - Cana Field Station
Set amidst 19th century locomotives, winches, smokestacks and ovens, Cana is an explorer’s paradise. Relics of the recent attempts (late 1800s) to mine this wilderness area are reminders of how vulnerable even the most remote areas are to human exploitation. In 1996 the government of Panama outlawed all mining activity within Darien National Park turning the area of Cana into a natural heaven.

• Overnight: Cana Field Station
• All Meals Included

 

Day 4 - Cana Field Station - Pirre Camp
This full day slow-paced hike to your highland campsite (located at about 1200 meters above sea level) takes you through dramatic changes in the forest habitat. A virtual island of endemic and rarities, these forests are home to Golden-headed Quetzals, Yellow-green Grosbeak, Yellow-collared Chlorophonia, Beautiful Treerunner, Varied Solitaire, Pirre endemic species, Sharpbill, and many others. Follow the tracks of the Tapir and be on the lookout for White-lipped Peccaries.

• Overnight: Pirre Cloud forest Tented Camp
• All Meals Included

 

Day 5 - Cana Field Station - Pirre Camp
Today you will explore this remote unspoiled cloud forest paradise. From the camp you will climb another 640 meters and discover a forest covered by permanent mist. Rare species of flora are found here where the Jaguar is also present. Afterwards hike back to the Cana Field Station.

• Overnight: Cana Field Station
• All Meals Included

 

Day 6 - Rio Paca
This morning you depart the Cana Field Station and start the hike down river towards the Tuira River. As you hike through the jungle you will be able to see and hear a myriad of birdcalls and other wonderful nature sounds and perhaps even some mammals.

• Overnight: Rio Pica Camp
• All Meals Included

 

Day 7 - Cana - Rio Paca Cruzamono Ranger Station
You continue your hike today following the Paca River. You look for White-headed Wren, Tody Motmot, Macaws, Red-throated Caracara, and many other species amidst the towering Cuipo (Cavallinesia platanifolia) trees and the giant Anacardiums. The remoteness of this region and the dramatic forest around you offers possible sightings of large mammals like Tapir, Giant Anteater, Black-spider Monkey, White-lipped Peccary and others.

• Overnight: Cruzamono Ranger Station
• All Meals Included

 

Day 8 - Cruzamono - Boca de Cupe
Alter an early morning departure, you walk along the Cupe River, en route to the community of Boca de Cupe. The trail will continue to follow the railroad line that took miners in and out of the fabled Cana Gold Mines. You will see occasional signs of the former infrastructure that was present in Cana during your hikes through the jungle. The paths of the former Cana railroad provide access on foot through the jungle to search for Macaws and Peccaries. In the late afternoon, you reach the Afro-darienite village of Boca de Cupe, located on the shores of the mighty Tuira River.

• Overnight: Local Rooming House or Boca De Cupe Tent Camp
• All Meals Included

 

Day 9 - Boca de Cupe - Pirre Station
You continue your hike today following the Paca River. You look for White-headed Wren, Tody Motmot, Macaws, Red-throated Caracara, and many other species amidst the towering Cuipo (Cavallinesia platanifolia) trees and the giant Anacardiums. The remoteness of this region and the dramatic forest around you offers possible sightings of large mammals like Tapir, Giant Anteater, Black-spider Monkey, White-lipped Peccary and others.

• Overnight: Pirre Park Ranger Station (rustic with bunk beds)
• All Meals Included

 

Day 10 - Pirre Station
The area surrounding Pirre Station is the habitat of many lowland species. You may see Scarlet-browed, Tawny-crested, Lemon-spectacled Tanagers, White-fronted Nunbird, Gray-cheeked Nunlet among many others. Those interested in botany will be overwhelmed by the old “cathedral rainforest”; Ceibas, Anacardiums, stranglers and more. This afternoon you can cool off in the Pirre waterfall with its natural water slide.

• Overnight: Pirre Park Ranger Station (rustic with bunk beds)
• All Meals Included

 

Day 11 - Pirre Station - Mogue River
This morning you will be on the trail early observing the bird activity that accompanies the army ant swarms. Today you will navigate down the Tuira towards the Gulf of San Miguel in the Pacific Ocean, reaching the Ancon Expeditions of Panama lodge at the private 65,000-acre Punta Patiño Nature Reserve. Be on the lookout for bottle-nosed dolphin and different species of birds that find refuge among the mangrove-dotted coast. After a light and refreshing lunch, you hike the Piedra Candela trail where your guide will describe the importance of this tropical dry forest. This type of forest is quickly vanishing due to deforestation. You can return to the lodge or stay at the beach to see the spectacular sunset. This evening you will take a short walk to the wetlands in search of Capybaras, the world’s largest rodent with its northernmost range being Panama. You will also look for caimans, owls and other nocturnal species.

• Overnight: Punto Patino Lodge
• All Meals Included

 

Day 12 - Mogue River
Today you visit the Embera village of Mogue. You will look for Roseate Spoonbill, Ibis, Osprey and Raccoons fishing along the river. The trip up river takes you through millenary mangroves making the boat ride extraordinary. You arrive at the village of Mogue where its inhabitants greet you. After the formalities and presentations you will be able to learn about their culture and traditions. Also you will have the opportunity of buying their beautiful handicrafts that are made from natural materials. The men are expert carvers of Cocobolo wood and the women weave extraordinary baskets from palm fibers with dyes from different plants. Enjoy the day exchanging experiences with the Mogue inhabitants.

• Overnight: Punto Patino Lodge
• All Meals Included

 

Day 13 - Punta Patiño - Panama City
Your early afternoon flight will take you back to the city. Upon arrival you will visit the Miraflores Locks at the Panama Canal and the handicraft market. You will go to your hotel to freshen up for tonight’s farewell dinner at a typical Panamanian restaurant.

• Overnight: La Estancia Bed & Breakfast
• All Meals Included

 

Day 14 - Panama / Depart
Early morning transfer to Tocumen International Airport for your international flight.

• Meal: Breakfast

 

What’s Included

What’s Not Included