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Heed the call of 900 birds  
Visiting Panama: Tips on flights, hotels and tours  
   
Image: Panama City  
Ruins of the original Panama City tower in the foreground, while the modern city rises in the background several miles away.  
   
By Christian Kallen
SPECIAL TO MSNBC
 
 

Hark! Is that a white-tailed trogon? With 934 recorded bird species, Panama can claim the record for the Western Hemisphere. A fledgling birdwatcher reports on which tour operators will take you to see the avifauna, plus how to fly there and where to stay.

Back to "Panama — Jewel of Ecotourism"

 

  
  PANAMA BECAME an independent country in 1903, but its place in history dates back to Columbus’ 1503 landing. The Panama Canal has been the big story for the last 100 years, and on Dec. 31, 1999, the entire operation of the Panama Canal will be turned over by the United States to the Republic of Panama. This makes the year 2000 more significant for Panama than just another computer glitch. Add to this the growing interest in the natural history of Panama — its 934 recorded bird species is a hemispheric record, and it boasts an extensive national parks system — and Panama is clearly a prime destination for travelers in the coming year.
       
GETTING THERE
       American Airlines has daily flights to Panama City from both its gateway cities, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami.
       If you’re interested in visiting Cana Camp on your own, take the Aeroperlas flight (alternate days) from Panama City to El Real de Santa Maria. When the water level is right, you can take a dugout canoe upriver to the Embera village of Boca de Cupe, and hire a guide with a mule to carry your provisions, including food, extra insect repellant, and snake antivenom. It’s a two-day hike from here, so be prepared to bivouac. Or contact Ancon Expeditions (below) for a charter.
       
TOUR OPERATORS
A Chestnut-mandibled toucan perches in the trees at Nusagandi.
 Image: Toucan        The trip “Birds of Eastern Panama” was set up by Wildland Adventures of Seattle (call 800-345-4453). Wildland runs environmentally aware trips around the world, and is a primary U.S. booking agent for Ancon Expeditions. This is a commercial extension of the country’s premier environmental group, ANCON (the National Association for the Conservation of Nature). Ancon can be reached by phone in Panama at (011-507) 269-9415 or by e-mail at sales@ecopanama.com.
       Panama Discovery offers more mainstream tour packages, including one-day transits of the Panama Canal (once monthly, so plan your visit wisely). These can be booked either on the Web or by phone at (888) 726-2621. If you’re already in Panama, they do business as Panama Jones, with offices across the street from the new Marriot (see hotels), phone (011-507) 265-4551.
       
HOTELS
       The venerable and appealing Hotel El Panama (1-888-226-3880) is still among the best places to stay in downtown Panama City.

Panama takes flight
When the Panama Canal returns to Panamanian rule in December, more travelers than ever will begin flocking to this small Central American country. But there's life beyond the Canal Zone: Panama is a rare ecotourism jewel that's home to more than 900 bird species, enough to make any birdwatcher's heart take flight.
Click for full story
       It has more than 300 full-service rooms starting at $140. Request one of the poolside cabanas to really feel like you’re on vacation. Now nearly 50 years old, it is facing competition from numerous upstarts, including the new Panama Marriott Hotel nearby (011-507-213-8852), which has similar rates but a less tropical atmosphere. Our Ancon tour stayed at the more modest Hotel Marbella (011-507-263-2220), near the El Panama, where single room rates start at $35.
       
RESOURCES: BOOKS
       The premier guidebook to the region is the new (and long overdue) “Panama,” by Scott Doggett (Lonely Planet, 1999). Natural history buffs will enjoy “The Monkey’s Bridge” by David Rains Wallace (Sierra Club, 1997). And birders to Central America will need to invest in “A Guide to the Birds of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras,” by Robert S. Ridgely (Princetown, 1989). The illustrations by John A. Gwynne, Jr. are first-rate.
       If it’s just a good read you want, John LeCarré’s spy satire “The Tailor of Panama” (Random House, 1996) is set in the months preceding the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. It owes a stated debt to the elegant novels of Graham Greene, who himself wrote “Getting to Know the General” (Simon & Schuster, 1984). This memoir tells of Green’s friendship with General Omar Torrijos, who negotiated the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty with President Jimmy Carter.
       
RESOURCES: INTERNET
       Discovery Online has a rich site about building the Panama Canal, to accompany its November 1998 television special.
click for return rewards
       The official Web site of the Panama Canal includes history, news, a photo gallery and a web cam of the Miraflores Locks.
       Microsoft’s Mungo Park Web site once featured a trans-Darien expedition and built a robust Web site about the country and the Panama Jungle Trek. (Site deceased)
       

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