PUNTA PATIÑO NATURE RESERVE

Punta Patiño is, at 30,000 hectares, the largest private reserve in the country. It’s owned by ANCON, a Panamanian environmental nonprofit, and operated by its for-profit sister organization, Ancon Expeditions. It’s a great place to come to get a taste of “coastal Darién,” which has a much different feel from the interior. Punta Patiño offers quite a range of vegetation and wildlife, and it’s the most comfortable place to stay in the Darién outside of the Tropic Star Lodge fishing resort. It’s on the Golfo de San Miguel, a little under an hour by boat from La Palma.

  Large swaths of Patiño, about a third of the reserve, were used for a cattle, coconut, and lumber operation before it became a protected area. The coconut plantation is still standing but nothing is being done with it. Nature is making a surprisingly strong recovery in the disturbed areas. A large reforestation project is under way, and ANCON is also working to preserve red and black mangrove here.

  “Punta Patiño” translates to “Point Patiño.” The point itself is off to the left as you face the beach, where the lighthouse is. The closest settlements from here are the small Afro-Colonial town of Punta Alegre, between Punta Patiño and La Palma, and an Emberá village up the Río Mogue.

Flora and Fauna
The forest around the lodge is secondary growth, but it’s possible to hike into primary forest from there. Notable trees include the massive cuipo, whose blossoms burst into bright red or orange at the end of the dry season, and the spiny cedar, which has sharp spikes covering its trunk.

  Unlike most parts of the Darién, there’s a decent chance of seeing at least one kind of exotic critter that doesn’t have wings. You’re almost guaranteed to see capybara, the world’s largest rodent (picture a giant guinea pig), and gray foxes at night toward the end of the rainy season (late December through January). Sightings drop off thereafter. Other largish mammals include tayras (a lanky weasel with a long, bushy tail), Geoffroy’s tamarins, night monkeys, and collared peccaries. Caimans lurk in the swampier areas, and there are also lots of iguanas. Pilot and humpback whales and bottle-nosed dolphins can sometimes be spotted in the Golfo de San Miguel. Bird specialties at Patiño include black-tailed trogons, boat-billed herons, and night herons. A jaguar has been known to hunt capybara in the area, but don’t expect to see it.

Sports and Recreation
There are several well-developed trails—in some cases they lead to old roads—leading into a variety of ecosystems.

  The Sendero Piedra de Candela (Flintstone Trail), is named for the reddish quartzes along this stretch; striking them with a machete sets off sparks. It’s a loop trail that takes about an hour to walk. It goes through secondary-growth coastal forest where birders can hunt for mannakins, common black hawks, woodpeckers, and tanagers. It’s also a good place to spot Geoffroy’s tamarin and, at night, red-eyed tree frogs. It’s a flat, easy trail. After 2.5 kilometers it meets a coastal road that eventually leads to the Afro-Colonial town of Punta Alegre in one direction and back to the lodge in the other.

  A trail that starts behind Cabin 10 merges with a road leading to the back part of the reserve, which consists of primary lowland forest. There’s also a road/trail that leads through the coconut plantation into some wetlands, and another short one leading onto the airstrip.

  While walking the trails is the main activity here, don’t forget the beach just down the hill from the lodge. It’s black sand but pleasant, and you’ll have it all to yourself. There’s a second beach a 10-minute boat ride away.