soberania national park

As a birding destination, all birders should make this a part of their journey. Climbing the tower and having a "from the top" view of the canopy was a highlight. Toucan, Puffbird, parrots, and hummingbirds were just a few of the birds seen.The bathroom area has feeders for the hummers and many visit, very different than the two species we have in the NW of the US.Wandering the trails with a guide allows new birds to add to those who keep a life list, but even for casual birders, the sights and sounds are wonderful.

Booked a birdwatching session with Marta of Whitehawk birding and had an excellent walk on easy trails where we saw not only one but four sloths, some twenty bird species, crazy howler monkeys and a variety of other critters and insects, all in the space of two hours. Highly recommended destination.

We spent one day here and wish we had a week. If you look hard, and are patient, you will see some beautiful birds. We also found a whole tree of howler monkeys, and while we were hiking through the jungle, could hear them. Great hiking trails but wear good hiking shoes as the trails are uneven.

We stayed in the Canopy BB and it was ok, would have rathered stayed at the Canopy Towers but it had a 3 day obligation. We also went to dinner at the Gamboa Resort and it was very nice as well. World class birding to be gotten on Pipedline Road.

I enjoyed the howler monkeys, cotimundi, birds, and even saw a peccary. This is a fairly quiet and remote large national park that is well worth a visit if you enjoy nature and exploring of the jungle.

Um, who says no wildlife? I was there last week, and there was plenty. We had no guide, but did bring binoculars. It also helps if you take it slow, have a low threshold to stop, look, and listen, and ask passing groups if they've seen anything cool. We'd have never spotted the sloths (hardly moving, high up, and look like a ball of nothing special to the naked eye) if we hadn't been helped to spot them by some others who already had.We went late in the morning one day (arrived past 10am). Hiked from the little shack near parking spot to Frijoles River. Saw howler monkeys, a pair of sloths, a caiman, a turtle, and a pretty broad array of birds and cool insects; to say nothing of the plant life. When we came back later in the week (See below), we saw more howlers, capuchins, a toucan, parrots, woodpeckers, and countless other birds. There was a lot more wildlife action in the first and last hours of the day than we'd had in the mid-day.Camping in Soberania:Not a lot of online info on this, but doing it wasn't hard. Ask at the guard station at the turnoff. Camping costs a group few of $6, in addition to the $5 per person to enter Soberania. We had an AWD SUV, so they let us drive up Oleoducto road to the Frijoles River crossing. Didn't see a snake (venomous or otherwise) or anything else remotely scary. Totally primitive. No facilities of any kind. We walked about 100 feet off trail and away from the car. Hung 3 hammocks with bug nets in a small triangle. Swept leaf litter from the area just in case. Fell asleep to jungle sounds. No alarm needed - howlers woke us about 5am, so we had a great early morning of exploring the trail.

Many people complain that they don't see much wildlife in Soberania - this is mainly just down to the fact that you need a guide who knows what to look for (I learnt this when I went to the Metropolitan NP and just saw leafcutter ants and a few lizards) and ensure that you are there around 7am. Another piece of advice is to go to the Rainforest Discovery Centre - you are guaranteed to see hummingbirds there.With Whitehawk Birding I saw many species of birds, some mammals and also a crocodile - without a guide this would have been impossible.

Nice vegetation, but very little wildlife. Not worth the time and money, and there isn't any decent accomodation in the area.

The Park was a disappointment in providing the Rainforest experience. No animals and very few birds.

Waste of our time and money. We did not see any birds. The guide did not even follow the description in the tour brochure.

Pass the first entrance to Soberania. After the crazy bridge it's a few miles to the turnoff to the "pipeline trail". Follow the dirt road all the way to the end. Just look up and wait quietly to see the abundant wildlife.(many birds and monkeys)

Thsi place is for birders like walking in candystore. So many birds. In a day we spotted over 100+ bird species. Also monkeys, coati's sloth and other mammales crossed our path. Simply a great day in the jungle

Fantastic spot for birders, particularly Pipeline Road. My partner and I got hundreds of photos. We went twice, both times mid week and we hardly saw anyone else. It was great. It's an easy walk (albeit hot and humid) along a dirt road. Bring the repellant as in spots the mosquitoes can get ferocious. Also take plenty of water with you. We went on a private tour with White Hawk Birding and their spotter was amazing. You can do this by yourself but if you want to see birds, then you must hire a guide. They are worth every cent!The entrance to the park and some areas within the park have a lot of rubbish which really detracts from the beauty of this place. I hope that can be improved. It's worth looking after.

We enjoyed our visit to the park. However, it wasn't until we left the area that we realized there were two separate entrances-one for the more zoo like area with short trails and one with a longer trails into a jungle area. We ended up visiting the zoo area which was a nice pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, but had thought we were going to have longer trails available.

Real forest only a short ride from the city. Great for walks and watching birds, howling monkeys and more.