The Amazing Biodiversity of Panama
Tour dates, 14 days/13 nights:
November 9-22, 2025
Other dates on request
Guides:
Øyvind Martinsen + local resources, and a biologist at Garduk Lodge.
Maximum 4 participants
Prepare yourself for a great adventure with a lot of photo opportunities!
On this tour we will explore the unique and amazingly diverse nature of Panama!
We will photograph in rainforests, cloudforest, mountains, by beautiful waterfalls, in lush wetlands, in a desert, and from a boat on lakes and rivers! Participants on this tour normally come home with between 5000 and 20000 photographs, and many new nature experiences.
WILDLIFE
Some of the wildlife we normally see are white-throated capuchin, howler monkey, geoffroys tamarin, spider monkeys, western nightmonkey, collared peccary, two-toed- and three-toed sloths, jaguarundi, coyote, turtles, iguanas, white-nosed coati, northern tamadua ant-eater, capybara, cayman, jesus christ lizard, and huge species of american crocodile. Panama has 1012 different bird species and among them are are for example osprey, snail kite, ducks, cormorant, jacana, trogons, hummingbirds, collared aracari, blue cotinga, king vulture, mot mot, purple gallinule, beautiful egrets, various kingfishers, kiskadees, tanagers, parrots, and colourful toucans to mention a few. The harpy eagle, the national bird of Panama, has been observed in Soberania national park.
MACRO AND NATURE AS ART
For the macro photographer there are lots of opportunities as we encounter butterflies, frogs, lizards, leaf-cutter ants, and beautiful flowers. You can also expand your creative visions and interpret the tropical nature as art.
LANDSCAPES
You will also be given many photo opportunities for landscape photography on this tour. Very often we go out at before sunrise, and at sunset to catch the magic light in the various landscapes of Panama. The tropical sceneries are diverse and you can take landscape photographs of rainforests, cloudforests, waterfalls, wetlands, desert, mountains, coasts, lakes and rivers.
LODGING
On this tour we will stay in lodges, cabins, and small hotels surrounded by beautiful nature.
TOUR PROGRAM
DAY 1-5
The Gamboa lodge will be our base for the first days of the trip, and it is at the border of Soberania National Park. Around the lodge we normally observe a lot of wildlife like agouti, monkeys, and sometimes three-toed sloths. Just 50 mts around the lodge we have detected over 135 species of birds.
Two days are set aside for boat safari on the Chagres River and inside the side-arms of Gatun Lake. Photographing from a boat is a smart way to approach wildlife, and we see different wildlife from the boat than we do when we are walking in the rainforest. We will also explore the rainforests from the inside on this tour. Rainforests reveal their secrets slowly, and that makes it more interesting photographically. We will also photograph from a tower above the rainforest canopy. That will give you photographic opportunities for spectacular landscape photographs, birds in the treetops and in flight, and sometimes the howler monkeys are moving around in the rainforest below us. Lower down in the rainforest we will also photograph different hummingbirds. One morning we will also go up in the mountains for a landscape photography session at sunrise.
DAY 5-8
On this section of the tour we have our base at Garduk Lodge in the Nargana wilderness. Here we will experience fresher and cooler climate than in the lower parts of Panama. It's an amazing place with awesome nature, and the lodge is owned and driven by a guna indian family. The lodge it is on the top of a hill and we can take spectacular landscape photographs at sunrise and sunset. From the base we will take small hikes every day in the rainforest to explore and photograph the unique biodiversity. We will also take a walk to a beautiful waterfall inside the rainforest. Around the lodge you can photograph beautiful flowers, butterflies, and birds. In the evening we will take a short walk down to a creek to photograph different frog species. A biologist will join us on this leg of the tour, and he has vast knowledge of the Panama nature.
DAY 8-12
During these days of the tour you will experience the beautiful and diverse nature of the two provinces, Cocle and Herrera. We will visit fresh cloudforests with amazing waterfalls (bring your swimming suit if you want to take a swim in the lagoons).
We will also explore lowland areas with lakes, wetlands, desert, forests and rivers. In one of the rivers we often see the neotropical river otter, and we normally see caymans and american crocodiles too. The desert has interesting formations for landscape photography, and it also has different wildlife at the edge of the desert, and in a lagoon. Sometimes we see flocks of yellow-crowned parrots there, and in the lagoon there are different species of egrets and herons, and often we see the roseate spoonbill and wood stork. In the Cocle province we have had sightings of the jaguarundi, which is one of the cat species in the Panama nature. Lodging will be in two different hotels in the Cocle and Herrera province.
DAY 12-14
On day 12 we return to Soberania national park, and we will do more explorations and photography work in the lush rainforests. We will photograph from a boat on the rivers and lakes, and we will also take short walks inside the rainforest and along lakes and rivers. On this last section of the tour we will stay at a lodge at the border of Soberania national park.
On the last day of the tour we will drive you to the airport, or to your preferred hotel in Panama City.
Price: 5950 USD pr. participant (on tours with only one participant add 50% to the price)
Payment terms: The fee must be paid 6 weeks before the tour. If you cancel your participation in the tour later than 2 weeks before the tour, only 70% of the total amount will be refunded.
Included:
Accommodations, transportation by car and boat, food, drinks, snacks, and refreshments (3 meals a day), national park fees, and guiding. We can also help with photographic instructions. (If needed).
Not included:
International air travel.
Participants must have their own travel insurance.
Sign up by sending an e-mail to: tours@panamaphotoexplorations.com
Practical info
On day 1 we pick you up at you preferred hotel in Panama City, we recommend the www.albrookinn.com
We recommend you arrive one day ahead of the trip.
The hotel is a 20 minutes taxi drive from the airport, and you normally pay around 25$ for the taxi.
In the afternoon on the last day of the tour, we say goodbye and drop you off at your preferred hotel in Panama City.
Welcome to Panama!
Best regards
Øyvind Martinsen
PS!
See photos and videos below.
November 9-22, 2025
Other dates on request
Guides:
Øyvind Martinsen + local resources, and a biologist at Garduk Lodge.
Maximum 4 participants
Prepare yourself for a great adventure with a lot of photo opportunities!
On this tour we will explore the unique and amazingly diverse nature of Panama!
We will photograph in rainforests, cloudforest, mountains, by beautiful waterfalls, in lush wetlands, in a desert, and from a boat on lakes and rivers! Participants on this tour normally come home with between 5000 and 20000 photographs, and many new nature experiences.
WILDLIFE
Some of the wildlife we normally see are white-throated capuchin, howler monkey, geoffroys tamarin, spider monkeys, western nightmonkey, collared peccary, two-toed- and three-toed sloths, jaguarundi, coyote, turtles, iguanas, white-nosed coati, northern tamadua ant-eater, capybara, cayman, jesus christ lizard, and huge species of american crocodile. Panama has 1012 different bird species and among them are are for example osprey, snail kite, ducks, cormorant, jacana, trogons, hummingbirds, collared aracari, blue cotinga, king vulture, mot mot, purple gallinule, beautiful egrets, various kingfishers, kiskadees, tanagers, parrots, and colourful toucans to mention a few. The harpy eagle, the national bird of Panama, has been observed in Soberania national park.
MACRO AND NATURE AS ART
For the macro photographer there are lots of opportunities as we encounter butterflies, frogs, lizards, leaf-cutter ants, and beautiful flowers. You can also expand your creative visions and interpret the tropical nature as art.
LANDSCAPES
You will also be given many photo opportunities for landscape photography on this tour. Very often we go out at before sunrise, and at sunset to catch the magic light in the various landscapes of Panama. The tropical sceneries are diverse and you can take landscape photographs of rainforests, cloudforests, waterfalls, wetlands, desert, mountains, coasts, lakes and rivers.
LODGING
On this tour we will stay in lodges, cabins, and small hotels surrounded by beautiful nature.
TOUR PROGRAM
DAY 1-5
The Gamboa lodge will be our base for the first days of the trip, and it is at the border of Soberania National Park. Around the lodge we normally observe a lot of wildlife like agouti, monkeys, and sometimes three-toed sloths. Just 50 mts around the lodge we have detected over 135 species of birds.
Two days are set aside for boat safari on the Chagres River and inside the side-arms of Gatun Lake. Photographing from a boat is a smart way to approach wildlife, and we see different wildlife from the boat than we do when we are walking in the rainforest. We will also explore the rainforests from the inside on this tour. Rainforests reveal their secrets slowly, and that makes it more interesting photographically. We will also photograph from a tower above the rainforest canopy. That will give you photographic opportunities for spectacular landscape photographs, birds in the treetops and in flight, and sometimes the howler monkeys are moving around in the rainforest below us. Lower down in the rainforest we will also photograph different hummingbirds. One morning we will also go up in the mountains for a landscape photography session at sunrise.
DAY 5-8
On this section of the tour we have our base at Garduk Lodge in the Nargana wilderness. Here we will experience fresher and cooler climate than in the lower parts of Panama. It's an amazing place with awesome nature, and the lodge is owned and driven by a guna indian family. The lodge it is on the top of a hill and we can take spectacular landscape photographs at sunrise and sunset. From the base we will take small hikes every day in the rainforest to explore and photograph the unique biodiversity. We will also take a walk to a beautiful waterfall inside the rainforest. Around the lodge you can photograph beautiful flowers, butterflies, and birds. In the evening we will take a short walk down to a creek to photograph different frog species. A biologist will join us on this leg of the tour, and he has vast knowledge of the Panama nature.
DAY 8-12
During these days of the tour you will experience the beautiful and diverse nature of the two provinces, Cocle and Herrera. We will visit fresh cloudforests with amazing waterfalls (bring your swimming suit if you want to take a swim in the lagoons).
We will also explore lowland areas with lakes, wetlands, desert, forests and rivers. In one of the rivers we often see the neotropical river otter, and we normally see caymans and american crocodiles too. The desert has interesting formations for landscape photography, and it also has different wildlife at the edge of the desert, and in a lagoon. Sometimes we see flocks of yellow-crowned parrots there, and in the lagoon there are different species of egrets and herons, and often we see the roseate spoonbill and wood stork. In the Cocle province we have had sightings of the jaguarundi, which is one of the cat species in the Panama nature. Lodging will be in two different hotels in the Cocle and Herrera province.
DAY 12-14
On day 12 we return to Soberania national park, and we will do more explorations and photography work in the lush rainforests. We will photograph from a boat on the rivers and lakes, and we will also take short walks inside the rainforest and along lakes and rivers. On this last section of the tour we will stay at a lodge at the border of Soberania national park.
On the last day of the tour we will drive you to the airport, or to your preferred hotel in Panama City.
Price: 5950 USD pr. participant (on tours with only one participant add 50% to the price)
Payment terms: The fee must be paid 6 weeks before the tour. If you cancel your participation in the tour later than 2 weeks before the tour, only 70% of the total amount will be refunded.
Included:
Accommodations, transportation by car and boat, food, drinks, snacks, and refreshments (3 meals a day), national park fees, and guiding. We can also help with photographic instructions. (If needed).
Not included:
International air travel.
Participants must have their own travel insurance.
Sign up by sending an e-mail to: tours@panamaphotoexplorations.com
Practical info
On day 1 we pick you up at you preferred hotel in Panama City, we recommend the www.albrookinn.com
We recommend you arrive one day ahead of the trip.
The hotel is a 20 minutes taxi drive from the airport, and you normally pay around 25$ for the taxi.
In the afternoon on the last day of the tour, we say goodbye and drop you off at your preferred hotel in Panama City.
Welcome to Panama!
Best regards
Øyvind Martinsen
PS!
See photos and videos below.
