| GENERAL INFORMATION
This is a 250 hectares park that is inside the
Soberania Park. This park is only 20 minutes away from Panama City on the Gaillard road to
Gamboa. It was founded in 1923 when the former Canal Company established the Summit
Experimental Farm for the research of the tropical flora of Panama.
Nowadays SUMMIT is a Zoo and a Botanical Garden with more than 15,000 different exotic
plants and animals that are considered to be endangered species. The latest projects
include the breeding in captivity of the Harpy Eagle (Harpia Harpyja),
Panama's national bird and the Tapir. ..
How to get there
Only a 25-minute drive from Panama City on the Gamboa Road by
car or take a bus from the SACA terminal close to the Legislative Palace. On weekends you
can enjoy a trip on the train that runs from the Balboa Station to SUMMIT.
Services
The park has a small restaurant, recreation areas for
children with family bohios, a Zoo, an auditorium and video room, and a fauna-breeding
center with 242 species of which about 95 are shown.
The park is open from 8:00 to 17:00 the whole week and the entrance fees are:
- Children between 6 and 11 years old - US$ 0.25.
- Everybody else from 12 up- $ 1.00.
- Children under 6 years of age do not pay and
school excursions of children under 12 just pay US$ 0.10
What to do and Where to go?
Visiting the areas of the species exhibited is a must
for those who come here; you will find from small Parakeets to Jaguars and Alligators and
maybe even a playful otter.
The walks inside the Park are on lanes lined with samples of tropical forests. The trips
down those lanes will take you to the modern area of the Harpy Eagle (Harpya Harpya),
which is thought to be the largest exhibition dedicated to one bird. In this area you can
see an enormous cage set up as a habitat for one pair of eagles, apart from an exhibition
honoring this national bird.
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