A day in the Tropical Rainforest

By Raffaele Capomolla

Yesterday the EcoCircuitos team had the great pleasure to offer a morning rainforest tour to a group of travelers from Australia.  This group has been exploring different sights of Panama and yesterday  they have a wonderful day in the Rainforest.  We want to share with you some of the pictures of this trip.   Our guests enjoyed a delicious lunch with a stunning view over the rainforest and having some very beautiful Hummingbirds to bear company.

Our guests enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Rainforest Discovery Center, an environmental facility that focus on birds habitats.  They learn about the efforts in Panama to support conservation throughout the tourism industry.   The place offers stunning views over the rainforest and having some very beautiful Hummingbirds to bear company and to practice Photography.

Our naturalist guide Kenny Weeks was explaining the group about how Panama is the Isthmus that changes the world by becoming a bridge between continents and offering different interpretations of the tropical rainforest.

As  Tony Coates  mention in an interview “All the animals of South America would be unique marsupials, like in Australia, very different to today because they would never have been invaded and overtaken by all the species that colonized from North America. The Caribbean and the East Pacific would be one ocean with similar species; today they are very different with corals reefs abundant in the Caribbean but without large supplies of commercial fish, whereas the Pacific has few small coral reefs and large important commercial fisheries. Humans from Asia might not have reached South America via the Bering Land Bridge from the north so different kinds of humans might have arrived, say, from Polynesia. Columbus might have sailed on to Asia! The Ice Age would have been different and Europe’s ports might freeze every winter like the Saint Laurence seaway does. El Niño and climates in other parts of the world might have been different in ways that we still do not fully understand.”

After lunch the group went for a nice hike through the trails surrounding the Rainforest Discovery Center at the core of the Soberania National park, more precisely the Pipeline Road called ‘Camino del oleoducto’, and went up to the top of the tower which has an incredible view over the tree tops. With a little bit of luck, you can see Monkeys, Sloths and beautiful birds in this amazing National Park.

For more information on this tour and others please click here

Keep your eyes open, butterflies are everywhere!

This butterfly house is a site dedicated to the study, the reproduction and the public exhibition of butterflies, directed by Panamanian biologists and entrepreneurs.

Mariposario Cerro Lavieja only reproduces native local species of the Coclé province and breed them with the help of biologists.

In this huge area of 1200 square meters, besides the flying butterflies, caterpillars or pupae, you will also find a little butterfly exhibition area and some souvenirs to buy and to offer to your loved ones.

(Just to know: A percentage of souvenirs sales go to a Butterfly Conservation Program to help in the protection of butterflies and their ecosystems.)

Located only 30 minutes far away from Penonomé, immersed in a fresh mountains climate for the growth of these fascinating insects’ growth, the Mariposario Cerro Lavieja is the bigger butterfly house of Panama, with approximatively 40 different species.

You will have the chance to see between 500 to 800 butterflies flying, depending on the season.

If you are lucky, you will meet the majestic, famous and amazing Blue Morpho!

For only $5.00 per person and one-hour tour (maximum of 30 people divided in two groups of 15), you will begin your visit by a short introduction to the butterfly life.

You will then entry the Butterfly House area surrounded by luxurious tropical vegetation with giant ferns and colorful heliconia flowers.

In the 8 stops through the Butterfly House, the guide will talk to you about the location, the altitude and rain precipitation of the area. The tour will continue by showing you how butterflies feed, lay their eggs, and reproduce each other.

You will have the unique opportunity to touch butterflies and their caterpillars and feel the butterflies flying or posing on your hands, heads or shoulders!

Don’t forget to bring your camera because you are gonna have so many occasions to take wonderful pictures of orchids, other flowers and butterflies lying on flowers and leaves!

During this visit, you will learn and discover butterflies’ life history and diversity in Panama. Before leaving you will take a look inside the “lab” to see eggs, and touch some big Owl Butterfly caterpillars and pupae, and possibly release new born butterflies into the butterfly house (daily in the morning).

Do not miss this unique and emotional experience!

Contact us at info@ecocircuitos.com