March 2011 DVOC Trip to Panama

DVOC Trip to Panama March 2011

Participants: Bert Filemyr, Art McMorris, Ann and Mac Scott, Barbara Thorp, Connie Goldman, Susan Schuur, Jack Plotkin, Bob Cohen, Jane Henderson

Day 0, March 9, 2011: We fussed around in the morning till Barbara and Kurt picked us up at 1:00 PM. We shot to the airport (EWR) and met Bert, Connie and Art when we were emerging from security. We hung out at the gate, and then Jack and Susan turned up. They’d been there for some time, coming from Detroit, and waiting elsewhere. The flight was uneventful, but warm and stuffy. When we got to PTY, Ann and Mac had already arrived. In the midst of arrival security, Susan lost track of a bag, but was able to retrieve it. We were met by a guy and a bus, equipped with a trailer for our stuff. We arrived at Gamboa around midnight, checked in, showered, and went to bed.
Night: Gamboa Resort

Day 1, March 10, 2011: We had Continental breakfast at 5:00 AM, and were picked up by Hernan and driver at 6:00 AM. We went to Soberania National Park and to the tower at the Discovery Center, and stayed there for over two hours. The canopy was very active that morning. Blue Dacnis, Blue Cotinga, Red-legged honeycreeper, assorted tanagers and pigeons. Then we walked a trail near there till it was time for a picnic lunch at the Discovery Center, a nice place. Then afternoon birding at Pipeline Road. It rained on and off, but we got to see some nice birds. We wound up at Gamboa Ponds. There were some great birds there: White-throated Crake, Wattled Jacana, Fork-tailed Flycatcher. We had dinner in the restaurant at Gamboa. It was Jack’s birthday, and he got a small cake and we all had sparkling wine. To bed early.
Night: Gamboa Resort

Day 2, March 11, 2011: We had Continental breakfast at 5:00 AM and left at 5:15 for Metropolitan Nature Park. Foolishly, Bob and I did not spray for insects, and both wound up with chigger bites, his worse than mine. We did a long walk around the park, and then took turns going up in the Smithsonian crane. We were in the second group. We didn’t see as many birds from the crane as we had two years ago, but it’s a pretty awesome experience. We had a big lunch at Miraflora Locks. We went to Summit ponds and saw Boat-billed Heron. We had dinner at Gamboa, and did checklists there in the library. Rebecca turned up for that.
Night: Gamboa Resort

Day 3, March 12, 2011: We walked down to the jungle boat and went out into the Chagres River and the canal. We saw some nice birds, including a great look at a Snail Kite, and had a close encounter with monkeys. We had a picnic lunch on one of the little islands. Rebecca was with us again. We left Gamboa at 1:30 PM and set out for the local airport. Lots of Cuna Indians were waiting to go home to San Blas. The women wore elaborate woven stockings. Hernan said their men like women with thin legs! There was no place to sit down, and was pretty hectic. It took forever for everything to settle down so we could take off. A yellow bus met us in David, and as soon as we got on the road we had a flat tire. The guys fixed it in no time. We got to Finca Lerida at 6:45 PM. It’s a very nice place. We had dinner at 7:30 PM. Very good food.
Night: Finca Lerida

Day 4, March 13, 2011: We got up early and walked Baru National Park, on the boundary of Finca Lerida, all morning. We had Wattled Bell Birds all over the place, and decent looks at Resplendent Quetzals, and an iffy look at a male. We had lunch at the finca (too much food!) and then took a short tour of the coffee works there, courtesy of Cesar, who had also helped with the morning birding. Everyone went down to the platform feeders in the late afternoon. It was cold and drizzly, and I left before the others did. We had dinner at the finca, and enjoyed watching “typical” dancing and music. Hernan danced a bit. To bed, packed for tomorrow’s departure, at 10 PM. It would have been nice to spend more time at the finca. It’s one of the nicest places.

Day 5, March 14, 2011: towards Volcan: This was a strenuous day of birding. We set out early from Finca Lerida and headed towards Hotel Dos Rios. We stopped at a couple of places, Caldera Road and Querevalo Road, along the way. Our destination was La Amistad International Park. We had a lot of good birds there. It was a long, hard walk, up and down, over rocks and slippery roots and mud.
Night: Hotel Dos Rios

Day 6, March 15, 2011: We packed up and headed for Tapir Canyon Road. This was a very good birding spot. We had lunch at Cielito Sur, a really nice place, and then a short visit to Finca Dracula. We had a brief guided visit to some of the orchids. There weren’t many birds around this time. We drove back to hotel Dos Rios to pick up our baggage and check out. Hernan was a bit upset with himself for not checking out when we left in the morning. We drove in a bit of a hurry to the airport in David to fly back to Panama City. We got there around 5:30, and began the long drive to Hostal Casa de Campo, a weird bed and breakfast. We had dinner at 8:45, served by a surly waitress in a “mammy” outfit, and were watched over by the proprietor. Our room had a bathtub with shower, but there was no shower curtain, and water poured all over the floor. We were finally in bed at 11:00 PM. I didn’t sleep much that night.
Night: Hostal Casa de Campo

Day 7, March 16, 2011: After a pretty good breakfast at Casa de Campo, we took a long hike on an up and down trail at Chagres National Park. We had lunch at Birders View, a local Audubon place. We watched hummingbirds for a while, and then began the long drive to Burbayar Lodge, a very nice place. We had a little thatched-roof cabin to ourselves. We had dinner, did checklists, and turned in early. The generator goes off at 9:30.
Night: Burbayar

Day 8: We had a big breakfast at Burbayar Lodge and then set out on a 2 km muddy hike, up and down some severe hills. We did see some birds, but not enough to justify the long hike, I thought. We had lunch at Burbayar. Hernan asked me to tip El Jefe, Jose. I thought this was the last straw. He owns the place! This seems to be another of the trips where we’re asked to tip someone every time we turn around. Around 2:25, we headed for the Country Inn in Panama City. We got there at 4:30 and then had free time (!) until 6:30 when we were picked up by Justo to go to dinner at a big restaurant on the water. We had drinks (I had a margarita) and dinner. Nice time. We were back at the hotel at 9:30 PM. It was good to be in a regular hotel for a change, we thought. Nice room, nice shower (with two taps!)
Night: Country Inn, Panama City

Day 9, March 18, 2011: We drove to “the mangroves” in the city and saw a bunch of birds, some new, while dodging traffic and breathing in dust and exhaust fumes. They’re tearing everything up to make room for expansion of the city. From there we drove to the Pacific Coast and saw many species of shorebirds. Then to the historical ruins. We had lunch in the cafeteria. Then we transferred to a smaller vehicle to the top of Ancon Hill and walked down, dodging traffic. Eric, one of our bus drivers, picked us up for the first of two farewell dinners (for Connie, Jack and Susan) at a nice restaurant in Second City. He had a heck of a time getting there because many of the roads were blocked off for some kind of festival. There were many detours and police blockades. Hernan had something to say about all that. The dinner was excellent – a great assortment of different kinds of food. Then back to the Country Inn to sort out what would go to the Darien, and what would stay behind.
Night: Country Inn

Day 10, March 19, 2011: Connie, Susan and Jack left early for the airport. The rest of us had breakfast there, and then left for the Embera Village in the Darien. We were transported much of the way in a wooden motor launch. We got a hot lunch on the way. The Embera people live in a traditional style, in thatched-roof huts. We all stayed in tents in our hut, accessible by a primitive ladder, which was tricky to negotiate, especially at night, when there were no lights except for the moon. We shared a toilet and cold-water shower. The Embera women and girls were summoned by conch shell, and sat around in a big circle, some breasts covered, some not. They all displayed handcrafts, mostly baskets. I bought a tiny basket. Others bought a ton of stuff. It was a good day for the crafts people. Most of our people enjoyed this experience. Bob was so frustrated by it (heat, hot tent, primitive toilet) that it upset me, too. I think I would have fared better alone on this one. I took tow Ativan, and had a decent sleep. Bob said he didn’t sleep at all. We were both aggravated that we hadn’t been better prepared for this rustic experience.
Night: Embera village

Day 11, March 20, 2011: We began the long trek to see the Harpy eagle in the early morning. It was a hard slog, 7 km there, 7 km back, with roots and slippery places. We finally saw the bird when it was nearly time to turn around. It’s an awesome creature. We had lunch at the village, and took off by boat to Punta Petino. The lodge is a nice place, but nothing worked in our cabin – AC, lights didn’t work, and the toilet tank wouldn’t fill.  Bob was furious that we weren’t getting our money’s worth. He went ballistic over the electrical problems. It took forever for “Frankling” to get the lights and AC to go on. We thought we were OK until everything went off again. To bed at 9:00 PM
Night: Punta Petino lodge

Day 12, March 21, 2011: I had a decent night’s sleep, thanks to Ativan. Bob said he didn’t sleep at all. No wonder, since he was so agitated. Hernan switched cabins with us. Everything was working in his. We took two long walks, on trails near the lodge. Good scenery, good birds. After dinner we took a pauraque walk, and didn’t see anything, though they had been calling all over the place before and after. We left the walk early. Julia got covered with ticks. To bed at 9:30 PM. Basically it’s a lovely place. Too bad they can’t get the electrical and plumbing problems under control.
Night: Punta Petino Lodge

Day 13, March 22, 2011: We left Punta Petino at 6:30 AM and started the long boat ride back to Gamboa. We stopped once to get out and look at Fort Lorenzo, and another time so Hernan could buy some fish. Then a long bus ride back to Gamboa (after helping Mr. Wong get out from under his bus with flat tire. It was a potentially disastrous situation. He was nearly pinned under the bus and refused help. Thank goodness Hernan and Justo helped anyway. The passengers didn’t seem to realize how dangerous their situation was). We got to Gamboa at 5:00 PM. We met for drinks and dinner and Bert supervised the checklist in the library.
Night: Gamboa

Day 14, March 23, 2011: We met Hernan here at 5:30 for a trip to the Discovery Tower. The birding was pretty much of a bust this time. We had lunch at the Discovery Center, and then walked Pipeline Road. We saw some birds, but nothing new. There was nothing at the pond, either. Back on hotel grounds we had a lot of good birds – Golden-hooded Tanager, Olivaceous Trogons into and out of a termite nest. We had dinner at Hernan’s house, which is pretty much like a museum. We had chorizo, hamburgers, cake, and wine and assorted liquors. A very nice time. We left Hernan a very generous tip, and a few thank-you notes. We were back at Gamboa at 9:30 PM.
Night: Gamboa

Day 15, March 24, 2011: Justo picked us up at 5:30 AM for our 10:05 AM flight. (He had to be awakened by the guy at the desk). Ann and Mac had gone to Tocumen earlier, bound for Miami and their house in Venice, FL.
Bert and Art got picked up by Jim; Barbara, Bob and I were met by Kurt. (Barbara was delayed a bit when a cute beagle sniffed out an apple in her carry-on. She had to go to the horticulture place to be checked out. Thank goodness I thought about my apple before it got to that point). We got home around 4:45 PM. We had dinner at Cisco’s.
Night: Flourtown