Panama's Ultimate Birding: Pipeline Road Wildlife Expedition

I had a great time with Natalia. She was really good at locating and identifying birds, as well as helping me position myself for the best photos. She even went out of the way to take me to see night monkeys, which were the highlight of the morning. She is a great guide and I would highly recommend her to any birders and/or photographers!

My guide, Natalia, was extremely knowledgeable, with a keen eye to spot the smallest of birds. When a bird is footed, she got her scope setup in a jiffy so that I could get a terrific view. We saw 2 types of monkeys too! There is nothing that could have been better about the experience. Worth every penny.

Natalia was an incredible guide with in-depth knowledge of the birds in the Pipeline Road area. She was a great spotter of even the tiniest bird sitting on a branch way up in the canopy. She was quick to point out the bird so to enable me to see it before it flew off.

Our driver was very respectful and prompt. We saw many unique birds. The hummingbird experience was awesome!! I saw at least 5 different species and watched them in their native habitat. Able to take pictures of a lifetime. There was a small language barrier with our guide "Natalia " but she knows her birds and their calls and habits beyond belief! Would recommend this tour! If I come back to Panama I would do it again!!

As a solo female traveler I loved having Natalia as a guide. She knew all the bird songs and how to mimic them and found so many cool birds. I would never have been able to find them on my own. Other people birding the pipeline were even asking me how I found her for a guide. This was a fabulous experience and I added so many lifers to the list!

Our guide Luis was excellent. We had many sightings and he managed the trip perfectly. He was great with call recognition as well as identification. We highly recommend him as your guide.

Very poor waste of more than 200USD for two of us. Yes, we were quite late in booking our trip because we only knew we were going a few weeks before and it is peak season but our guide Rafael was hopeless. We had to pay up-front without knowing the guide’s name and he had no binoculars which is a complete joke in rainforest. He could therefore find very little (just a few big things) and spent most of his time looking at his phone; yes, he was trying to use Merlin to tell him what the calls were sometimes (!), but he had no playback, weak skills, obviously no scope and was not engaging or putting in much effort. Very much a part-time guide for the very amateur birder but no use for us. We found most of what we saw and, while occasionally he could ID something correctly, he would sometimes try to question our ID when it was right. First bird of the day, lineated woodpecker, he thought was a ringed kingfisher. It is tricky without binoculars! Camera cannot work the same way. Little apology, no compensation; we cancelled our other day. Find out who your guide is in advance and if you are a serious birder, beware! We had a brilliant guide the other days (Mario Ocana) who is freelance; he found and knew loads and it was magic. This day spoilt our trip a bit.

Luis Paz was an excellent guide, he knew all the birds and was able to call some in I wanted to see. I would recommend this tour anytime, 82 different species in 4 hours birding

I was able to see many birds from the lobby of the hotel. I did not need to pay for any tour’s to enjoy nature. One just needs to know what time and where to look. Ask the hotel employees. They will let you know all that you need to know to have a good time.

Wow what a fantastic trip! Collected early from outside where we were staying - this was not on the listed hotels but en-route so we were very happy they agreed to collect us so we didn't have to Uber to another listed location. Javier was our driver and drove us safely for the trip. Some of the roads are challenging! The vehicle was really comfortable too! Natalia was our guide - she spoke excellent English and had a great knowledge of the birds and wildlife. She spotted so many birds and wildlife you wouldn't otherwise see! She bought along a scope and helped us take photos though it so we have some amazing photos to remember the day. It's definitely worth paying the extra cost for the tower in the Panama Rainforest Discovery Centre. This was actually a fairly easy climb despite how high it is and is so worth it. We saw toucans (multiple times), parrots and many other birds and butterflies. It was brilliant! We walked the trail and saw poison dart frogs, frogs, leaf cutter ants marching - and their huge cities - agouti mum and babies, sleeping sloth, coati and so many birds! We took a bird guide from home and saw lots that weren't on this - if you bring one, get the most detailed you can carry! We saw kiskadee, trigon, Turkey vulture, flycatcher, antsthrike, 2 kinds of toucan, 2 kinds of parrot, cinnamon woodpecker, scaled pigeon, puffbird and more! The hummingbirds were incredible to watch - there were 4 kinds we watched. The place you watch the hummingbirds had good coffee (included in the tour) and clean bathrooms. Bring plenty of water as it's so humid! Wear appropriate clothes and insect spray as the insects are very busy when you walk to the lake. We weren't rushed at all - there were only 3 of us and we had lots of time to watch, take photos and walk slowly. It was a brilliant trip which I would love to do again when we come back to Panama