ABOUT CANOPY TOWER -  in their own words:

Awaken to a tropical chorus of motmots, toucans, and fruitcrows.

Your bedroom is at treetop level, no more than 40 feet from the birds. In the cool Panamanian dawn you can feel Panamá's great rainforest awakening around you. Blue Cotingas and Green Shrike-Vireos, birds normally glimpsed high in the tops of trees, perch right outside your Canopy Tower room.

Up a flight of stairs in the dining room, a cup of coffee and rolls await you. Settle down at a table next to the window. Above the endless tropical forest of Soberanía National Park, a ship glides through the Panamá Canal. The hooting of a distant troupe of monkeys punctuates the birdcalls. You keep your field guide open on the table in front of you beside your rolls and fresh orange juice. In complete comfort, you greet the morning sun. Nothing obstructs your view. Through the unscreened open window, nature carries on its morning business.

THE TOWER:

Panama has some of the most easily accessed forests anywhere in the tropics. The Canopy Tower is located on top of Semaphore Hill, in a well preserved semideciduous tall forest in the heart of Soberanía National Park. It is at an altitude of 900 feet above sea level, and from its roof you can see the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal and the skyline of Panama City, just 30 minutes away. Its privileged position makes ideal as a base from which to start exploring the forests of central Panama, as well as the Canal and other historical attractions. At the base of the road up Semaphore Hill is Plantation Road, a good, easy graded dirt road where you can walk through more than three miles of mature forest. A ten minute drive takes you to the gate of the famous Pipeline Road which runs for 11 miles through wetter forests in the heart of Soberanía National Park.

The Canopy Tower has five levels that offer different views of the forest around it. The flat roof is a great place to watch the canopy, as well as the Panama Canal and, in the distance, the skyline of the city. The top floor, covered by a 30 feet high geotangent dome (a variation of Bucky Fuller's famous geodesic dome), is used as the main dining area, and is completely surrounded by panoramic windows. The floors below house 12 two-person bedrooms with large windows and a full bathroom with hot-water showers each. Below the rooms, a mezzanine with more windows adds viewing opportunities of the lower levels of the forest canopy. Finally, the ground floor will house exhibits about the environment and the surrounding forest and the animals that live in it.

Canopy Tower Facts

• The radar originally installed in the tower consumed as much electricity as 60 families.
• From The Canopy Tower you can see the widening of the Culebra Cut. When completed in the year 2003, the amount of soil that will have been removed in this important improvement to the Panama Canal will be four times the amount of soil dug to build the tunnel connecting England with France.
• The temperature in the Tower is usually 2-3 F lower than in Panama City and in the early morning hours it gets as low as 65 F.
• The name Semaphore Hill comes from the early days of the Panama Canal when gigantic traffic signs, or semaphores, placed exactly where the Tower is now erected, were used to aid navigation across the Culebra Cut.
• The Canopy Tower was featured in the TV documentary, "Panama: Paradise Found?" produced by the National Audubon Society and TBS and hosted by Mariel Hemingway.

	OBSERVATION DECK: The Observation Deck, 50 feet (15.5 meters) above Semaphore Hill's top, is above the canopy, and from it guests have a sweeping view of the Soberanía rainforest, the Panama Canal, with Panama City in the distance. At night, the view is spectacular, and early in the morning the canopy is alive with birds.
	THIRD FLOOR: On the third floor, guests gather for meals, to use the library, and to socialize. The third level is situated 40 feet (12 meters) above the hilltop, right in the thick of the canopy.
	SECOND FLOOR: There are five Canopy Rooms, located right in the middle of the canopy, 28 feet (8.5 meters) above the top of Semaphore Hill.Each is furnished and sized comfortably, 207 square feet (19.2 meters square), and has a private bath with shower. Every room has generous windows that open onto the busy life of the canopy.  Our best room, the Blue Cotinga Suite is also on the second floor. It is furnished and sized generously, 366 square feet (34 meters square), and has a private bath with shower. There is a hammock, desk, and a hanging chair on the veranda. This is the only veranda on the Tower, and offers unparalleled views of the bird life and, at night, the kinkajou feeding in the canopy.
	FIRST FLOOR: The First Floor is 18 feet (5.5 meters) above the hilltop. Here's where our second most luxurious accommodation is located, the Harpy Eagle Suite. It is our second most luxurious accommodation, and is 290 square feet (27 meters square) in area. The Five Single Rooms are quite simple, andshare a single bathroom,. They are only 86 square feet (8 meters square) in area.
	GROUND FLOOR: Our Ground floor, atop Semaphore Hill, an historic site in the development of the Panama Canal, houses our souvenir shop as well as an extensive exhibit explaining life in the Neo-tropical rainforest.

Getting here:
It takes only about 30-45 minutes to drive to the Canopy Tower from Panama City; one hour from Tocumen International Airport and about 15 minutes from the local airport at Albrook Field.

ACTIVITIES:

The Canopy Tower is located in the heart of Soberanía National Park, and virtually surrounded by the best birding spots in Central Panama. Most of these hotspots, shown in the following map, are a mere 10 minute drive from the Tower, and others, such as the Metropolitan Nature Park or the world famous Pipeline Road, are less than half an hour away. The Canopy Tower is located on the Atlantic Slope, but very close to the continental divide. Therefore, it is a great place from which to get a good sense of the differences in habitat between the two slopes, and the different birds that inhabit them.

A partial list of activities near the Canopy Tower - click here for more detailed information:

• Semaphore Hill
• Self Guided Botanical Tour
• Plantation Road
• El Charco Trail
• Summitt Gardens
• Old Gamboa Road South and North
• Camboa Ammo Dump
• Pipeline Road
• Achiote Road and San Lorenzo
• Tocumen Marsh and the foothils of Cerro Azul
• Boat trip in the Panama Canal
• El Valle and the Canopy Adventure

A FEW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Is the Tower air conditioned?
No, for several reasons, including it is not hot here. The Canopy Tower is located on top of the highest hill in the vicinity, 1000 feet above sea level. There is always a breeze. The temperature often drops into the mid or low 70's (F), and many people wear light sweaters in the evenings. Furthermore, every room has a huge window and a big ceiling fan to enhance natural ventilation.

Will I be able to recharge my camera batteries? Do I need a special adapter?
There are plenty of electric outlets in your room. No adapters are needed; our electricity is the same as in the good-old-USA. This was, after all, a USAF military installation

Is there a way to reach the outside world during my stay in the Tower?
We have internet available at $5 per hour. You can also use our phone (213-2095) to call home. Bring an international calling card, or we can sell you a long distance calling card with access worldwide.

What mammals will I see during my visit?
Here is a list of mammals who have been spotted in our area:

Kinkajou Olingo Agouti Coati Paca

Geoffrey's Tamarin Howler Monkey White-faced Capuchin Night Monkey Forest Rabbit

Porcupine Collared Peccary Ocelot Jaguarundi Grison

Tayra Two-toed and Three-toed sloth White-tailed deer Gray Fox

Central American Woolly Opposum Common Opposum Ant eater (Tamandua) Nine banded armadillo

Red-tailed squirrel Crab eating Racoon Capybara several species of bats and forest mice

Are there snakes?
Snakes are a fact of life in a healthy forest, although few are poisonous.Nevertheless, if you are worried about snakes, we recommend you bring "snake gaiters" for your hikes on Pipeline Road and Plantation Trail.

I am not all that interested in birdwatching. What else is there to do?
The abundant bird life around The Canopy Tower may change your mind! But there is also an abundance of activities for folks who have seen enough birds.

For many, the rainforest surrounding the Tower offers endless interest. Many of the trees along Semaphore Hill Road have numbered tags that identify them to species level on a booklet prepared by botanists and biologists of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Mammals are also abundant around the tower: coatis, agoutis, and anteaters are commonly seen from the road, and howler and tamarin monkeys are sighted frequently from the tower. Due to "good seeing" resulting from few nearby lights at night, stargazing from the roof on a clear night can be delightful. At night, Panama City's lights are visible on the horizon, and lighted ships traverse the Canal. During the day you can see both the skyline of Panama City and the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.

The Canal is itself of prime interest to many. Two sets of locks on the Pacific side of the Canal, Miraflores and Pedro Miguel, are a short drive from the Tower, as well as the Panama Canal Visitor Center. Panama City itself, with its museums, fine restaurants and shops, is only 30 minutes away.

Activities at Gamboa, only 15 minutes away, include kayaking in the Panama Canal, an aerial tram, orchids and butterfly exhibits and fishing expeditions in the Gatun Lake.