Kuna Yala and San Blas
Burbayar Jungle Lodge
Burbayar is an owner-run, hidden jewel of a rainforest lodge, small and intimate with a maximum capacity of 17 guests housed in seven rustic cabanas. You might be one of only a few guests there, as it’s way off the beaten tourist track. The surrounding forest is magical, with verdant foliage and a network of private trails on which you might encounter a poison dart frog, a green snake or perhaps a little tamarin.
Building materials were sustainably sourced and local guides take you on fascinating hikes through the surrounding Caribbean rainforest to secret waterfalls and hidden valleys. The main building is more like a private house (indeed, that’s what it was), and the traditional, delicious Panamanian fare is served communal-style.
Power is supplied by a small generator, turned off at night when kerosene lamps are used, giving the lodge a natural, romantic glow.
This is the only lodge in the area, adjacent to Kuna Yala, the land of the Kuna indigenous tribe who were never conquered by the Spanish and thus have kept their culture intact. You may well be visited at the lodge by Kuna women selling their distinctive molas, attractive, painstakingly embroidered panels worn on their dresses.
Facilities
Six double and one triple cabins, each with en suite bathrooms.
Local Wildlife
Various monkeys and tamarins, coati, tapir, agouti, puma, jaguar, 39 amphibian species including many dendrobates (poison dart frogs), various reptiles, over 300 bird species including the very rare broad-billed sapayoa, barred hawk, blue-crowned and red-capped manakins, brown-hooded parrot, bat falcon, swallow-tailed kite, slate-collared grossbeak and lattice-tailed trogon (all above bird species were seen at Burbayar by our director, Alan Godwin), various hummingbirds and tanagers, many seen from the cabins. The sheer diversity of insects is staggering.
Optional Activities
Take a boat on Lake Bayano for birdwatching and to visit the Kuna village on the other side, which sees few other visitors.
John Melton
Area Specialist
Ask the owner to set up the night lamp and white sheet to attract an amazing variety of nocturnal insects, including some ferocious-looking carnivorous ones.
If you have any questions regarding our Panama tours, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
For us this was a naturalist tour and covered everything, birds, insects, reptiles, mammals, plants and fungi…Panama is a wonderful country and we would recommend it to anyone with a love of nature.
