This pre-tour option will showcase some of the premier birding hotspots in Central Panama, all focused just an hour outside of Panama City, providing a complimentary experience to the Panama Chill Mode trip by offering a different array of the “best of” some of the Canal Zone’s well-known pockets of birdlife.
Area description: The iconic Canal Zone of Panama features lush tropical rainforests offering rich, dazzling birdlife, flamboyant butterflies, sloths, and several species of monkeys.
Targets: We’ll walk the trails of the Discovery Center in hopes to find Blue-crowned Manakin, Black-headed Antthrush, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, White-whiskered Puffbird and much more. The covered veranda with buzzing hummingbird feeders brings us up close to White-necked Jacobin, Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Long-billed Hermit and other amazing hummingbirds. After lunch and a siesta during the heat of the day, we head over to Summit Ponds and the Old Gamboa Road to look for American Pygmy Kingfisher, Lesser Kiskadee, Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Collared Forest-Falcon, Gartered Trogon. On day three We’ll move up into the cooler foothills of Cerro Azul and Chagres National Park, one of the best places to look for Yellow-eared Toucanet, and for Sulphur-rumped, Emerald, Speckled and Rufous-winged tanagers, the Black-eared WoodQuail, White-ruffed Manakin and a Panamanian endemic, Stripecheeked Woodpecker. We’ll scan the open vistas for King Vulture and Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle. But more than anything, Cerro Azul is a paradise for hummingbirds. Here we have chances at White-tipped Sicklebill, Violet-capped Hummingbird, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Green Hermit, Purple-crowned Fairy and Rufous-crested Coquette can be found here.
Daily Rundown
Day 1 - March 22: Arrival in Panama & PM Birding
Welcome to Panama! After arriving at Tocumen International Airport you will be transferred to the beautiful Summit Rainforest Resort. After settling in at the hotel, you will meet your guides and enjoy some birding around the hotel grounds in the afternoon.
Day 2 - March 23: Panama Rainforest Discovery Center & Summit Ponds
Overnight at Summit Rainforest Resort.
Day 3 - March 24: Cerro Azul
In the afternoon, we’ll make our way back to Summit Rainforest Resort and have some time before the main tour welcoming the rest of the participants begins at dinner.
PRICE & BOOKING INFO
Tour Price/person*: $1235
Deposit: $1000/person
Single supplement: $205
Final Payment Due: 22 November 2025, or at registration if after
Group size: 5 to 10 guests
*Based on double occupancy at lodgings, with a group size of 5 to 10 registrants. Maximum group size is 10 registrants, plus guide(s) and driver(s). If there are fewer than 5 registrants, this tour may be cancelled or re-negotiated. Note that if you want a roommate we can try to find you one, but we cannot guarantee all guests a roommate. If none is available, you will be charged the single supplement.
The tour price (fee) includes:
All accommodations from Day 1 until Day 3.
All meals from dinner on Day 1 through lunch on Day 3.
All transportation from airport pick-up on Day 1 to airport/hotel drop-off on Day 3.
All guiding services, access permits and entrance fees to birding areas included.
Tips for drivers and staff at hotels and restaurants.
Excluded from your tour fee are:
International arrival and departure flights.
Alcoholic beverages, beyond the 1 drink included with each dinner.
Personal expenses such as laundry services, charges for phone calls, additional expenses associated with travel such as insurance, visa fees, airport taxes, airline baggage fees, COVID tests, vaccinations, etc.
Tips for local guide/escort (recommended $5 to $10/day/person).
Documents
All travelers must have a current passport, valid for six months beyond the start date of this tour, with at least one blank page for visas.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Please review Hillstar Nature’s Terms and Conditions of Booking at the bottom of the Home page on our website. If a guest/participant cancels registration:
● 120 days or more prior to the start of the tour, a refund is issued minus a $500/person processing fee.
● Between 119 and 90 days prior to the start of the tour, half of the tour fee will be returned to the registrant.
● 89 days or less prior to departure, no refund of payments or deposits are issued.
View Hillstar Nature’s Terms & Conditions of Booking