Believed to be the only forest in the Americas located within a city’s boundaries, the National Metropolitan Park is remarkable not just for its accessibility, but also for the huge variety of species which inhabit its 232 hectares.

It is classified as somewhere between humid and dry tropical forest with 284 recorded plant species and 322 species of animals. 20% of Panama’s 950 recorded bird species can be found in the Metropolitan Park, which is a significant quantity that is greatly appreciated by bird watchers.

We got up at 6.15am for our rendezvous at the Metropolitan Park gate, just 5 minutes from the city center, with experts in eco-tourism management from Ancon Expeditions of Panama. We were about to embark on a very special tour, climbing one of the crane towers that Panama is so fortunate to have as an aid to observing the park’s flora and fauna from up high. Even while we were finishing our welcome cup of coffee, we caught sight of our first animal, emerging from one of the park’s huge trees, against a background of early morning bird song and soft breezes, as if to say “what’s all the fuss about?”; the sloth.

What makes this tour observing birds, animals and plants so different from any other? In 1993, it occurred to Doctor Allan Smith of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to use a crane, equipped with a basket, for studying the forest canopy. This experiment was so successful that it allowed scientists from all over the world to study many species that could only be observed from this height, in their natural habitat. There are currently 12 such cranes in different parts of the world, and Panama and Germany are the only countries to have two each. The other countries with similar cranes are Japan, Malaysia, French Guiana, Venezuela, Switzerland and Australia all of which also use these facilities for many other research purposes, including studies into climate, ozone sensitivity, rainfall, interaction between animals and plants, responses to environmental change, biodiversity, and many other activities.

It is now 6:30 am, and we have reached the end of the path where the crane is waiting for us. Just one minute after crane operator Edwin has finished fastening the basket to the crane’s cables, we are able to enjoy a view of the dawn from a height of 45 meters, looking out over the crowns of these enormous trees.
Our first words during the ascent are “WOW… incredible…”, and as we begin to appreciate our surroundings we see the world spread out beneath our feet from a completely different perspective.

We are in communication with the crane operator by radio and we tell him where we want to go and what we want to see: left, right, up, down, we have the sensation of being on a huge ship, “navigating” between various different species of tree such guarumo, espavés, guácimos, ficus, corotús and many families of bombacaceas which fill the air with their perfume and explosions of color.

Edwin brings the basket close to some wasps which are pollinating a flower, while Richard Cahill - Senior Naturalist from Ancon Expeditions of Panama - uses his extensive background knowledge to explain to us why and how ants work at these heights up in the forest canopy. Down below us, four stylish toucans fly past, showing off their rich colors, while some tití monkeys run through the branches. As if this panorama were not sufficiently impressive, another sloth begins to move at the very top of a nearby tree, but not as slowly as you might expect. Those of us in the basket carry on moving around here and there, exploring a very different world to the one we are used to, and from a completely different perspective.

Today, we probably know more about outer space and the ocean depths than we do about the forest canopy. Most of the forest action takes place up high, out of sight. This makes cranes like these, valuable resources for scientific study, as they are the best way of observing the inter-relationships between fauna, flora and the environment.

If you want to discover a completely new dimension to the forest, we strongly recommend you take this tour, with its excellent guides and a crane operator who will take you to the most unexpected corners of the forest. We are grateful to the whole team and particularly to Richard Cahill for his help and for giving us the benefit of his enormous store of knowledge.