This is my 2nd time visiting Panama and the Canopy Lodge and Tower. The first was in 2013 so I thought I would give it another go.
This is a wonderful place and my first week was at the Canopy Lodge, El Vale de Anton about a 3 hour drive from Tocumen airport in Panama City. I must confess that both the Lodge and the Tower seem geared more now for birders than photographers than was the case in 2013 and I found it at times a little frustrating not to be able to spend the time I wanted photographing a particular species of wildlife as I was in a small group.
That said there were also times when knowing I was more of a photographer than birder they made great efforts wherever possible to give me a guide to myself.
The abundance of birds in both areas is incredible and early mornings spent at the Lodge Feeding Station and on top of the Tower above the tree line where fabulous and will be treasured.
The Lodge offers comfortable accomodation next to a lovely river with gorgeous grounds to wander each day. The world famous feeding station ( see Cornell Live feed) has an abundance of visitors each day and it was a source of endless pleasure during my stay there. There is something almost decadent about sitting in comfortable chair on the veranda with a cold beer, watching and photographing fabulous birds a few feet away.
Each day we went out to 2 different places and the highlights for me from the 1st week were visiting a garden that was set up very artfully for wildlife photography and presented wonderful views of Tanagers, Hummingbirds, Honeycreepers, Motmots and all manor of beautiful birds. On both the occasions I visited I had to be almost dragged away kicking and screaming as I could have stayed there forever. The other highlight was trip to the coast to the Gulf of Panama with a completely different set of birds to photograph and marvel at.
The Canopy Tower is situated at the top of Sempahore Hill just outside Gamboa. It is an old US listening post that has been turned into an eco lodge. The tower also has a (Cornell Live Feed). The accomodation here is not as comfortable but the views are sensational, particularly from the top of Tower that takes in the Panama canal, bridges and Panama city in the far distance. At the time I was there the idiot Trump was making threats about invading Panama and taking control of the Panama Canal. What a prat!!!
Each day starts with coffee on the viewing platform which offers a 360 degree view of the wonderful tree line and a great variety of wildlife. There is aslo a dedicated hummingbird feeding platform outside the Tower which gives great opportunities for photos of these charismatic little birds, someone described them as T-Rexs in minature and they certainly were ferocious in defending their own particular spot at the station.
A river/canal cruise from Gamboa was the highlight for me, alongside 2 visits to a town house in Gamboa which had a brilliant feeder in the garden.
I will return, but I do not think at this stage that I will go back for a few years but in the meantime I hope that they continue to develop and expand, particularly the photography side.
