Highlights from Darien Camp, Panama
Our 2025 Panama Darien tour immediately followed the western trip through the Chiriqui Highlands and Bocas del Toro. The vast and sparsely populated Darien Province in the far east of the country contains some of the most remote and wild lowland and montane wilderness remaining in Central America. Our base for the week was the very comfortable Canopy Camp. This year we were fortunate to be able to visit an active Harpy Eagle nest, and spending time with these giant raptors, and the people who are protecting them was an experience to treasure. The grounds around the camp provided excellent birding, with a wealth of hummingbirds such as Long-billed Starthroat, Black-throated Mango and Violet-bellied Hummingbird showing daily. Golden-headed (and Golden-collared) Manakins, and impressive King Vultures were daily visitors too, as was an array of mammals including White-throated Capuchin. On our first full day we enjoyed excellent views of a local pair of Rufous-tailed Jacamar, and even on our last day we were still picking up a few new species near the camp such as the portly Brown-capped Tyrannulet. On one day we took dugout canoes out into Embera territory past the end of the road which gained us access to birds like Black-capped Donacobius, Spot-breasted Woodpecker and this confiding Crane Hawk. A few non-bird highlights included this gorgeous Acantus Sarota that was feeding just off the camp deck, and even a few fish like this Panamanian Eartheater in the creek just down the hill from the camp. One of our final stops for the trip produced hard to beat views of the huge, rare, and very colourful Great Currasow coming in to rice not too far off the main highway. These areas in the Darien are little explored and I am sure that the creation of a comfortable lodge here will produce a lot of new discoveries. I very much look forward to returning next fall!
