Page 283 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Parque NacioNal DariéN The Darién anD easTern Panama 281
WILDLIFE IN PARQUE NACIONAL DARIÉN
The biodiversity in Parque Nacional Darién is staggering even as it is shrinking. More than
450 bird species have been recorded, including an array of vibrantly coloured macaws and
parrots and strange-named rarities such as the beautiful treerunner, scale-crested pygmy
tyrant and chuck-will’s-widow. Mammal species top 168, with numerous endemics and
endangered animals lurking in the lush vegetation; the park offers the best chance, albeit
slender, of glimpsing any of the big-five cats (see p.306), or a Baird’s tapir – though spotting
their footprints in the early morning mud is more likely – and even the occasional spectacled
bear has been sighted. Yet the arboreal richness of the rainforest in the Darién demands just
as much attention, with tracts of primary and secondary growth and a towering canopy of
barrigón, spiny cedar and graceful platypodium. a visit in March or april is rewarded with the
golden crown of the guayacán, heralding the start of the rains, and the russet bloom of the
silvery cuipo trees looking down on the already lofty forest canopy, favourite nesting site of
the world’s largest concentration of harpy eagles (see box, p.285). Most of this can only truly
be appreciated from the air, or from breaks in the tree line when ascending the region’s peaks.
on the forest floor, the scene is very different: dark and dank, and dominated by gnarled tree
trunks entwined with vines or studded with vicious spines, vast buttress roots, dangling lianas,
ferns and rotting leaf litter.
The park was declared a uNeSco World Heritage Site in 1981 and a Biosphere reserve in
1983, but the protection it is offered in practice is worth little more than the paper it’s written
on, as illegal hunting, logging, extraction of rare plants and animals, and slash-and-burn
agriculture continue unchecked. ironically, the long list of undesirables that have taken refuge
in the rainforest – Farc guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug traffickers, smugglers and
bandits – have acted as unwitting conservationists by frightening off most settlers and major 8
developments, though the fighting over the border in colombia has also resulted in an influx
of refugees, who themselves are clearing land to cultivate.

essenTiaLs ParQUe naCiOnaL Darién
Fees The daily park entry ($5) and accommodation fees one to three people) though they may try to encourage
(bunk in the refuge $15; camping $6), should be paid into you to go with one of the very expensive, independent
the MiAmbiente bank account in advance (see box, p.42) local guides ($50/day/person plus costs) – if you don’t
– there’s a branch of the national bank, with an ATM, in want to do this, insist politely. MIA-recommended local
Metetí (see p.279). guides might include Isaac Pizarro (T6242 5220,
Guides To enter the park and/or stay at the refuge at Eipizarro.3003@hotmail.com), who speaks English, and
Rancho Frío – currently the only accommodation in the Luis Pacheco (T6704 1486). Make sure you have the
park – you need to hire a guide. You can arrange for a necessary supplies (see box, p.283) – best acquired in
warden (guardaparque) to guide you (US$15–20/day for Yaviza – including food for the guide.

El Real
The deceptively fast-flowing waters of the Río Chucunaque snake down 6km from
Yaviza through variegated walls of water chestnuts, banana plantations, expansive trees
and pastureland to the low-key grassy bank “jetty” of EL REAL on the Río Tuira, the
jumping-off point for the MiAmbiente refuge at Rancho Frío. From the jetty, it’s a
sweltering fifteen-minute walk into the town proper – a one-time fortified colonial
settlement, now a pleasant if somnolent collection of houses constructed from various
combinations of wood, zinc and concrete, and a couple of churches, interwoven with a
network of cement pathways.
arriVaL anD DeParTUre eL reaL
By boat Piraguas regularly make the 45min journey from piragua colectivo rates are generally $10.
Yaviza to El Real, unless delayed by a major downpour;

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