Early morning boat ride to Lake Gatun, the main reservoir for the Panama Canal surrounded by lushrainforest. We will be mostly searching for primates: White-faced Capuchin, Mantled Howler,Geoffroy’s Tamarin, plus a variety of water birds.

Early morning flight (45 min with Copa Airlines) from Panama to David, capital of the western provinceof Chiriquí. 1-hr drive to Cerro Punta, in the Chiriquí Highlands, in time for lunch. In the afternoon, visitthe private gardens and feeders that Tamandúa manages for photography and observation ofhummingbirds and other highland birds, with several endemic species of the Talamanca mountain range:

Departure from the hotel after breakfast. Tamandua manages a 103 ha. private reserve in the heart ofthe cloud forest, bordering La Amistad National Park. Several species of mountain hummingbird andforest birds visit the feeders, including several regional endemics. Elusive birds such as Wrenthrush orSilver-fronted Tapaculo can be found very close to our lodge. Resplendent Quetzals often perch withina few meters of the deck (several pairs of Resplendent Quetzal nest inside the Reserve between midFebruary and late April).

Departure after breakfast, to reach a private reserve where Tamandúa has exclusive access. Here we willsearch for species such as Volcano Hummingbird, Scintillant Hummingbird, Slate-throated Redstart,Costarican Pygmy-owl, and other highland birds. A resident population of the extremely elusive Maroon-chested Ground-Dove offers unparalleled watching and photo opportunities. Lunch at Tamandua Cafe.

After breakfast, we will leave our hotel fully packed and depending on weather conditions and the latestreports we will drive to Paraiso, in the Chiriqui Lowlands (1 hr), or Volcán (30 min), where we will searchfor lower altitude species like Orange-collared Manakin, Spot-crowned Euphonia, CharmingHummingbird, Fiery-billed Aracari and many more. We will visit a small family-owned property with astaggering abundance and variety of hummingbirds: Long-billed and Plain-capped Starthroat,Crowned Woodnymph, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Blue-throated Golden-tail and up to 24 hummerspecies are regularly seen at their feeders.

After breakfast, departure to a nearby family-owned guesthouse and estate, with excellent chances forfrog photography: in situ Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychinis callidryas), several Dendropsophus tree frogspecies, Red-webbed Tree Frog (Boana rufitella), and a striking local mainland morph of the StrawberryPoison-Frog (Oophaga pumilio).

We will spend the morning in various areas in Changuinola, looking for different morphs of StrawberryPoison-Frog and Green-and-black Poison-Frog (Dendrobates auratus). After lunch we will start our drivetowards the city of David.