Ancon Hill Walking Tour: Sloths, Wildlife & Panama City Views

The guide was courteous on time and very knowledgeable. We saw sloths, toucans and other animals on the excursion.

Rafaa was very knowledgeable & personable. Awesome guide got some great shots of Tucans & sloths. Excited to see his vids. If u enjoy walkn & learning & watching...this tour is perfecto for u. Thx for the great morning!

Starting the day early to experience this nature walk was 100% worth it. I was picked up at my hotel around 6:30 am. Ancon Point was about a 20-25 minute drive. The park is plastic-less so I purchased a cute sloth aluminum bottle from Raphael the day before. Side note: Make sure you try to eat a decent sized breakfast beforehand because you will burn energy. Also, water is an absolute must. I actually ran out of water before I reached the top of the mountain. Luckily the tour starts before 7am because even at that time the heat and humidity are rising. On the walk up you will notice a mixture of flat and steep terrain. However, there’s plenty of opportunities to take a breather when one of the animals, reptiles or birds are spotted. I for one believe it’s beautiful to see creatures in their natural habitat unbothered and at peace. Rafael has an eagle eye for sloths, frogs, iguanas and toucans. It’s almost like he and the reserve are connected. While walking the steep trails he still was able to intensely listen out for the sounds of different birds. At times he was able to pinpoint their location but they were too fast to be photographed. But, I was satisfied with seeing the beautiful colors of a toucan fly within my eyesight. Free, and not in a zoo. So my day was still made. Rafael loves what he does and it’s contagious. He may be a sloth whisperer in my eyes but he still can’t predict what creatures will be visible. So, keep that in mind. Personally, I left with a full heart and entire day ahead of me. He sent me plenty of pics and video from our adventure the next day and I was elated. If you want a unique experience full of anticipation and welcomed surprises I recommend booking this tour.

I cannot recommend this experience highly enough! There is so much history and nature on this walk and it is very worth doing with a guide - I would have walked past about 5 sloths if they hadn't been pointed out! We saw monkeys, sloths, frogs and toucans as well as incredible views over the city and the canal!

My boyfriend and I enjoyed a small group walking tour at Ancon Hill with Conozca Panama. Great communication from Rafa during booking and before the tour. We had a hotel pick up and started our day early at 6:30am to beat the heat of the day. Orlando was our awesome driver and the van was air conditioned and comfortable. Rafa lead our tour group of 4 people and he did a great job making the experience worth-while. We leisurely walked up the hill while observing the wildlife. We saw 7 sloths and at least 3 toucans and 2 monkeys! Plus many tiny black frogs. There were some spiders too :P The sloths were so cool to see in action! Rafa brought a telescope that he could connect to his phone to record photos and videos of the animals--this was really helpful for me! He shared all the beautiful nature photos and videos he took with the group after the tour. He also came prepared with a green light pointer to help direct us to animals in the trees. They provided binoculars and water refills in the van. Overall a very nice morning and the view at the top was beautiful. It was humid (like I can't wait to take shower when I get back home kind of humid) but not too tiring due to all the nature-viewing breaks. Bring a snack for sure, but maybe a full meal is not needed until you get back to your lodgings.

It was a fantastic experience! Raf was my guide and he was very thorough with the information for the day the night before with whatsapp messages so I had a good feeling already. I did the early one 6:10am and surprised it was a private tour to me as no one else booked it. But Raf still treat it very very professionally even it’s just me, he was very knowledgeable and super friendly. I told him I want to see sloth and he was very honest that it’s nature he cannot control but he will try his best. And surely he did and we were very lucky to spot 5 sloths along the way along with 4 gefferoy’s tamarins, several toucans, and along other wild lives . It was more than I expected and because Raf was very patient in explaining how these animals behave and I was able to spot the toucan and 2 sloths by myself! Overall just 12 out of 10 experiences and I cannot ask for more. The hill is very a moderate walk and offers a great panoramic view of the city and the canal. Highly recommended!

Knowledgeable guide. Toucans, monkeys, sloths, and frogs all seen on the walk. Pleasant way to start the day.

This is a short tour but turned out to be a highlight of our trip! Our tour guide Jorge was fantastic with interesting local history and spotting birds and animals. We were lucky enough to see 4 sloths, a toucan, parrots, numerous other birds, spiders and frogs. Also great views of the canal, old town and Panama city. Go early! HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Our guide was very pleasant and knew a lot of Panamanian history, but not natural history The walk is on a small asphalt road with trees on either side. We saw no sloths and the only wildlife was a few ants , several small frogs and a glimpse of 2 or 3 toucans high in the trees for less than a minute The view of the city from above was OK but not worth the climb It was very hot despite early morning but no water bottles supplied and our guide had no binoculars, which might have helped a little. Overall disappointing. The description implies that there will be some wildlife but ants and a spider weren’t quite the total viewing we were anticipating . Rather misleading, even recognizing that wildlife does not always appear on demand.

Nice hike and very informative