From the Canopy Tower to Tranquilo Bay: Getting to Bocas del Toro
For our final morning at the Canopy Tower, we returned to Pipeline Road. This time, though, the plan involved climbing an observation tower to view the rainforest canopy.
The climb itself turned out to be easier than I expected. The tower swayed a little in the wind, which felt mildly unsettling, but not enough to stop us from heading all the way up. The bigger challenge came from the bugs, even after applying what felt like a medically concerning amount of insect repellent.
I assumed the very top of the tower would always offer the best views, but that wasn’t necessarily true. At one point I moved down a level and actually found a much better perspective for photography. Sometimes the highest viewpoint just leaves you looking down into treetops instead of into them.
Hummingbirds at the Visitor Center
After leaving the tower, we stopped at a nearby visitor center with hummingbird feeders. The activity around the feeders was constant, with hummingbirds darting back and forth. The area was dark, and we both struggled photographing them in flight, but figured we would have a lot of time to practice the following week in Costa Rica.
The highlight was hand feeding the hummingbirds. Holding perfectly still while a tiny bird hovered inches from my palm gave me a whole new appreciation for how fast their wings move.
Next, we walked down the road toward another visitor center. We stopped frequently whenever the guides heard or spotted movement in the forest. At one point I spotted movement far off in the distance and pointed it out to our guide. He looked genuinely impressed that I had managed to detect it from so far away. The only problem was that he was looking at something else and the thing I pointed at turned out to be a branch. I decided not to mention that part.
Once at the visitor center, we watched a white-faced capuchin monkey aggressively tearing apart part of a tree. It appeared to search for insects hidden beneath the bark, but who knows.
Back at the lodge we finally had our best sloth sighting of the trip. Up until then most of our sloth encounters involved what looked suspiciously like moss-covered sleeping potatoes high in the canopy. This one actually moved around and stayed awake long enough for us to properly watch it.
Rain rolled back in during the afternoon, so we skipped the afternoon outing and relaxed at the lodge instead.
We gathered in the lounge each evening to go through the checklist book. Even with the weather interruptions, we finished our stay at Canopy Tower with 101 bird species and 14 mammals. The only downside, for us, was the focus on birding rather than bird photography. I enjoyed the tamarins and sloths around the lodge more than chasing rare birds deep inside dark rainforest vegetation.
Leaving Canopy Tower for Bocas del Toro
After an early breakfast, Andy carried our bags down the long staircase to the lobby while we waited for our 7 a.m. taxi. Seven o’clock arrived. The taxi did not.
Since most guests were upstairs eating breakfast, the lodge felt strangely quiet while we stood there waiting. Eventually we climbed all the way back up to the dining room to find someone who could help.
The staff tried calling the driver without success, and finally one of the lodge employees offered to drive us to the airport in the birdmobile instead. This felt like a very appropriate ending to our Canopy Tower stay. Fortunately they let us ride inside the cab rather than on the open benches in the back for the hour-long drive into Panama City. Even with traffic, we reached the airport around 8:15 a.m. so had plenty of time before our flight.
Flying Air Panama to Bocas del Toro
The domestic airport in Panama City is small enough that you could probably drive past it without realizing it exists, which our driver actually did.
Inside, security had not even opened yet, so we found coffee and an unexpectedly excellent cinnamon roll while we waited for our Air Panama flight to Bocas del Toro. The flight itself lasted about an hour aboard a completely full small aircraft. The arrival into Bocas del Toro immediately felt different from Panama City. As we descended toward the runway, we watched people casually walking across it with very little apparent concern about the approaching plane.
Inside the tiny terminal building, a man with a guitar entertained arriving passengers with cheerful renditions of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and “Feliz Navidad” while luggage handlers unloaded bags directly onto the ground outside. Given our earlier luggage adventures, we felt extremely relieved when all of our bags appeared.
Arriving at Tranquilo Bay
Outside the terminal we met our driver and quickly realized this region of Panama felt very different from the capital. The atmosphere had a distinctly Caribbean feel. Buildings looked more improvised, roads felt rougher, and everything moved at a slower pace.
After a short ride, the van stopped outside what appeared to be a small Rasta shop. From there we followed our guide through the building and out onto a narrow dock behind it, where a long narrow boat waited to take us across the water.
Plastic chairs served as the seats, and thankfully the rain had stopped.
About twenty-five minutes later we arrived at Tranquilo Bay, where one of the owners greeted us on the dock.
The setting felt immediately relaxing. The two-story dock overlooked calm turquoise water and included hammocks, lounge seating, and a cooler filled with cold drinks.
Bird feeders around the lodge attracted regular visitors as well, including capuchin monkeys in the mornings and opossums after dark.
Our Jungle Bungalow at Tranquilo Bay
Our bungalow ended up being much larger than expected and was on the edge of the forest. Privacy definitely would not be an issue because we turned out to be the only guests staying at the lodge during that stretch between Thanksgiving and the Christmas holiday rush. Most importantly, the room had air conditioning. Our room at the Canopy Tower had a fan, but after days of rainforest humidity, air conditioning felt almost luxurious.
In the afternoon we took a short walk around the property with our guide to familiarize ourselves with the trails and surrounding forest.
After a long day involving birdmobiles, domestic flights, and small boats, the quiet evening at Tranquilo Bay felt like the perfect start to the next stage of our Panama adventure.
We’re Andy and Jennifer—two former corporate executives who chose long ago to prioritise experiences over stuff while pursuing our passions for travel and photography. From the Arctic to Antarctica, and most places in between, we’ve captured the world through our lenses and love sharing those stories. Our careers gave us the means, but our purpose is inspiring others to explore and helping people create images they’re proud of.
