Gamboa Wildlife and Sloth Sanctuary Tour with Pickup
Description
Get up close and personal with various wildlife found in the Gamboa rainforest region. You will be able to feed some animals as they approach to your boat, snatch food from your hands. Discover many other wild animals including crocodiles, toucans, sloths, iguanas, turtles, and numerous exotic birds. We will also visit a sloth sanctuary, where you can observe these intriguing creatures in their natural habitat.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Get close to four different species of wildlife on this beautiful island.
Observe the three-toed and two-toed sloths that have been rescued. We will learn about their life and unique habits and about the efforts that are taken to preserve these amazing animals.
We will embark with our boat into the Chagres River, which will lead us into the artificially created Gatun lake, which is a hotspot for biodiversity, giving you the chance to spot wildlife such as the coati, howler monkeys, squirrels and sloths, as well as beautiful birds like the toucan and parrots. Our path takes us mostly parallel to the Canal and into Soberanía National Park on our way to the Gamboa Public Docks, where the Chagres River meets the Panama Canal. A couple of minutes into the boat ride, we enter the Canal and take a quick ride past the Dredging Division's facilities and along the shipping lane (and past a large ship or three) toward the Monkey Island area. Watch as huge container ships pass by as they traverse the Panama Canal.
On our last stop we visit the Butterfly House where we will observe the endemic butterflies that live in the Panamanian rainforest such as the colorful Blue Morpho Butterfly. We will also visit the orchid and frog exhibitions.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
For guests scheduled for the 7:00 AM pick-up: We pick up all guests at their lodging in Panama City between 6:30am and 7:00am. We strive to make this the best experience possible. In order to encounter as many monkeys as possible we elected to start our tour earlier than most others. Please ensure to wait in the lobby of your lodging until the driver arrives. For guests scheduled for the 1:00 PM pick-up: . Please ensure to wait in the lobby of your lodging until the driver arrives. THERE IS A SURCHARGE FOR PICK UP AND DROP OFF AT HOTELS OUTSIDE OF PANAMA CITY, SUCH AS TOCUMEN, COSTA DEL ESTE, PLAYA BONITA, AMADOR CAUSEWAY AND OTHERS. Please kindly send us a message for more information.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- THERE IS A SURCHARGE FOR PICK UP AND DROP OFF AT HOTELS OUTSIDE OF PANAMA CITY, SUCH AS TOCUMEN, COSTA DEL ESTE, PLAYA BONITA AND OTHERS. Please select the relevant booking option or kindly send us a message.
Reviews(130)
This was such a great experience! Our guide was on time in the morning and was very very knowledgeable and friendly. The boat driver was also excellent showed us. Lots of wildlife explained about the area and seeing the monkeys was great. In the sloth sanctuary was a great way to end the trip. Highly recommend! Ali was an amazing tour guide!
Thank you so much for your wonderful review, Jennifer! We’re delighted to hear you had such a great experience and that everything from the pickup to the wildlife encounters went smoothly. It’s fantastic that you enjoyed seeing the monkeys, learning about the area, and ending the day at the sloth sanctuary. Ali will be very happy to hear your kind words about his knowledge and friendliness. Thank you for your recommendation, and we hope to welcome you again for another adventure in Panama!
We had Ali as our guide and he was great! We learned so much, he had great information to give us. Highly recommend this tour!!
Thank you so much for your kind review, Arturo! We’re very happy to hear you had a great experience with Ali. He will be glad to know his knowledge and guidance made the day special for you. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you again soon!
The boat ride on the canal and lake was great. We were able to see three types of monkeys in the wild. The ride took about 30-40 minutes from the dock to the wildlife area. We also got a relatively close look at the mega-ships transiting the canal. Our guide and boat driver were knowledgeable. The wildlife rescue center was compact, informative and we saw three sloths up close. On a down side, the pick up and drop off were 30 minutes late because the three parties in our group were widely scattered outside Panama City. Also, both our guide/driver and the boat ran out of gas. We had to go well out of our way driving to a station, and the boat had to beg fuel twice from other boats.
Thank you for your detailed feedback! We’re glad you enjoyed the canal boat ride, wildlife sightings, and the sloth rescue center in Gamboa. We also appreciate your comments regarding logistics. We sincerely regret the delays and fuel issues experienced on the day and will review this internally to improve coordination and operations. Thank you for helping us improve, and we hope to welcome you again in Panama.
We had a fantastic day with Mario! We were so thrilled to see a sloth in the wild, being up close with the monkeys, alllll the beautiful butterflies, and I could go on! Mario was a great guide. Highly recommend this tour!
Thank you so much for your wonderful review, Alyssa! We’re thrilled to hear you had such a fantastic day and got to experience all that wildlife up close—sloths, monkeys, butterflies, it really is a special tour. Mario will be very happy to hear your kind words; he loves making each experience memorable. Thank you for the recommendation, and we hope to welcome you again soon!
Tour guide explain about the history of Panama Canal during the driving time. He worked hard to find the monkeys and sloths and saw a lot of them. And got picked-up and off in the location where I wanted to. It was a nice experience!!
Great to hear your guide put in the effort to both explain the Panama Canal and make sure you saw plenty of wildlife. Spotting monkeys and sloths in their natural habitat always makes the experience more special. Also nice that the pickup and drop-off were convenient for you, it really makes the day smoother.
Our guide Richard George was great 👍🏼 Trip was fantastic - we saw cayman, howler monkeys , capuchins and also turtles, toucan etc - weather was fantastic - enjoyed the trip thoroughly- trip to butterfly garden and sloth rescue center was extreme nice - everything was on time - I strongly recommend it to others :)
There is nothing more beautiful in life than interacting with wildlife to the natural and Gamboa is an excellent choice to do so.
Hola Raul, Nos alegra mucho que hayas disfrutado la experiencia con la vida silvestre en Gamboa. Es realmente especial poder ver estos animales en su hábitat natural, y nos encanta saber que tuviste un día tan memorable.
i would not recommend this company. they canceleld my trip with less than 24 hours notice for no valid reason. they completely ignored me when i tried to communicate with them i was treated very badly
Our listing clearly explains that this tour may be canceled if the minimum number of participants is not reached, due to weather conditions, or other extraordinary circumstances. These conditions are visible in the tour description before booking. Unfortunately, it seems this information was not reviewed. When such situations occur, we must prioritize safety and operational logistics. Cancelations are never something we take lightly, and they are always done for valid reasons.
Really enjoyed the time on the boat trip and at the sloth sanctuary. Richard, our guide, was very friendly & knowledgable; we learnt a great deal about the country and he repeated all the info in Spanish & English. Saw plenty of wildlfe and got very close to the sloths in the sanctuary, plus he spotted one climbing along a fence - bonus!
Thank you so much for your review, Alys! 😊 We're glad you enjoyed the boat trip and the visit to the Sloth Sanctuary. Richard always makes sure to share clear information in both Spanish and English, so we’re happy you noticed. Seeing a sloth climbing along the fence was a nice bonus! We hope you have many more amazing wildlife experiences in Panama. 🌿🚤
It was a relaxing day of learning about all the animals and plants that make up Panama’s wildlife. We learned a lot. The motel there is very nice.
Thank you for sharing your experience! 🌿 We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed a relaxing day in the rainforest and learned more about Panama’s incredible wildlife. Gamboa is truly a special place, and we’re glad you appreciated the surroundings and facilities. We hope to welcome you again on another adventure soon!
