Author: canopytower

 by Lorry Heverly September 1999  Every year, thousands of cruise passengers transit the Panama Canal. The eighth manmade wonder of the world holds a magical fascination for those who traverse the 50-mile waterway of intricate locks linking two oceans. But because few cruise ships stop in Panama, most never see the country’s enchanting rainforests, misty highland volcanoes, and colorful Indian cultures. For nature lovers, Panama’s untouched wild places, rich in flora and fauna, flourish just outside Panama City. I began my adventure in Panama in Soberania National Park. Just a half-hour drive from Panama City, the park is in one of Panama’s premier birding regions, with more than 225 species. As I walked down Plantation Road, a troop of friendly tropical coati, raccoon-like creatures with long noses and tails, brazenly surrounded me looking for a handout. “The Air Force staff used to feed them,” explained our guide, a former poacher. The Semaphore Hill Radar tower, built in 1965 by the U.S. Air Force to monitor the skies for drug-smuggling planes, is nestled in the heart of the national park. Today, this silo-like structure, still posted “U.S. Military Personnel Only” is now a hilltop rainforest inn—the Canopy Tower. The hotel has five levels, offering multi- layered perspectives of the rainforest. On the rooftop observatory I watched eagles and hawks glide on currents. From this vantage point, I had a clear but distant view of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, and I spotted big ships on the horizon lining up to enter the Gaillard Cut. But it’s the birds that most people come to see, and the Canopy Tower features the best seats in the house. Lulled to sleep by cicadas, I woke to the chatter of morning birds and monkeys outside my wall-to-wall window, eye-level with the treetops. For

By Joe Rubin Dense Jungles, Pristine Beaches, Exotic Wildlife Discovering Panama Already, Panama's forests and coastal areas are a dream destination for the more adventurous ecotourists. Among the highlights: In and Around Panama City The Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side of the canal are a fascinating place to watch giant ships traverse the canal with only a few inches to spare on either side. The awe-inspiring locks were at one time the largest manmade structure in the world. It's easy to forget that you are only 20 miles from Panama City when you're hiking through Soberania National Park serenaded by howler monkeys and birds. You'll see more rare birds than tourists-the world record bird count for a 24-hour period was established on the park's "Pipeline Road" in 1985. Barro Colorado IslandAt the Smithsonian's tropical research center on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), about a hundred scientists study everything from leafcutter ants to five species of monkeys. The flora and fauna on BCI is so numerous and diverse, it's been dubbed the "Tropical Galapagos." Despite the fact that BCI is the kind of place you'd normally only see in a National Geographic documentary, travelers can visit the island. The Smithsonian just finished construction of a beautiful visitors center and offers day trips. But you need to plan well ahead if you want to take the tour; there is a yearlong waiting list. If you don't have that kind of time before you want to go to Panama, Ecotours tour company has its own tour of the island that takes last-minute reservations. UPDATE October 2001Reservations for BCI tours can now be made directly through STRI’s Visitor Services Office, or one of the numerous tour operators (not just Ecotours!) in Panama that work with the Institute. Reservations can be made any day prior

  Published on Sunday, December 19, 1999 © 1999 San Antonio Express-News Susana Hayward, EXPRESS-NEWS MEXICO CITY BUREAU SOBERANIA NATIONAL PARK, Panama - High up in the rainforest, amid the loud roars of howler monkeys and the sweet chirping of tropical birds, a strange yellow bubble rises from treetops. "U.S. Defense Site. Do not enter," reads a sign at the entrance. But by all means, enter through the chain-link gate. No one will shoot you. Thousands of American troops have left Panama, and the sign is a mere reminder of the recently bygone U.S. military era in a country better known for its troubled politics than for its lush jungles and abundant wildlife. The bubble, actually a dome, housed a powerful radar station the U.S. Air Force built in 1965 to defend the Panama Canal, the engineering wonder finished in 1914 to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. As the Cold War dwindled in the late 1980s, the station was used to detect planes ferrying cocaine from South America. It was closed in 1995 as part of the 1977 treaties signed by former President Jimmy Carter and military dictator Omar Torrijos to give the Panama Canal to Panamanians on New Year's Eve. In the new Panama, the radar tower, smack in the middle of a pristine, 35-acre rain forest in the Soberan a National Park, is attracting nature lovers and bird watchers from around the world. Now called the Canopy Tower, it was transformed in 1997 at a cost of a half-million dollars by former banker and senator Raul Arias de Para, who has sworn off business suits in favor of khakis and a trademark bush hat. From the tower atop Semaphore Hill, visitors can see a panoramic view of the Panama Canal surrounded by a misty virgin rain forest

A former U.S. radar tower outside Panama City has become one of Latin America's most talked-about new places to stay By Kimberly Brown December 1999 It's Noriega's nightmare: I'm standing atop a former U.S. Air Force tower 30 minutes outside Panama City, high above the Panamanian jungle at 10:30 on a warm, windy night. The individuals around me look as if they've just stumbled out of bed (or a Redmond O'Hanlon tale). One wears boxers only. Another, a sarong and binoculars. They're jumping up and down, wild-eyed, whispering, pointing, then admonishing one another not to point. But it isn't enemy planes they've spotted. Not even drug traffickers. No, they're whooping it up in honor of the mottled wood owl. Nearby stands Raúl Arias de Para, the soft-spoken Panamanian banker-turned-conservationist who has recently transformed this old radar tower, two miles from the Canal, into a B&B for birders. It is an eco-lodge exemplar, and Arias de Para has just roused his bird-crazed guests for a bit of postprandial owling. I'm no birder, but it is pretty thrilling at the top of the Canopy Tower, as the lodge is called, eye-to-eye with the treetops. The Canopy Tower stands in the biologically rich rain forest of the former Panama Canal Zone, off-limits until recently. But on New Year's Eve, after nearly a century of U.S. rule, the Canal is being turned over to Panama. Expectations are high that the transfer will nudge Central America's wealthiest nation into the tourism spotlight. On the verge of the big moment, though, the country still feels like a secret--especially compared with its neighbor Costa Rica. When word spreads of Panama's unparalleled birding, snorkeling, and deep-sea fishing, ecotourism evangelists such as Arias de Para plan to be ready. Arias de Para's pet project feels like an incredibly cool

January 11, 2000 Panama Plans to Turn Bases Into Hotels for Eco-Tourists By JOSE DE CORDOBA Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL SEMAPHORE HILL, Panama -- Banker turned bird watcher Raul Arias de Para knows a thing or two about recycling. As a police official in the democratic government that took over after U.S. troops deposed Manuel Noriega in 1989, Mr. Arias de Para helped transform the bases and training camps of Gen. Noriega's defunct armed forces into orphanages and schools. A decade later, Mr. Arias de Para has turned his attention to a former secret radar tower in the middle of Panama's rain forest that was once used by the U.S. military in the Canal Zone to track Colombian drug flights. The four-story galvanized-steel structure is topped by a radar dome that pokes out of the rain-forest canopy and resembles a giant yellow golf ball incongruously resting on a jungle green. Mr. Arias de Para has blow-torched windows into the building, hung hammocks and transformed it into an airy, seven-room eco-lodge. Open for just one year, the Canopy Tower has already been selected by Audubon magazine as one of the world's nine "ultimate outposts" in eco-resorts. Now, from the deck of the tower, nature lovers from New Jersey thrill as king vultures soar above the forest and howler monkeys swing from the trees. Mr. Arias de Para, 52 years old, who likes to wear a maroon Australian bush hat when he drives the 40 minutes from Panama City to this idyll, is a pioneer, but he is hardly alone. Now that the U.S. has finished turning over the Panama Canal and the dozens of military installations that dot the 500-square miles of the Canal Zone, a number of buildings are being turned into hotels. Entrepreneurs like Mr. Arias

  Travel Notes By John Mitchell and Sue Kernaghan March 2000 War--on--drugs tower now a bird observatory Panama already offered some of the world's best birding opportunities, but they became even better with the January 1999 opening of the Canopy Tower near Panama City. This five--storey former radar installation-used until recently by the United States government to hunt drug--smuggling planes-has been converted into a comfortable ecolodge and canopy observation post by Raul Arias, a prominent Panamanian businessman and avid bird watcher. Arias negotiated a long--term concession to develop the structure after it and surrounding tropical rain forest were handed over to Panama in 1995 under terms of the Carter--Torrijos treaties, which will also give Panama complete control of the Panama Canal on December 31, 1999. The Canopy Tower has six double rooms and a dining area overlooking the forest canopy, plus a circular rooftop observation deck that provides unobstructed views of the treetops. More than 250 species of birds, along with many types of mammals and amphibians, inhabit the immediate area. This year, Arias plans to build a 150--metre--long elevated walkway at the site and install a permanent exhibition highlighting the rain--forest ecosystem. The Canopy Tower is in Soberania National Park, a 22,000--hectare nature reserve 30 minutes from downtown Panama City. Soberania Park has several trails, including the 17--kilometre Pipeline Road, a favourite with birders. For more information, visit the Canopy Tower Web site at www.canopytower.com; e-mail us at contactus@canopytower.com and please use our easy contact form; phone (011--507) 264--5720 or (011--507) 612--9176; or fax (011--507) 263--2784. Reposted by permission from Thank you for noticing us! << Previous << Go Back to Articles >> Next >>

A View With a Room Plus: the World's Ultimate Outposts By Alex Markels October 1999 Rainforest Canopy Tower, Panama The U.S. military once used this radar tower to track drug runners flying from neighboring Colombia. Overlooking the Panama Canal, the tower is a remarkable example of Panama's "peace dividend." In accordance with the Panama Canal Treaty, more than 80,000 acres of primary rainforest are reverting to Panamanian control. The six-bedroom tower is smack in the middle of Soberania National Park, a vast swath of jungle populated by more than 300 bird species. It's a favorite of birders, among them Robert S. Ridgely (see "The Secrets of the Cloudforest," page 88). address: The Canopy Tower, Apartado 6-4506, Panama phone: 011-507-264-5720 e-mail: contactus@canopytower.com web: www.canopytower.com price: $145 - $200 Kapawi Lodge, Ecuador This 20-room enclave on the shores of eastern Ecuador's remote Pastaza River sets a new standard for both local involvement and environmental sensitivity in eco-lodge development. Even before Kapawi's master plan was drawn up, the indigenous Achuar people provided vital information on the rivers and existing trails in this largely unmapped Amazonian region, which is accessible only by airplane. The Achuar's work was supplemented by extensive scientific research on local flora and fauna (including pink dolphins, rare river otters, and more than 300 bird species). Waterside bungalows contain private bathrooms with composting toilets, solar-heated showers, and sun-generated electricity. "It's completely sustainable," says Megan Epler Wood, the president of the Vermont-based Ecotourism Society who was so impressed with Kapawi that she wrote a case study about it. The current owner of the lodge, Ecuador's Canadros tour company, will eventually transfer its management to the Achuar. The tribe already derives nearly half its annual income from the project, and so is better able to resist corporate offers to develop oil wells or

CNN Travel Now Insights Towering above Panama's rain forest From Jim Morelli CNN Travel Now Correspondent June 2, 2000 (CNN) -- Rising above the treetops of Panama's rain forest is Canopy Tower, an eco-lodge that offers the most unusual view of the jungle and the potential to see more than 200 species of birds. The tower is located in Soberanía National Park, 900 feet (274 meters) above sea level. From its roof you can see the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and the skyline of Panama City. The vistas from the Canopy Tower weren't originally intended for tourists. The building was once a military radar station, built by the United States in 1965 to help defend the Panama Canal. Raul Arias de Para discovered the vacant facility four years ago and turned it into a lodge. "I didn't have this in mind," he said. "I was looking for a place to build a traditional lodge in the forest, ... next to a stream -- the usual idea of an eco-lodge." But when de Para saw the tower for the first time, he declared it "love at first sight" and the renovations began. He devoted one floor to six guest rooms, each with huge windows opening up to the forest. If you buy an inclusive package, which includes meals, transportation and two guided nature walks a day, a double costs $145, a single $200. Tours also are available for $15 a person. Guides speak Spanish, but you can request a bilingual guide for an additional fee. Don't expect any air conditioning, de Para's Web site warns; that's not part of the eco-tourism philosophy, since it consumes lots of electricity. On top of that, the machinery's constant whir would drown out the din of howler monkeys, hooting owls and other noisy

Dec 17, 2000 CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS (excerpt) ...Its owner, a former banker named Raúl Arias de Para, dubbed it the Canopy Tower and opened the lodging for business in 1999. Since then he has nudged prices up to $95 to $185 per person per day, which includes all meals and walking tours. It is a singular place. Topped by a yellow dome, the blue tower peeks from the forest ceiling like a stray golf ball perched on a blue tee in an epic rough. The tower's observation deck rises about 50 feet, and the tower sits on Semaphore Hill, about 850 feet above the canal waters. This results in remarkable views, especially at sunrise, dusk and after dark, of the surrounding Soberanía National Park. By night, the stars shine brightly, and below you can pick out the slowly but steadily advancing lights of ships as they transit the canal. Meanwhile, to the west, the skyscrapers of Panama City twinkle. The place is usually heavily booked during the dry season, from January to May, but on these nights in October, I was the only guest. By day, visitors typically laze in hammocks, thumbing through Audubon or Smithsonian magazines, or stroll with guide and binoculars on Pipeline and Plantation roads. Among birders, these are paths of glory; about 380 bird species have been sighted in Soberanía National Park. © Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times.   << Previous << Go Back to Articles >> Next >>