Day 4- Part 2: Summit Botanical Gardens and Wildlife Sanctuary and Aerial Tram

After a morning of birding and walking the rainforest trails, we stopped for lunch alongside a lake.

After lunch we headed to the Summit Botanical Gardens and Animal Rescue Center. The Gardens were originally created by the Panama Canal Company in the early 1900's to study tropical plants. Operations were taken over by the Panamanian government, and today the gardens house over 350 species of plants. The zoo at Summit Gardens is actually a wildlife rescue center. It includes tapirs, anteaters, monkeys, jaguars, and native birds. There is a large and impressive harpy eagle compound. The harpy eagle is the most powerful bird of prey in the world, and is the national bird of Panama. We had a presentation on the harpy eagle, and also on sloths and crested eagles. Another opportunity to get up close to a sloth that was being rehabilitated and soon to be released back into the wild.

                                                                               The Harpy Eagle

More Sloth Love!

After the Summit Gardens, we took the Gamboa Rainforest Aerial Tram to get a different perspective on the rainforest. Sitting in the seats of our Swiss-engineered aerial tram car, we glided up the mountain to be eye-to-eye with the forest canopy, the birds, and animals of the rainforest. At the top, we climbed a 30-meter observation tower for a 360 degree view of the National Forest. We glided by sloths and howler monkeys, and then descended through the forest, gliding 100 meters above the shadowy floor. It felt like we were sailing through the treetops.

                                                                   Aerial tram up into the canopy

View from the tower

                                                                  Climbing up the tower

              Howler monkey

Sloth