Advice needed for 1st time trip to Panama please (1 Viewer)

[AliBellMeribel]

Hi all,

I'm new to BirdForum and it looks like a great place for helping me to plan our trip to Panama in Jan 2024.
We plan to start with 4 nights/3 days in the Gamboa/canal area and would really appreciate advice on:
1. The going rate for 3 mornings of bird guiding.
2. A recommendation for a bird guide who could do the 3 mornings with us.
3. Where to stay. We won't have a car and would prefer to stay somewhere with a restaurant on site or within walking distance. We would like to be somwhere where we can do some birding/ photography/exploring ourselves in the afternoon or evening and dan warch birds from a balcony. The Gamboa Rainforest Resort looks ideal on their website site but has very mixed reviews. The Summit Rainforest Golf Resort doesn't have any availability on the Saturday night according to their website. There don't seem to be a lot of other options.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[Jose Ramon]

Hi all,

I'm new to BirdForum and it looks like a great place for helping me to plan our trip to Panama in Jan 2024.
We plan to start with 4 nights/3 days in the Gamboa/canal area and would really appreciate advice on:
1. The going rate for 3 mornings of bird guiding.
2. A recommendation for a bird guide who could do the 3 mornings with us.
3. Where to stay. We won't have a car and would prefer to stay somewhere with a restaurant on site or within walking distance. We would like to be somwhere where we can do some birding/ photography/exploring ourselves in the afternoon or evening and dan warch birds from a balcony. The Gamboa Rainforest Resort looks ideal on their website site but has very mixed reviews. The Summit Rainforest Golf Resort doesn't have any availability on the Saturday night according to their website. There don't seem to be a lot of other options.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Back yesterday from a tour of 15 days to Panama I could recommend you our guide, Armodio Rodriguez Diaz.

My trip report: https://ebird.org/spain/tripreport/114745

Very experienced guide, easygoing person and speaks good English.

He is very good detecting bird calls, something very important inside the forest.

You may contact him at:

Whatsapp: + 507 61-62-28-51

Armodio Rodríguez Diaz

Armodio Rodríguez Diaz is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Armodio Rodríguez Diaz and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

www.facebook.com

 

[njlarsen]

Last time we passed through The Gamboa Rainforest Resort they were not in business (2022).

Canopy tower obviously would allow for the full service deal - they are great but definitely not cheap.

The Radisson at Summit was good but a bit far from the best birding if you do not have a car.

There used to be some b&b in Gamboa, but I am not sure which are functional at the moment.

One idea: perhaps start in El Valle del Anton where there seemed to be plenty of places to stay and then visit Gamboa later if you can find a period where the Radisson is available? The transfer from the airport is about twice as long to El Valle but that is about it.
Niels