Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ANAM office
The regional ANAM office (Mon-Fri 8am-4pm; 299 4495), where you
need to pay the $10 national park entry fee, lies 100m beyond the SENAFRONT barracks.
They can also advise on hiring a guide if you have not done so in advance.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Travellers heading to the Parque Nacional Darién should note that Yaviza is a better place to
stock up with
supplies
than El Real. After 7.30pm, you'll be unlikely to unearth anywhere
serving food.
Hotel Yadarien
50m along the pavement from the wharf 6757 6186.
This is the town's
best accommodation, but basic; its grubby twenty rooms contain beds in varying states of
repair, with fan or a/c and cable TV ($9 extra) and private ba
thro
oms. A small first-floor bal-
cony affords a prime view of happenings in the street below.
$15
Restaurante Oderay
40m along the pavement from the wharf.
This reasonable eating option
dishes up a decent plate of fried chicken or fish (and has a good toilet).
Daily 7am-7pm.
Parque Nacional Darién
Outranking all of Panama's national parks in both size and reputation, the
PARQUE
NACIONAL DARIÉN
is nevertheless one of the least visited protected areas in the country
- reaching the refuge at Rancho Frío requires considerable organization - yet the awe-inspir-
ing greenery, laced with rivers and waterfalls, all rich in wildlife, is well worth the time and
money, providing a truly magical experience.
Created in 1972 and, at 5790 square kilometres, the most expansive protected area in Central
America, the park hugs the Colombian border, a forested carpet rising from the mangroves,
coastal lagoons and deserted beaches of the Pacific, rippling over the volcanic ranges of the
Serranía del Sapo and Cordillera de Jungurudó northeast to the park's highest point of Cerro
Tacarcuna (1875m) on the continental divide of the Serranía del Darién, and stopping just
short of the Caribbean coast. Numerous important rivers scythe their way through the green
mantle, including the Tuira, Sambú and Balsas.
Now that hiking the Darién Gap has been consigned to history,
visiting the national park
these days means going on a
guided tour
(see
Organized tour
) and staying at the only per-
