flycatcher06

Hi there, Looking to go to Panama - We are thinking of spending 1 week at Royal Decameron and then 5 nights at Gamboa - When we leave Royal Decameron we would like to spend 2 nights in a different area - any ideas? Is David too far? Is it safe - we are a family of 4. We have driven through Costa Rica 3 times and from the sounds of things looks like the roads are slightly better in Panama? A few more questions - are there as many monkeys in Panama and does anyone know how to contact the Royal Decameron directly? thanks!!!!

wapanda10

Try Azuero to find more folclore and panamenian culture. is a cheap too. and they have monkeys spot.(2 hours from Farallon)

Coiba is you option if you are looking for a hidden natural paradise island, great for dive, snorkel and deep fishing. could be expensive but worth it. The island has monkeys too. (5 hours distance)

David is very hot, but Boquete and Volcan is other thing, great for hiking , white water rafting and canopy zip line. no monkeys there.
and the price is the middle between Azuero and Coiba. (almost 5 hours distance from Farallon)

Soberania Park in PC has monkeys both trail and island.

Good lucks,

JoniC

We went to Panama earlier this year and just loved it. Most of the time we could have sworn we were in the US except for all the monkeys, parrots, toucans, etc! Gamboa is a great place and is a good jumping point for a variety of activities. The hotel has a tour to "monkey island" and also Ancon has one that goes to several islands in Gatun Lake including one that has several types of monkeys on it. Don't worry! You will see lots of monkeys if you spend any time in the rainforest.

Roads are excellent there; much better than Costa Rica, in my opinion.

There is not much to do in David but I agree Boquete and Volcan are interesting to explore and worth going to, especially if you are a birder (I am guessing by your screen name but maybe I am wrong). We got to see the Resplendent Quetzal and it was worth the time going to that side of Panama just to see it. It took my breath away. What a beauty! And this area is spectacular, and much cooler than the rest of Panama.

Joni

flycatcher06

Hi there, thank you for your resposnes. Do you think 7 days is too long to spend at Gamboa? Yes I am a birdwatcher and a monkey lover!!! Actually all animal lover - if you stayed at Gamboa can you please let me know if you think there is plenty of stuff to do! thanks, Debbie

JoniC

We stayed at Gamboa for 5 days and that seemed about right, mainly because the menus is not too varied and you might be pushing it with the food choices if you stay longer than that. But if that is not an issue for you, then 7 days is fine.

Well, a fellow birder. I have a few suggestions! Definitely do not miss Pipeline Road and the Ammo Dump. Extremely productive. We hired a great birder through Ancon as a private guide and he really knew his stuff. He had me running around so fast and for so long I finally had to quit because my foot was getting sprained; he was so disappointed he had to stop the tour early!

There was a great trail by the Police Academy in the same area that was quite productive as it also had a pond next to it. The grounds of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort are very good as well; you could spend a few days just doing that.

We also went to the Canopy Tower but were not too impressed. We went out with a guide who was not very good and we actually did not see very many birds. That day was our worst for number of species seen. And after seeing the accommodations we were so glad we stayed at Gamboa instead.

All of this of course needs to be done in the coolness of the early morning. We did our birding and animal watching from around 6 am to about noon and then quit for the day and lounged by the pool.

Note that the hotel doesn't have the greatest birders although they are pretty good with the animals and plants. If you need help identifying birds I'd recommend hiring a private guide through Ancon instead though. They were really excellent.

You will love Panama!

Joni

JeanH

We spent two weeks in Panama this past Janaury. Awesome country. We don't care for resorts, so stayed in smaller places. We also focused more on the Caribbean coast, spent a couple days in the San Blas Islands. Loved every minute of it. Beautiful place. Also spent several days on Bocas del Toro. Very interesting group of islands, but it rained every single day we were there. We spent a couple days in Panama City, quite nice for a city, I was pleasantly surprised. And cheap too. We also stayed two nights at Canopy Tower. We aren't serious birders, but thought it looked like an interestng place. It was, we had a grand time. Even saw a jagaurundi while hiking the pipeline trail. We spent our last night at Gamboa. Like I said, we aren't resort people, I wouldn't be happy there for any length of time. It felt like I was at a Marriott or something. When I'm out of the states, I want it to be pretty obvious that 'I'm not in Kansas any more'. (I'm really from Iowa.)

Jean

flycatcher06

Hi there, Can you tell me how to reach Ancon? Also how did you get to Bocas del Toro and San Blas Islands? Did you fly? Howq were the planes? Thanks for all the advice!

JeanH

Yes, we flew from Panama City to San Blas and Bocas del Toro, both on Aero Perlas. We've flown on a lot of small planes in Central America, these seemed fine. In fact, the flight from Belize City to Bocas actually had a flight attendant.

Send me an e-mail and I'll send you the link to our pictures from Panama. The airports in San Blas are interesting to say the least.....
[email protected]

Suzie2

we had a great time birding in boquete and the surrounding area this past feb. coffee estates Inn is a darling place. fresh oranges every day and a juicer. they grow and roast their own coffee in limited quantities and keep a supply of it in your little kitchen. The Panamonte in town is also a really nice place. We ate dinner there twice and were very impressed. Don't know if this area would have enough to keep younger travelers occupied.

we also stayed in a cabin in La amistad. It is an amazing untouched rainforest. We never did see or hear monkeys in either place but saw some terrific birds.

we drove to david one morning and turned right around and left when we got there. It is horribly hot. the roads are in much better shape than costa rica but there are fewer of them from what we saw.

We are thinking about heading way south into the Darien area with the ancon people next time we go that way.

glover

Hey, Suzie , Glover here. Know you're a big Costa Rica fan, as are we. Think we have similar interests as well. We've been to CR twice now and especially enjoyed spots good for birds/animals (ie in our case OSA and Savegre = though we still have much to explore. Next trip up we're thinking Panama - what have you liked so far?

mmd

Hi,

You will love Panama. We were in Costa Rica 10 years ago but three years ago we were fortunate enough to go to Panama. We will be returning again in October. We travelled with our two children who were ages 2 and 5 at the time. We stayed at Gamboa over Thanksgiving for 4 nights which was enough time.

Don't miss the monkey island tour at Gamboa and the night tour was so much fun...it sounded like a nature tape!

Also, nearby is the Summit Gardens with the Harpy eagles. You will see monkeys in cages here. Also, we laughed that you could tell how valuable the animals were by how many locks were on the cages. The monkeys had one, the eagles had three, and the crocodiles did not have any locks!!!

We absolutely loved the Embera Indian adventure. You take a 45 minute motorized canoe ride through the jungle to their village, have lunch, a show, and the people were so hospitable. We had fresh fish and fresh sugar cane as treats for the kids.

We went to El Valle and I highly recommend Nispero Gardens (we got so close to the monkeys that one grabbed my camera!) The famous golden frogs are here but don't touch...highly poisionus. Go on a Sunday and tag the trip onto the Sunday market. If you can, stop along the beach (We had dinner at the Bay Hotel) and see the sunset over the black beach.

We never drove...I used Margo tours. We had three different guides which were all great and highly accomodating to our specialized needs with the kids.
You can email them at [email protected]

Have a terrific trip!

JoniC

Check out www.anconexpeditions.com. (No I do not work for them or have any affiliation; they were just great in arranging things for us!)

Regarding Costa Rica vs. Panama, as I have been to both, I really liked Costa Rica quite a lot but liked Panama even more. I think what especially surprised me about Panama was how great the infrastructure of the country was. It make it so easy to get around on the good paved roads. Unlike Costa Rica where they were all made of dirt with huge potholes and rocks. If you liked Costa Rica you will like Panama too, especially if you are into nature, birds, animals, etc.

Joni

flycatcher06

Ok so after looking around Punta Caracol has always attracted my attention but i do not like having to wire money to a bank account so that is pretty much out - anyone stayed at Punta Galeon in Contadora - this looks interesting! It looks like we would have to drive to Panama City to fly over
I cannot find a route from Royal Decameron to Contadora? Anyone that can help!

LanSluder

I just got back from Panama -- I've posted a trip report elsewhere here.

I loved it, especially the highlands of Chiriqui -- Boquete, Cerro Punta and environs.

Panama is far less touristed than Costa Rica, and much cheaper, though, honestly, I suspect most first-time visitors to the region would prefer Costa Rica or Belize, as both have more tourism infrastructure, more to do and see in an accessible package. But I loved it.

--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com

JoniC

We had checked out Punta Caracol too but decided not to stay there for a variety of reasons. Still, we wanted to end our trip in a relaxing, luxurious beach setting.

We chose Hacienda del Mar on San Jose Island.(See http://www.haciendadelmar.net/ ) The hotel is incredible, the setting just beautiful, and the staff are eager to please. The only negative was that 2 days before we left the States, my travel agent called to tell me that the entire hotel had been booked by nudists for several days of our stay and that we were the only people who would not be in their group.

We still went ahead anyway, chalking it up to "a new experience" but in the end, it was so embarrasing that we left early. Plus we were quite disappointed that the hotel did not tell us this earlier. Obviously they knew about the group and we had made our reservations many months earlier. However, when we told them how uncomfortable we were with it, they bent over backwards to keep us seperated and even chartered a plane at no cost to take us back to Panama City early. In the end, we were glad we went to this hotel as it was the most incredible place. Just paradise! Next time we'll just be sure we aren't sharing it with a group of nudists!

Oh, one other thing you should know is San Jose Island was a mustard gas practicing range many years ago, but we never saw any shells and the hotel staff said the whole thing was overblown, and that it is likely that at this point the shells are no longer active anyway.

Joni

AndrewW

Well I got blocked for some reason for one of my replies... not sure why...
Try again...
What I think I said was my two favorite trips to do in Panama for nature lovers are Barro Colorado - the Smithsonian Tropical Institue Research Station - it's and island in the middle of Gatun Lake which is the middle of the Panama Canal. You are guided by a naturalist ranger and the island is full of life.
The other trip is to the Embera Drua village up the Chagres River where you can visit a real living ancient culture not a mockup... Also you will be able to walk the jungle trails with a medicine man learning how they use the plants, see their dances and their incredible handicrafts.
As a disclaimer I am not involved with the selling of either trip, I just think they are the best for anyone who loves nature and culture.
I think everyone else has already answered your other questions but you can always contact me...

cheers
Andrew

JoniC

I agree with Andrew's post about the Smithsonian Tropical Institute Research Station, especially if you are into learning about nature and research. Do book way ahead for this, however, as they only let a few people on the island at a time. I enjoyed it immensely although, being a bird watcher, I was disappointed that the trip to the island left so late and by the time we got there, most of the birds were asleep. Still, it was an interesting day trip.

Joni

tmt

The Gamboa has "free" things to do during the day. Sometimes they don't list the early am kayaking tour, so don't forget to ask about that. I did it twice while we were there and loved it. I also did the 1/2 day tour to the Embera Indians. Its not as far up river as the full day tour, but worked out well for our schedule. You need 4 people to do it with, so we just asked around to folks that were waiting to speak to the tour desk.

If you go to the DeCameron, make sure that you make your dinner reservations early in the day. Some of the staff don't know much about the hotel. We were told that a certain restaurant was air conditioned and it wasn't. Only one restaurant is air conditioned.

We had a room on the golf course, but when we go again, we will want a room on the level with the pools and beach....although the rooms on the golf course seem much larger.

Have fun...we always do.