We recently had a group of more adventurous guests make it up there, and I’ve asked Edgar, the guide, to guest write a post:

Just the Facts

Elevation: 1,424m

Location: Western Arm, Santa Fe National Park

Type of Vegetation: Rainforest

Hike Duration: 6hrs Round Trip

Ascending Cerro Mariposa

It was 7AM, March 15, 2016 when the group of explorers, Josepus, Oliver and Edgar (me, the guide), prepared to set off on the hike to Cerro Mariposa, located in Santa Fe National Park, at an altitude of 1,424m.  We spent 20 minutes driving from Coffee Mountain Inn to where we began the hike in Alto de Piedra.   We began our hike accompanied by the songs of diverse bird species. And we weren’t alone.  100 meters from where we began, we spotted Jaguar and Ocelot tracks and soon came across a Trogon (Trogon aurantiiventris) very close to the trail.  600 meters later we found one of the Jaguar monitoring stations that use trigger cameras to capture night life with a motion sensor (take a look at other work of  AMIPARQUE (Amigos del Parque Nacional Santa Fe)).  I showed them some previous fotos that had been taken by the cameras.  We could also hear Keel-billed Toucans and a Great curassow (Crax rubra).

In the midst of the forest, we saw many different plants with flowers like the newly recognized species of Calathea (Calathea galdameciana), endemic to the area and discovered by scholarship student through Smithsonian Tropical Reseach Institute (STRI).  Orchids, bromiliads, mosses, ferns, athurium and philodendrons were plentiful.

After walking for three hours, we ascended from the rainforest to the dwarf rainforest of the ridgeline.

We reached the peak.  At first it was cloudy, but then we hit a break in the clouds after a few minutes. The ridgeline of El Tute extended before us, the town of Santa Fe far below, and the rainforest of the National Park on the hills below us.

We rested, taking in the beautiful views offered to us, with the clouds in our face, the constant wind, cool temperatures before descending again.  Halfway through the decent we were surprised to spot a rare lizard (Anadia Vittata), hard to spot because of the camouflage in dry leaves.

We arrived at the end, in perfect health, happy and thrilled with the adventure.

How to get there:

The safest way to get to the waterfalls is to take the trail to the first waterfall, described in the previous post.  About 100ft before you reach the first waterfall, there is a footpath from the main trail, leading upwards.  Take this trail, and follow for about 8 minutes and you will reach the falls.  I just was on this trail today. Be very careful, it is very muddy, narrow, not maintained and with very steep drop offs. There are areas where you will need to grab on to roots to balance yourself, and you should wear boots.  If you have poor balance or mobility issues, this trail is not for you.

TRAIL LENGTH FROM TRAILHEAD: Approx 800m; Plan 1 hr for a round trip visit to the second waterfall.

300 Bird Species near Santa Fe!

I spent last weekend checking and cross-checking bird species for the Santa Fe region in Panama to compile a list of totaling 300 species found in this region (!).  This list represents a compilation of a variety of records, from the Smithsonian, Panama Audubon Society and online trip records.

I’d be willing to add or subtract and would love to hear from birders out there.

See Complete Bird List of Santa Fe

A Note on Scientific Names

There were times that the Smithsonian’s Scientific Name used was different than the Panama Audubon Society’s.  This happens with species over time as someone decides that one species is actually a type of another genus.  In this case, I did not research each discrepancy- I went with the Smithsonian’s naming conventions.

Alright, I admit, I’ve gone on a nature streak in my recent posts.  Yesterday Cele went on a hike up the Mulaba River that has its headwaters in Santa Fe National Park.  Found an amazing waterfall and this cutie of a toad.  What was most surprising was how small he was – about the size of a fingernail.  According to Heidi Ross, of the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center,   he is a probably recently out of the water, and will grow to be about 3-4 cm long.  His call (termed vocalizations by people in the know) sounds rather like an alarm clock – check it out from the Smithsonian Recordings

What’s amazing about amphibians in Santa Fe?

First, there is a lot of diversity of species and even some morphs or forms that are specific to the Santa Fe region!  For example, there is a type of poison dart frog (Dendrobates auratus) that has a specific color pattern that’s only been found around Alto de Piedra, near the west end of Santa Fe National park.  There is the same species, but with other color patterns found around Panama.  But here, it’s unique – that’s very neat!

 What’s the deal with conservation of frogs in Panama?

Like with the example of the poison frog above, there have been noticeable declines in species.  While habitats are changing, there is a specific culprit that many point to – the Chytrid fungus.   Amphibians infected can slow down, not look for refuge, and die.

Once again Africa takes the wrap. As with the origin of much life, the fungus is thought to have originated in Africa, and spread throughout the world, particularly in the past 30 years, though theories vary.

Why now?  Some scientists hypothesize that the exposure to pesticides make amphibians less resilient to fight off this infection others point to the increased traffic and imports leading to contamination of uninfected individuals.

Locally, in Santa Fe, scientists believe that the locally observed declines in populations such as the d. auratus above are primarily due to this infection.  Read more about Chytrid here

 How the heck do you protect a species against something you can’t even see?

So, let’s admit it.  If a population is declining due to a loss in habitat -it can be fixed if people want it badly enough.  At least, conceptually you say, ah, we need more habitat.  But what do you do about a fungus?

In Panama, the Amphibian Rescue Committee  has started a couple of programs for captive breeding of amphibians.  They also have a lot of info on their site about the different types of frogs and toads in Panama.  Check it out!

What do I want to do?

I’m going to see if I can find the different types of frogs known to occur in Santa Fe while we’re out and about.

If you’re driving or hiking around Santa Fe, you may benefit from some of the new signs that my husband organized to be constructed to mark the waterfall trailheads for hiking near Santa Fe National Park. I’m so proud of him for organizing this  – even though it doesn’t directly benefit us.

So here’s the story.

Over Carnavales, which is the five days before Ash Wednesday in Mid February this year, we were super busy.  We’ve had guests go out hiking before and not find the waterfall they were looking for. However, over carnavales we had two great Panamanian ladies who  wanted to go exploring and hiking – and when they got to Alto de Piedra, where one of the waterfalls is in the National Park, down a trail that leads off from the road, people wouldn’t tell them which path to take, saying that they needed to hire a guide.

I can understand that you hire a guide to give an enriched experience.  We do this in our tours.  Our guests enjoy this.  And we do it proudly. (And I guarantee you will have a better experience for going out with us). Now, maybe these people were visitors to Santa Fe themselves, and just didn’t know… BUT you don’t hire a guide for directions to a public location.  Giving those directions is just part of being human.

So, my husband, Celestino, went to talk with ANAM, the natural resource management agency that manages Panama’s national parks.  He got permission from ANAM to put in signs and talked them into throwing in sign supplies, talked with the local tourism coop, and now there are signs marking the trailhead locations and directions to some waterfalls.

I love that he did this.  I will post a picture tomorrow!

Do you like that he did this?  Want to help?  Stop by and let us know!

In Santa Fe, Veraguas and ready for a dip in the river or a float in a tube? Downhill (going there, definitely not going back – if you’ve seen that hill, you know what I’m talking about) from the hotel is one of the prettiest lazy swimming holes, surrounded by tall trees and a nice river.  It is a bit rocky, so I wear my flip flops in the water.

How to get there?

Go downhill from our hotel about 400m until you hit the Bulaba bridge.  Cross it, and on the other side to the right, make your way down to the river.  The swimming hole is downstream about 100m

Be careful and aware

Who would I be without cautionary words.  While the river is calm in this area much of the year, there are times that the water and velocity is high.  Use common sense – if it looks dangerous – don’t do it.

UPDATE: naming of the Charco

Since originally writing this post last week, I’ve learned of two background stories about Charco Piedra del Pato.  See which one you like the best.  The first is from Nathali who says she read the story in a book of legends of the area, the second from her mom, Villa.

1)  From Nathali: The swimming hole is located on the Bulaba River, named for an indian cacique Bulaba.  Bulaba had a beautiful daughter who fell in love with a man from a neighboring tribe. They would meet at night at this pool.  After realizing that his daughter was sneaking out at night to meet with her love interest, Bulaba was not happy and wanted to put a stop to the romance.  He went to see a warlock who turned the boyfriend into a duck (pato).  The daughter went at night to wait for her boyfriend, sitting on the big rock in the middle of the second photo – she sat and sat, he never came.  Thus, the area was named the Pool of Duck Rock (Charco Piedra del Pato)

2) From Villa: There used to be a lady named Sra Inez who lived on the river.  She had many ducks and the ducks used to perch themselves on the rock. Thus, the area was named the Pool of Duck Rock (Charco Piedro del Pato).

The Smithsonian has a tropical research institute in Panama (STRI), the main laboratory being situated in the middle of the Panama Canal, and as the flood waters rose with the damming of the canal in the early 1900s, they left the site, Barro Colorado, a former hilltop, as a new “island”.  With limited human actions since this time, it’s been a great place to study forest ecology and processes.

On my first visit to the island, we learned of researchers who spent their time studying leaf cutter ants, hours of field work  and lab time studying communication and social hierarchy within these ant communities.  You learned that these little guys don’t actually eat the leaves that they harvest, but have a mutualistic relationship with a type of fungus that lives in their colony, they feed it the leaves and the byproduct is used to feed their young. You hear about how hardworking they are, and how they are exceedingly good at harvesting vegetative material in such as short amount of time – a tree in a day!

So, you’re excited when you hear this.  The world is big, we are small, life is complex, this is pretty neat!

Until they’re in your yard.

And they’ve eaten your jobo .

And the nance.

And one of the cacao (chocolate).

And some of the coffee plants.

And you realize that you’re the source of the colony’s prosperity, feeding the next generation.

Then, it doesn’t seem quite as neat.

Upside?

Well, any leaf cutter ant biologists out there who need a new research location to err..contrast ant interactions within the forest environment to  modified soil environments?  I know of a great place you can go, a great inn where you can stay, and the study site is right near by….evidently prospering.

 Santa Fe, Panama – Cerro Tute Exploring

I have watched youtube videos of places to go and things to do, and have been impressed by those of hikers going up Cerro Tute.  Young hikers  out of breath, hiking for hours to see the panaromic views from the Cerro which hovers protectingly at 1061m over Santa Fe, Veraguas with its sister hill Cerro Mariposa, known for its birding.  Unlike Cerro Mariposa, Cerro Tute is   deforested and known for —well rebels like you and me.

Not quite.

But it is known for rebel hideouts, first indian caciques lanced some of their resistance against the Spaniards from the cerro, and more recently in the 1950s a group of Fidel Castro inspired Panamanian university student rebels hid from the pursuing governmental forces in Cerro Tute.  The government eventually lured them down with rumors of gun shipments, or so I hear.  Many were killed, others escaped.

Today the Cerro hugs the edge of Santa Fe National Park.  Country folk live in its hill sides. And, it has great views.

How we got there

Cele and I decided to check it out, but in our 4X4 rather than walking, to see how far we could get.  They’ve been working on the road, and we saw our tax dollars at work with the new tourism authority signs for the cerro.  So we followed them.  We took the red route on the map below – starting point – the inn of course!  We followed the signs south of town to the Cerro.   20 minute drive-up hill with some great views of town.  We didn’t go all the way to the top I don’t even think we  used the 4×4.

Recommendation?

How was it, well it was nice. (6.5/10).  The problem with Santa Fe is that there are so many places with sweeping views.  Was it fun, yeah.  Were there great views,  yup- looking out towards Santiago  But it wasn’t forested, no fantastic rivers, and the drive wasn’t as interesting say as going to Alto Gonzales to the north, or the road to Guabal.  There is an alternate route (blue), which is supposedly rougher.

Recommendation: Go up with a car for a picnic lunch or to watch the sun rise/sun set.

The Smithsonian Institute in Panama keeps a record of specimens.  Check it out.  If you go to a record with the headphones, you can even hear their call.