Day 18 – Panama (Kumana National Park)
Today we left Lagoon Cabanas early in the morning to leave for Kumana National Park, which was arranged by our accommodation. The young driver rocked up in a safari jeep just after 5am. We left the Navy Base and drove around 30 minutes to Kumana National Park. We actually went for the cheaper option of not taking a tour guide, only because we had to wait for another 30 minutes for the guide to rock up. Also I am super cheap =P
At Kumana we had to wait around until the staff arrived so we could enter the park. Once there we had the typical issue with foreign and local rates. After the Ranger made a call to his supervisor, they agreed to give us local rates.
We drove around the park for a few hours, stopping for a lunch break near the bird sanctuary. The main draw card was elephants, which we only saw near the end of the tour. But we saw heaps of other animals including, monkeys, deers, crocodiles, Malabar Pied Hornbills (my favourite) and oxes. I must give credit to the driver who was able to drive and spot animals all over the park from a distance and drive right up to them.
After the tour, we returned to the Lagoon Cabanas and chilled our for the rest of the day.