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Covering 4000 square kilometres of rugged, forested mountains on either side of the border with Costa Rica, Parque Internacional La Amistad forms a crucial link in the "biological corridor" of protected areas running the length of Central America. Encompassing some nine life zones, the park supports an incredible biodiversity, including more than four hundred different bird species, making it the most important park in Panama after Darien. Although almost all the Panamanian section of the park is in Bocas del Toro, it is only accessible from the Pacific side of the country. To get to the park from Cerro Punta, walk or take a minibus to Las Nubes , a few kilometres away down the well-signposted side road. There's a permanently staffed park office here, where you must pay the US$3 admission charge; they also have an exhibition centre and a refuge (US$5 per night) - bring your own food and, ideally, a sleeping bag, as it gets cold at night. There are two well-marked trails , with miradores offering excellent views of the four highest mountains in Panama (at least before the cloud descends) and a 55m waterfall, but though it teems with birds, the forest immediately around Las Nubes is secondary growth. The area was heavily deforested in the early 1980s when one of Noriega's cronies established an illegal cattle ranch here - the park office was his holiday home - and is only just beginning to recover. Longer trails lead into the virgin cloudforest further away, but you'll need to get one of the park guards to guide you, which they're usually happy to do.
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