The Canopy Family

Founded in 1999 by Panamanian nature lover Raul Arias de Para, The Canopy Family is a Panama-based ecotourism company that operates three lodges purpose-built for birders: the Canopy Tower (a converted U.S. radar installation that rises above the rainforest of Soberanía National Park), the Canopy Lodge in the El Valle de Antón crater, and the Canopy Camp in the lowland Darién near the end of the Pan-American Highway. The Canopy Family employs a roster of bilingual Panamanian guides, including longtime senior guide Carlos Bethancourt, and is recognised as one of Latin America's flagship birding lodge operators. The combined property bird list approaches 600 species, and tours range from short stays at a single lodge to multi-week itineraries that link all three properties for canal-zone, highland and Darién birding. The organisation also partners with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and explore.org on live feeder webcams, and has won repeated recognition for sustainable tourism, including a Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice award and Terra Incognita's ethical ecotour ranking.