Monkey Tour Adventure With Gamboa Rainforest Nature Walk

Our tour guide Hector and driver Diego were so kind! We learned a lot about Panama and the canal. They got us so close to the Monkeys we could not believe it! I would recommend.

Very well organized and timely managed trip. Juan was very knowledgeable and shared very interesting and relevant information with us about wildlife, animals, history and culture. We managed to see lots of animals, wildlife and biodiversity that Panama offers. We would highly recommend this trip with Juan as a great way for half day wildlife exploration. We were a family of 2 adults and one 9 years old kid. Juan was very kind and patient with our kid's questions and inquiries.

Hector is a phenomenal guide and if you want to see animals in the country this is definitely the way to do it while learning even more about the country. Probably the best tour I did while in the city. Strongly recommend if you like nature and animals.

Juan was a very knowledgeable and pleasant guide. We saw and learned about a variety of wildlife. I recommend this tour!

Fantastic tour to learn about the ecological landscape of Panama. If you enjoy nature, want to see animals and plant life, and want to get away from the overtly “touristy” tours, this is the tour for you! Juan was a knowledgeable, intelligent guide for our day and the small group format was fantastic. Juan picked us up at a reasonable hour from our hotel and we drove a short distance to Gambia. We learned about the local and regional wildlife and saw quite a few animals. We had lunch at a non-tourist local restaurant. Definitely a great experience!

Good day traveling with our guide. Juan was very knowledgeable of nature - the animals, trees and flowers of the area. Saw many monkeys during a boat tour, and short hikes in Sobernia.

Hector, Diego and Brian were all very kind to us on the tour. Hector was very knowledgeable about the canal and wildlife. Diego and Brian also shared some valuable information during the trip. Our weather was very good sunny and not too hot. However, we did not see as much wildlife as we thought we would have liked. We do realize that this is not a for certain part of the tour. We did see several species of monkeys, birds, and even some cayman. We enjoyed a very nice lunch overlooking the river.

Wonderful experience. Guide Hector & driver Diego were very friendly. Hector is very qualifed regarding the animal, botanic and canal information. We got amazing pictures of wild animals and well understood the canal history In total much more than expected.

Wonderful way to see the canal and lake up close. We saw three kinds of monkeys and fed them mango and banana. That was by far our favorite part of the tour. The walk in the rain forest is very hot--take water or get it at one of the stops along the way. We also had lunch at the fish market, which was a request that our guides Hector and Diego honored. It was fun to eat fried fish with them! We learned a lot.

Great tour with an informative guide, definitely recommend this tour for anyone visiting Panama City.

We booked 4 days with Juan and Hector for our family of 4. Juan did a great job. We booked him for the Monkey Island tour, a Canal and Casca Viejo tour, a day at the Embrera Village and the Sleeping Indian Girl hike in Anton Valley. What a great 4 days learning more about Panama and seeing so much! Juan was super easy to work with in getting ready for our trip. He picked us up and we made some stops along the way for roadside stands (sugarcane juice!). Juan was a great tour guide and provided so much knowledge on Panama! We had a great day with Hector at Anton Valley. It was definitely a serious hike, but totally doable for my family with two teenagers. And well worth it for the views! We would totally recommend Manakin for anyone looking for a great trip to Panama.

An amazing experience! Juan was an incredible guide. We saw lots of monkeys, birds, and other animals.

Our kids will never forget the day they got to feed monkeys from their hands while cruising a boat in the Panama Canal. Our tour guide Hector could not haven more knowledgeable and fun four our family of five visiting from Texas.

Great Tripp with great guide trough Panama Canal, it’s wild nature, culture and life style from the past to now!

We used Juan for three tours of Panama City: a walking tour of Casco Viejo, a day tour of Panama City and a day tour of Gatun Lake and Monkey Island. Juan is friendly and personable and customized our tours to our interests. He timed our lock visit perfectly to lessen the wait and to ensure we saw a ship passage through the canal. Since one of us had lived here as a child, he took us on a walk up Ancon Hill and visited our friend’s former home! When he learned that we love ceviche, he took us to the local market to sample the freshest and most delicious ceviches. And he made sure we saw as much of the wildlife we could see. Being a bird enthusiast himself with the necessary equipment that he share with us, we many of the varied and colorful birds of Panama. It’s those connections that made our tours with Juan memorable. We highly recommend Juan and this tour company.

The Monkey Island portion of the day (2 hours) was a 5. We were able to closely observe both capuchin and tamarind monkeys. However, birdwatching at Soberania National Park was very disappointing. Our guide, Juan, did not even have a scope or binoculars which is imperative for finding birds.

Brilliant trip! Juan was an excellent guide and so knowledgeable about all the wildlife and birds in the park and lake

The boat ride on the canal and the visit to Monkey Island was fantastic. Lunch at the fish market was delicious. The nature hike was just ok.

Our guide Juan was very knowledgeable and gave us an excellent tour. He was great at finding monkeys, sloths, and birds in the rain forest. Highly recommend this tour.

Wow, we had a great time! And, there were only 2 of us on the tour! Juan, our guide, was very knowledgeable about the ecology and wildlife of the park as well as the history of the canal and U.S. involvement in Panama's politics. On top of that, he has lived an amazing (still young) life. If you go with his company, be sure to ask him about how he got to where he is today on the way back to your hotel. We saw, and fed from our hands, wild capuchin monkeys, saw a tamarin monkey and a howler (unfortunately he didn't howl.) The capuchins will come onto the boat and sit in your lap if you feed them grapes (provided by Juan!) While we were feeding the capuchins, one of the monkeys accidently knocked Juan's cell phone out of his hand and into the lake. Phone lost but Juan did not miss a beat during the tour. Be sure to use bug repellent for the hike part of the tour. Pickup and drop-off at your hotel. Thoroughly recommend his company.

Amazing guy to be your tour guy adorable super friendly and always positive and def very aware all your needs in Panama Highly recommend him !!

Juan, our guide, was excellent. He answered all our questions enthusiastically. He went above and beyond, picking us up in an unexpected downpour. We saw 3 varieties of monkeys on the boat ride on Lake Gatun. The first hand view of the canal was great! We enjoyed our lunch at Gamboa Forest Preserve. Our walk through the butterfly garden was very beautiful and informative.

Juan was amazing. Knowledgeable, punctual and answered all 1000 of my brother's questions on every Panamanian topic known to man

Our monkey island trip was great. Juan, our guide, did an excellent job. He was an expert on all the biodiversity around the Panama Canal. We ended up using him for multiple other excursions and had a great time on each one. We saw three different types of monkey on our trip as well as an anteater, bats, and many different types of birds. We cruised on the Canal for a bit afterwards and saw some massive cargo ships. One in our group had just broken a leg so Juan adjusted our trip to accommodate. We ended up going to Panama City for a bit and explored the old town before returning to Gamboa and doing a short nature hike where we saw many different birds as well as agouti. We would definitely recommend Juan and would use him as our guide again on future trips to Panama.

Hector was an amazing guide and very knowledgeable about the different species of flora and fauna. He took us to places that weren’t a part of the tour based on our interests which was amazing! My only issue was that nearly all the animals we were supposed to see weren’t out that day so we didn’t spot many monkeys on monkey island.

Our guide Hector was really great! He’s extremely knowledgeable and very friendly. We really had a great time. Saw lots of monkeys and had a nice lunch, too.

Hector was a good guide and very knowledgeable about animals, plants, the canal and more. We really enjoyed our day especially the boat ride where we saw several different monkeys and a baby crocodile and some cool birds. Soberania was a little disappointing probably because of the time of day. Not the best for viewing animals but you can't have it all. Very hot but not a bad hike, pretty foliage. Hector picked a good place for lunch to accommodate both vegetarians and others.

This tour was fun! We took a boat ride to see three different kinds of monkeys, lizards, and turtles. We were able to interact with the monkeys by feeding them. We were unable to do the nature walk due to a scheduling oversite on our part. The thing that set this tour a part for us was our tour guide, Juan, aka "Johnny". He was very knowledgeable and made sure we were comfortable throughout the tour. He provided us with some unique experiences that allowed for us to connect more with the environment (he refers to them as surprises") which was fun and enjoyable. He was hospitable, a great communicator, and accomodating of our schedule. I highly recommend Johnny as a tour guide, he cares about your experience and will ensure you have the best one possible.

The was a great day! Juan was super knowledgeable and shared a lot of fascinating information about the ecology of Panama as well as Panamanian history and engineering of the canal. Best of all: Monkeys!!! The monkeys on monkey island are delightful and they run over your boat. Definitely recommend this tour.

Tour was very fun and the guide was amazing. Highly recommend. Should be noted you do not go to the locks but way more fun.

We absolutely loved the tour. The guide is so knowledgeable and really took time to tell us about all interesting thing about Panama City and Panama. He was punctual and the car was very comfortable, private boat ride was so fun. We saw 4 different kinds of monkeys, crocodiles, sloth... in wild nature. It was the perfect mix of hiking in the jungle, boat ride and walk around the Panama City islands. Plus he took us to local eatery at the end and the food was cheap and so good! Pick this tour, you will get a mix of cool experiences. Very worthy. The guide also sent us some pictures at the end which we didn't even expect.

Awesome experience! Our guide, Nicolas, made it very engaging and informative tour. Highly recommend touring with Nicolas who not only shred his knowledge on nature, animals and but discussed about Panamanian culture, people, businesses, politics, and more :) ! Highly recommend!

We had an amazing time on this tour! Our guide, Nicolas, made it a very exciting, informative and engaging tour for us! I highly recommend this tour for a glimpse of Panama's nature!

Juan is professional, experienced, and extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his career/field. He is excited to showcase his country and its history. My friends and I toured with him for two days and we were pleased to be in his company and soaked up all he had to share. We were pleasantly surprised and impressed with the entire experience. I/we would definitely recommend Juan and his team without hesitation.

Nicolás was a great tour guide, we enjoyed the canal boat ride and the hike. He was also flexible with lunch and drop off location at the end of the tour. We saw lots of monkeys and other wildlife.

The trip was amazing! Juan arranged everything for us even changing the plan according to our schedule and bring us to see so many animals (monkeys, tucano, sloth). We will suggest it 100%.

Juan was a great host. He has a background in ecological tourism, so he was able to explain a lot about the wildlife and plants we saw on the tour.

Guide was friendly, knowledgeable, nice clean transport, very nice driver, saw many monkeys; didn't like that monkeys needed to be fed to be seen not sure this is healthy for them? still recommend the tour either way but have some concerns about the feeding.

Nick was a wonderful guide. He knew so much about all things Panama especially the wildlife. Super friendly & personable.

Juan was a super nice guide. The trip was breathtaking. Great experience here in panama. We would do it again!

The boat trip and walk on Pipeline Road were amazing. Our guide was very knowledgeable- and pointed out lots of animals. A really enjoyable trip.

When I was hunting around online, looking for things to do in Panama, I came across Manakin Adventures Panama and decided to give the day trip a go. My husband and I could not be more pleased with the experience we ended up having. It was amazing! Juan, the owner, picked us up at our hotel in the morning, and on our way out to Gamboa, he shared a lot of history of the Panama, the city, and the Canal. It was great to learn more about where we were staying from a local. On our trip out to the Canal, we pulled over and saw a sloth, having breakfast up in the trees. Then, we took a boat out to the islands. Our boat took us right up next to the large ships passing through the Canal- and Juan shared a lot of information about how the Canal operates. Next, we headed out into the islands, where we saw a huge variety of animals- monkeys, turtles, crocodiles, birds, bats, and so many gorgeous plants and flowers. We boated right up under the trees where the monkeys were spending their morning, and one little capuchin monkey even hopped into our boat for the banana Juan had on hand. In another spot, a huge family of howler monkeys were lounging, and we were able to experience why they had their name when a wave spooked the group. They had a lot to say, very loudly! Juan was so knowledgeable about the amazingly diverse range of animals living in the area. After the boat, we explored a bit of the Smithsonian research buildings and then headed to Soberania National Park for a little hike through the rain forest. Again, Juan had so many fascinating facts to share about all the wildlife. We saw frogs, iguanas, tropical birds, and some really neat leaf-cutter ants, working on the forest floor. There were some giant colonies of ants up in the trees, and we were able to explore a bit of each of the stories of the forest, from the floor to the treetops. Finally, we headed out to the Amador Causeway, to check out the vegetation around the Biomuseo. Then, we had a lovely lunch along the waterfront, and Juan took us back to our hotel. Any nature lover would have a great time on this trip. There's so much amazing wildlife to explore and we truly appreciated seeing all the amazing resources that make up the region, just a few miles from Panama City. We hope to be back soon!

We went on the Monkey Island and Jungle Tour with Juan (the owner of Manakin Adventures Panama) and had the best tour ever. It started already with the fact that he accommodated his schedule although there were protests in the city and we only reached out 1 day prior to the tour. He picked us up on time, his car war spacious and clean and the communication was more than easy given the fact he's fluent in English and Spanish. His explanations and showings were informative and according to our interests. As a native Panamanian his knowledge is both profound in Biology as well as well when it comes down to the history of Panama and Panama City. We were lucky to see sloths, crocodiles, monkeys, bats and all types of insects and birds and Juan never tired to explain everything he knew about it. His passion for nature and animals is intoxicating but even more his dedication for his clients. He took pictures and videos and shared it afterwards with us so we had unique memories. Even after the tour he reached out and checked on us to make sure we were safe in the uncertain times of a National Strike in Panama. If you are looking for an exceptional tour guide and a day full of beautiful untouched nature and mammals chose Juan and the Manakin Adventures agency.

Unfortunately we've arrived in Panama City during the protests against the government 2022. Being a tourist during those times and little international press coverage made it very hard to be aware of the current situation and still spend decent holidays. Juan, the owner of the agency, made us feel very welcome from the first moment on. The monkey Island and National park tour was awesome and an experience we'll certainly never forget. We saw crocodiles, sloths, bats, monkeys and many more wildlife during our boat and walking tour. It was a blast to experience those animals in their natural habitat. Juan holds a degree in biology and is very knowledgable about the animals and the ecosystem of a jungle. The boat ride on the Panama Canal along the giant ships was impressive. Furthermore his English language skills are very good. Juan gave us lots of background information on Panama as a country, it's development and it's culture. What was even more impeccable for us was how he took care of us after the tour. He always checked on us if we are safe during those uncertain times and organized a transfer to the airport for us to make sure that we make it out the country safely. Juan is not just an outstanding guide but someone who really cares about his customers and their well being. I'd recommend to everybody to experience his tours and the hospitality of this excellent agency.

The tour was an awesome experience! Our tour guide Nicolas was extremely knowledgeable about the different animals in the forest. We got to see and feed the monkeys up close and personal. Having a guide like Nicolas who knows what to look for made the tour exciting and memorable.

Had a really great tour with my family. In one go you get to see the nature (the monkeys, pipeline road, the crocodiles ) and the Panama Canal. On the way back we even got to see the Miraflores locks! We had three activities in one and learnt a lot about Panama, nature and the Panama Canal. Thanks Juan!

Such a great experience in nature! My tour guide Juan was very knowledgable and he clearly has a passion for what he does and teaching about all the diverse wildlife. If you like being in nature, this is for you!

It was a bit rainy when we arrived in Gamboa to start our trip, but the sun came out not long after. We got to see a tamarin up close and personal when he came on our ship, but the capuchin were in a shy mood that day. We did get to see some baby crocodiles, but mom was not close by. we went on the nature walk but there wasnt a whole lot out to see that day. I realize that nature has a mind of its own, and the tour operator doesnt control the animals, but I think the walk may have been a bit long. Interestingly, when we got back to the parking lot, there was a sloth in the tree right by the cars. The restaurant were we ate lunch had really good food, Panamanian style. Overall, an enjoyable day. but getting to see wildlife is always hit or miss and the animals were just a little more shy that day

Very fun day with a great guide! Mr. Nicolas was very knowledgeable about everything related to Panama, nature, history, culture and spotting wild animals. Right before he dropped us off at our hotel we went to lunch (you pay for your own meal)at a really good restaurant. In the parking lot at the restaurant he spotted a sloth in a tree for us to get a glance at. Your day starts with a hotel pickup around 7. Then you drive to the dock you will board the tour boat on. It was about a 20+ minute ride from my hotel. Then you ride the boat near big ships in the Panama canal and keep going until you get to the jungle. We saw three species of monkeys. Two we got to feed and one (howler monkeys) was very high up but we could hear and see them. We kept riding and got to see some baby crocodiles near their nest. Heads up that if you come during the rainy season (started May 1st), you should bring a rain suit or poncho and a water proof pouch. We got soaked and it felt like we were in a water park 🤣. After you finish your boat ride you go back to the car and ride around 10 minutes to the Gamboa jungle and go for a hike. Very beautiful and lush with plant life. We saw lots of fruit trees (cacao, coconut, red plum-like fruits from palms, figs, etc), small water falls, creeks, huge trees with beautiful bases. We spotted poison dart frogs, lizards, birds and leaf cutter ants. The tour is well worth the money and it's an unforgettable experience! Thanks Mr. Nicolas for being the best tour guide we've ever had!