Page 101 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

The road To Gamboa The Panama Canal and CenTral isThmus 99
WILDLIFE IN PARQUE NACIONAL SOBERANÍA
With 525 recorded bird species, 105 mammals, 79 reptiles and 55 amphibians, Parque Nacional
Soberanía offers good opportunities for wildlife-spotting. White-tailed deer, agoutis, coatis,
pacas, howler monkeys and Geoffroy’s tamarins are fairly commonplace, but you’ll need a
good guide to locate the rarer, more elusive nocturnal kinkajous or silky anteaters. Following
an extensive breeding programme, a number of harpy eagles have been released into the
park in recent years, so there is even a (slim) chance of catching sight of these endangered
birds (see box, p.285). other birds to look out for include crested eagles, red-lored amazons, 2
great jacamars and trogons – the park’s symbol.

square kilometres. It encompasses a stretch of the majestic Río Chagres, the Canal’s
lifeblood, which you can explore by boat; there are also several well-maintained trails
either side of Gamboa, including a stretch of the historic Camino de Cruces and a
world-renowned birding hot spot, the Camino del Oleoducto. The trails are not
particularly close to each other or the park office, however, arguably making the area
best enjoyed with a car, parking at the various trailheads or – especially if you want to
walk the Camino de Cruces, which you are advised to do with a guide – on a tour.
Several Panama City operators offer trips to the caminos de Cruces and Oleoducto, or
you can hire a ranger from the park office as a guide – a much cheaper option, though
they are unlikely to speak English.
The trails
Although most of Soberanía’s trails are easy and safe enough to walk on your own,
you’re strongly advised to hike the Camino de Cruces on a tour or with a guide. The
trail is overgrown and difficult to follow in places – and the occasional robbery has
been known at the eastern end (though with police now patrolling the area there has
not been an incident since 2015). Independent travellers can pick up a map and pay
the park fees at the office or at the entry barrier to the Camino del Oleoducto, if there
is someone there when you arrive.

Camino del Oleoducto
By far the most tramped trail in Soberanía is the unpromising-sounding Camino del
Oleoducto (Pipeline Road), so named because it was originally built to service an oil
pipeline constructed across the isthmus by the US in World War II. The pipeline was
never used but the 17.5km dirt-road service track, which lies 1km beyond Gamboa,
draws birding enthusiasts from around the world. Though it’s visually unremarkable –
this is no wilderness trail – the likely wildlife sightings more than compensate. Even if
you can’t tell a white-whiskered puffbird from a band-tailed barbthroat, you cannot fail
to be impressed by the array of brightly coloured birds; you’ll see a great deal more if
you go with a good guide (see p.38 & p.76).

Camino de Cruces and Sendero de la Plantación
A 10km section of the isthmus-crossing Camino de Cruces traverses the park’s dense
vegetation from the borders of Parque Nacional Camino de Cruces (see opposite). The
trail begins 6km up the road that forks right at the park office, ending up at the shores
of the Río Chagres, site of the barely distinguishable remains of the Ruinas de Venta de
Cruces, which served as a resting post for weary, booty-laden mules and conquistadors.
You don’t have to venture that far to get a flavour of the history – after a ten-minute
hike your guide should be able to point out a restored section of the original sixteenth-
century paving stones.
If you decide to walk the whole trail – preferably with a guide (see above) – you can
avoid returning along the same route (in an exhausting eight-hour trek) by hopping
across the Chagres to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort (see p.101) and reviving yourself

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