As a solo female traveler I loved having Natalia as a guide. She knew all the bird songs and how to mimic them and found so many cool birds. I would never have been able to find them on my own. Other people birding the pipeline were even asking me how I found her for a guide. This was a fabulous experience and I added so many lifers to the list!

Our guide Luis was excellent. We had many sightings and he managed the trip perfectly. He was great with call recognition as well as identification. We highly recommend him as your guide.

Very poor waste of more than 200USD for two of us. Yes, we were quite late in booking our trip because we only knew we were going a few weeks before and it is peak season but our guide Rafael was hopeless. We had to pay up-front without knowing the guide’s name and he had no binoculars which is a complete joke in rainforest. He could therefore find very little (just a few big things) and spent most of his time looking at his phone; yes, he was trying to use Merlin to tell him what the calls were sometimes (!), but he had no playback, weak skills, obviously no scope and was not engaging or putting in much effort. Very much a part-time guide for the very amateur birder but no use for us. We found most of what we saw and, while occasionally he could ID something correctly, he would sometimes try to question our ID when it was right. First bird of the day, lineated woodpecker, he thought was a ringed kingfisher. It is tricky without binoculars! Camera cannot work the same way. Little apology, no compensation; we cancelled our other day. Find out who your guide is in advance and if you are a serious birder, beware! We had a brilliant guide the other days (Mario Ocana) who is freelance; he found and knew loads and it was magic. This day spoilt our trip a bit.

Luis Paz was an excellent guide, he knew all the birds and was able to call some in I wanted to see. I would recommend this tour anytime, 82 different species in 4 hours birding

I was able to see many birds from the lobby of the hotel. I did not need to pay for any tour’s to enjoy nature. One just needs to know what time and where to look. Ask the hotel employees. They will let you know all that you need to know to have a good time.

Wow what a fantastic trip! Collected early from outside where we were staying - this was not on the listed hotels but en-route so we were very happy they agreed to collect us so we didn't have to Uber to another listed location. Javier was our driver and drove us safely for the trip. Some of the roads are challenging! The vehicle was really comfortable too! Natalia was our guide - she spoke excellent English and had a great knowledge of the birds and wildlife. She spotted so many birds and wildlife you wouldn't otherwise see! She bought along a scope and helped us take photos though it so we have some amazing photos to remember the day. It's definitely worth paying the extra cost for the tower in the Panama Rainforest Discovery Centre. This was actually a fairly easy climb despite how high it is and is so worth it. We saw toucans (multiple times), parrots and many other birds and butterflies. It was brilliant! We walked the trail and saw poison dart frogs, frogs, leaf cutter ants marching - and their huge cities - agouti mum and babies, sleeping sloth, coati and so many birds! We took a bird guide from home and saw lots that weren't on this - if you bring one, get the most detailed you can carry! We saw kiskadee, trigon, Turkey vulture, flycatcher, antsthrike, 2 kinds of toucan, 2 kinds of parrot, cinnamon woodpecker, scaled pigeon, puffbird and more! The hummingbirds were incredible to watch - there were 4 kinds we watched. The place you watch the hummingbirds had good coffee (included in the tour) and clean bathrooms. Bring plenty of water as it's so humid! Wear appropriate clothes and insect spray as the insects are very busy when you walk to the lake. We weren't rushed at all - there were only 3 of us and we had lots of time to watch, take photos and walk slowly. It was a brilliant trip which I would love to do again when we come back to Panama

This tour ended up creating one of my favorite memories from my entire trip. Luis was very kind and punctual, he shared his binoculars and scope as my friend and I didn’t have one. He had a great eye and ear for the birds and we got to see some really cool ones, my favorite was the anhinga and lineated woodpecker. It started raining so he took us to an observatory deck with humming bird feeders, but they also had little ones to place in your hands. The hummingbirds actually came up to them and ate from them; it was incredible being so close and feeling their force on my hand. It’s honestly something I’ll remember forever. There were a lot of howler monkeys in the area and because it was raining they were making a lot of noise, that was so exciting. We also went to a tower and it was so cool being up there in the drizzle and seeing clouds. Luis was so sweet in finding us things to do and places to take us despite the rain. We loved this tour, I’ll remember those hummingbirds forever.

The guide provided, Natalia, was pleasant and competent. No problems there. The problem came with communication with the owner, Gonzalo. Yes, we did request a change in schedule (due to illness). This was on short notice and if Gonzalo had stated, politely, that he required full payment for the three days (per our original agreement), rather than two, I would have paid as agreed in our contract. Before that could be discussed, he accused me of trying to cheat him (due to a mathematical error on HIS part) out of his balance he told me was due. I have dealt with, literally, dozens of guides and lodges in Latin America. Most have been great, some only average, but all polite. Never insulting. Was not justified on his part. Would certainly prevent me from ever recommending his service to anyone.

We had the pleasure of taking the Pipeline tour through Guided Bird Tours. We left the hotel in Panama City with our wonderful driver Javier at 6AM to take a tour where we drove along the Panama Canal to the midway point, the town of Gamboa, where we did some of the best birding in Panama along the Pipeline Road. We then visited the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center. Our guide for the day, Natalia, was amazing and could pick out the tiniest of birds many yards away. In addition to many birds, we also saw howler monkeys, a three-toed sloth, and poison dart frogs. Some of our favorite birds were toucans, parrots, a screech owl, and hummingbirds.

We loved to have a great trip with Birding Pipeline Road. The tour guides were great! They were a professional and guided is a lot! You should try this tour to explore amazing birds!!!

This was an incredible tour. Because the tour was run by a local company, I contacted them on WhatsApp after seeing Gonzalo's reply to reviews on TripAdvisor. He responded within 2 minutes and they had all my information and confirmed our pickup for the following morning. Luis, our Master Bird Guide, was waiting for us when we got to the pickup point. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about birds. He was able to customize our experience based on our knowledge level. It was just my wife and I on the tour and he mentioned it is usually himself and 3 people. He took us to several different locations and all of them had numerous species of beautiful birds. A couple spots were ones you would only see if you were with a guide like Luis. We may not be the level of "birders" that are often on this tour, but we did bring a pair of binoculars with us. Luis let us use a pair of his binoculars so we each had a set. He also setup a scope where we could really see the details. He was able to call certain species of birds with his whistling and with an app. The intended birds always came to the calls. He knew what every bird was and could identify them in a blink of an eye. This was a 10 out of 10 experience for us and would highly recommend this for your Panama itenirary.

Natalia our guide is excellent. So was our driver Javier. On time, very knowledgeable- all the other guides were counting in Natalia to find the birds!

Gonzalo was great and honest with my pricing. Had a good time and saw mulligan about 30 or more species.

Birding tour, Panama: This tour is great for experts and newbies alike. As an amateur birdwatcher and photographer, we were joined by some keen birders from the USA that had been on birding tours over the world. Our guide, Gonzalo, was punctual and knowledgable. When we weren’t lucky enough to see birds in some areas, he would move us on to other hotspots to maximise the chances of us seeing the fantastic array of species, many of which you would expect to see in wildlife documentaries. Panama really is a paradise for birds! The local guide Natalia who joined us was incredibly quick at identifying hummingbirds, flycatchers, tanagers, todys and waterfowl and setting up the scope with ease for us all to catch a glimpse - great if you don’t have binoculars (but best to take some with you anyway!). As you may expect in the jungle, take water, dress in loose, long sleeve clothing and have insect repellant, just in case. Be prepared for an early morning start - it will be worth it for the best chance to see birds at the coolest part of the day. Well worth it!

We did a bird-watching tour in the Pipeline Road area with Mario in June. We had a great time, Mario is very knowledgeable and friendly. We saw multiple species of birds including Toucans, Motmots, and Trogons as well as a family of howler monkeys and several sloths, none which we would have seen without Mario’s help. If you are a bird enthusiast, we highly recommend Mario and this tour.

Excellent birding tour! We were picked up at our hotel and traveled to Soberania National Park to hike parts of the pipeline trail and bird watch. Our guide was Luis. We first hiked up to the top of a tower to get above the tree canopy. Luis brought his scope with him which was an excellent way to see the birds. We got to see two different types of toucans, parrots, a yellow backed oriole and many more. We then walked to the ranger station and took a coffee break while watching many different types of hummingbirds at the many feeders. We walked several more trails to observe birds which Luis helped us find with his green light and bird calls. The hike started with an exciting view of some javelinas and we heard howler monkeys throughout. We did not do a lunch stop after. It was a great morning!

We had an awesome birding experience and saw a blue Continga!!! It was incredible! We saw many species. We will be back. Very much enjoyed our private tour and guide speaks English very well.

This was a great trip! It was rainy, so the birds were not as active, but we saw about 62 species of birds. Viewing birds from the tower was great. I highly recommend this tour as Gonzalo was a great guide who made the day fun and went out of his way to ensure that it was a great experience. He went above and beyond his job!

This was our Valentines Day treat as part of a month-long stay in Panama City while everyone else was busy with the traditions of the day so it was just the two of us with Gonzalo. He picked us up promptly at our hotel then described how the time was going to go along with our options. He is a gentle soul that completely knows his craft with being able to find prime locations that have a variety of birds. We stopped at numerous locations where he used his talents that included not only spotting but actually calling to the birds and using recordings to call them in. There was always something to see and discuss with regard to not only birds, but different animals and Panamanian history. Don't miss this opportunity to explore a relaxing and fascinating experience.

We went on a private tour for the 2 of us. Gonzalo was terrific and so knowledgeable and we saw many birds we would have never seen on our own. He was sensitive to our needs and offered additional areas to view birds, although we declined as one of us was not up to par. A morning with him was ideal and well worth the cost. Highly recommend!