Whenever I get out my camera to capture scenes in nature, I work hard to prevent man-made elements from appearing in my shot. Sure, I see that telephone wire in my peripheral, that length of metal fence sanctioning the park, but my photo album tells a story of untouched wilderness. I don’t think I’m committing fraud by doing this; these idealized photos speak to what I was feeling as I ventured into the forest, ascended the slope, or rounded the bend. To me, it’s uncharted territory. If anybody set foot here before me, I can’t tell. Fallen leaves and twigs, a proliferation of fungi and sprouting plants, animal activities, and weather changes all work together to quickly obliterate any evidence of human incursion into these wilds. I see only my faint footprints in the moist earth, and tomorrow they’ll be wiped away too.
At Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA), perfect pictures happen without any finagling. The park, more than 1,550 square miles of tropical forest stretching from eastern Costa Rica to western Panama, connects the two countries like an emerald friendship bracelet. It’s one of the few natural refuges left untouched by the hand of human existence. National Geographic Traveler calls this park “a last frontier for tourism.” A vast expanse of lush jungle, it grows up in the valleys and highlands of the Talamanca Massif, under the auspices of sultry winds from the east.
Photograph by Dirk van der Made
Both the Costa Rican and Panamanian governments cherish this park, which they jointly established in 1982 to share and protect its beauties. Only a year later, PILA was made a UNESCO World Heritage site. Distinct environments abound in La Amistad: bogs and swamps, dense forests, moorland, and, at higher altitudes, cloud forest and craggy peaks. Protection of this area ensures that the astonishing array of plant and animal species found here can continue to find natural habitats to support them.
Several indigenous tribes inhabit the park’s interior. These groups, which include the Cabecar and Bribri, mimic their surroundings. While other parts of Panama embrace modern advancement and new technology, the tribes living inside PILA maintain the same harmonious existence of centuries past. Snap a photo of a Bribri native, and you’ll capture a moment from history that predates the camera’s invention. They are the same people, connected to their ancestors by the unbroken thread of their way of life.
Since 1990, only three major scientific expeditions have undertaken to explore PILA, primarily because the terrain is notoriously difficult to navigate. Biological discoveries lie in wait within the numerous distinct ecosystems of Parque Internacional La Amistad. A casual visitor to the park might easily spot a number of unidentified plant and animal species in a single day.
A spectrum of gemstone-hued birds inhabit PILA, and twice a year the native bird species are joined by 75 percent of all migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere. One birder from the Tennessee Ornithological Society identified 460 species of birds during a mere two weeks spent in Panama. For wildlife photographers both amateur and professional, birds present an exhilarating challenge. Imagine capturing a resplendent quetzal in flight. Or simply seeing the rare crested eagle. And birds offer as many marvelous sounds as they do sights. Listen for the cheery song of the white-fronted woodpecker finch and the three-wattled bell bird’s unmistakable loud bonk! sound.
Visit PILA to get deeply lost in the heart of wild Panama, and you’ll find nothing to distract you from the natural beauty thriving there in abundance.
TAGS: Adventure Birding Ecosystems Flora & Fauna Hiking Indigenous People Nature Panama
