A short trip from nearly anywhere in Panama City, the nature preserve of Metropolitan Natural Park is an amazing way to experience the plants and animals of a tropical jungle as well as views of the city. As foreigners the entry fee is $4/adult and $2/child.
Walking to the park is a hard pass for us as there don’t seem to be good safe routes with sidewalk. And while we could have taken a bus the time involved when compared to the price of an Uber makes it a no brainer. It cost roughly $3 each way for Uber!
Los Momotides Trail
We arrived before Greenhouse Coffee opened but needed to feed the beast (our 14 yr old son) before going too far. That seems to mean daily coffee for him. So we killed some time by hiking the Los Momotides Trail. This is a very short, half mile trail across from the visitor center which we did twice. But don’t let the short nature turn you off. We saw lots of birds and a white nosed coati foraging on the ground before climbing into the trees.
Greenhouse Coffee
Now that Greenhouse Coffee was open we popped in and as the first customers of the day got our pick of ample indoor and outdoor seating. We each enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee though the shop has lots of other food and drink options available. We say outside and watched a show horse going through morning practice across the way as the coffee shop shares a border with a large equestrian center.
Hard Working Ants
Be watchful for columns of hard working ants every hundred feet or so in Metropolitan Nature Park. These amazing ants are hiking in long columns high up into the trees to carve off small leaf parts and deliver them to nests on the forest floor. They are so intimidating that at times the millipedes dare not cross their line.
Panama City View from Cerro Cedro
Morning coffee handled it was time for the main event – hiking to the top of Cerro Cedro for views of the city. This 3.2 miles loop features just over 1,000 ft of elevation gain and takes you through lots of jungle on very wide and well maintained trails. A word of caution, at least in July, it’s hot and very humid. Like 75% to 95% humidity. It’s not overly hard but do bring some water.
We completed the entire hike in about an hour and 40 minutes. While you could likely complete the hike faster I’d caution against it. In this case, the the journey is almost more important than the prize (the city view). Throughout the hike you can observe dense jungle, bird of paradise flowers, butterflies, birds, monkeys, and so we are told, sloths. We took our time and tried to observe what was going on in the canopy and along the ground (e.g. the hard working ants sidebar). During our hike we saw, and heard very loudly, a howler monkey. We also saw a smaller monkey hiding in a date palm. Unfortunately no sloth’s for us. I expect that opportunity should come when we visit Gamboa later in the trip.
Don’t miss “El Castillo” and other artifacts throughout the park. Originally built by the US as an anti-aircraft bunker, El Castillo and the area around it has also served as training grounds for jungle rescue during the 60’s as well as a training site for astronaut Neil Armstrong!
