finca dracula

The beauty and serenity of this rainforest garden is simply breathtaking. Situated on a rocky road on a hillside in Guadaloupe, Panama, we enjoyed two wonderful hours here. Our guide Nadia did a wonderful job showing us many of the 2000 orchids on the grounds along with a multitude of other flora and fauna, streams, waterfalls and ponds. We also we able to see some of the stunning Quetzal birds and hummingbirds were everywhere. The drive to get there takes you through some magnificent hills and valleys and it is a most enjoyable way to spend and afternoon. Don't forget to stop at one of the many stands along the route to get your fresh vegetables.

For garden enthusiasts as well as orchid devotees, this is very unique place. The true challenge is getting there! Unpaved driveway full of gigantic rocks and potholes would even be tough on those who wanted to walk to save the wear and tear on the vehicle. But in season it would truly be worth whatever aggravation presented by the drive up beyond volcan Baru. This orchid collection is one of the worlds best with over 2200 species including the national flower of Panama the holy ghost orchid. But almost all of the orchids were NOT in bloom when we visited mid-January; yes, there were some, and plenty of other flowers, but we went to see orchids. The small nursery does have quite a few in bloom and good display of the sanctuary's research for propagation and preservation of especially rare species. The several hundred hectares of garden area have quite a bit of up and down steps as well as semi-manicured paths twisting around the display areas including semi-covered seating for resting. But at approx. 10,000 feet above sea level, this can be tiring so bring water for drinking, as it can be humid and rainy and/or windy as well. No way is this a place for children or strollers or the height-fearful. However, the views on the drive up the western side of the volcano area are glorious with mountains covered with dozens of shades of green, depending upon which crops are under cultivation. The area all around has dozens of farms (finca) raising mostly vegetables but yard after yard have abundance of flowers, flowering shrubs, lovely wild flowers and grasses, many in somewhat wild state instead of highly cultivated.

Greeted by our lovely tour guide Nadia, we were escorted through the most lush, beautiful and surreal tropical garden. A stunning delight not to be missed!

If you are a botany enthusiast or if you want to have your mind blown regardless, you should certainly pay Finca Dracula a visit. It has an astounding diversity of plant species with flowers so beautiful and unique they almost don`t seem real. There is a nursery where you can see the aptly named Dracula orchid, among others. We then walked around the property which is essentially a giant garden with plenty more beautiful flowers. Saw a couple species of hummingbirds as well. One thing to keep in mind, if coming from Boquete, although Cerro Punta is just on the other side of Volcan Baru, the bus goes all the way down to David, only to hook back up to the west of the volcano. So what seems like an hour journey was about 2.5hrs. So leave early, because it is worth the long drive.

I like flowers and always thought orchids were nice, but after seeing Finca Dracula, I am in love with orchids. The variety and beauty took my breath away and the setting is gorgeous and very well done, so you feel the nature of the area and it is really quite magical. My guide, Nadia was brilliant and apart from being very knowledgeable, she is also charming, speaks excellent English and she made the experience even more delightful. If you like flowers, a must see... Go and fall in love with the myriad of orchids and be sure not to miss the monkey-face orchid, which is amazing.

Oscar Pena from Explore Ya in Boquete took us to Finca Dracula in Cerro Punta, Panama. Set in beautiful grounds, the farm has a huge collection of orchids, including many of the rare Dracula genus. The employee who showed us around was very knowledgable and passionate about orchids. While strolling the gardens, we were pleased to meet Billy the pot-bellied pig that lives on the farm. All in all a delightful and worthwhile visit.

We drove from Volcan up to Cerro Punta, then onto a rough road before arriving at gorgeous Finca Dracula. A US$ 10.00 entrance fee gave us access to an exquisite botanical garden with thousands of orchids. A knowledgeable guide accompanied us, showing and explaining the immense variety of orchids in the garden. It was a great visit.

We're staying with family who live in Panama. We decided to visit Finca Dracula (a farm (finca) where they grow beautiful orchids, including Dracula orchids). We called first and got the pricing per person to visit: it was $10.00 per person. We arrived some 40 minutes later only to to told that the "tour guide" was not there that day. The price was reduced to $7.00 per person and thankfully our family had been there enough to show us the orchids (my sister-in-law if very good with orchids and grows many at her home). Evidently, the tour used to be much more inclusive with tourists being allowed into all of the greenhouses, but now, sadly, that is not the case. We were able to go into the area with the Dracula orchids (incredibly beautiful with many varieties), but not into any other of the greenhouses. The grounds are rambling and wonderful to walk through and see the variety of plants they have. We enjoyed ourselves, but wish we could have seen more to be able to understand how they cultivate the orchids.

This was such a surprise. We knew we were going to see orchids as well as the famous Dracula orchid but we hadn't realised what a wonderful visit this would be. The lady who gave us the guided tour was so informative without giving us information overload, we learnt a lot. However it was the garden that made this visit one of the main highlights of the holiday. What a beautiful place, I could have happily spent much longer here. There is a short walk though pleasant surroundings to get here. Even a 4-wheel drive was having difficulty getting up this road, don't even try it!

We parked our car at the bottom of a dirt/rocky road and walked up a hill for maybe 10-15 minutes to Finca Dracula. There were signs along the way; we found the walk a good way to see local agriculture.The finca itself was very interesting. Our goal was to admire orchids but the visit was so much more. The guide spoke excellent English, was so knowledgeable, and was patient with all our questions. We took some trails to see examples of growth in the cloud forest, orchids growing naturally but other vegetation as well. After our walk we spent time with potted orchids, looking at the various species. Very informative and interesting place to visit.

We went to finca Dracula last December and it was awesome. Its required to go on a 4 x 4 because the uphill walk is very rough. "Any Pets that enters the farm will be fed to the draculas" Lol. Thats the entrance message. The property has a fee to access and rent a guide to walk u by through the facility. Good experience!

Seriously, following a short uphill walk (the road is too rough for anything but a four wheel drive), arrived at the gates of Finca Dracula which had a wrought iron bat on top. Very cool! The grounds were absolutely breathtaking. It felt like walking through the jungle, but on a nice pathway. The orchids (many, many orchids!) were beautiful. The guide spoke fluent english and spanish and gave a very educational, interesting talk about orchids. I learned a lot and was shown the actual "dracula" orchid, perhaps named this because its' petals don't like sunlight. All in all, very much worth seeing.

While staying in Los Quetzales, we decided to go and have a look at Finca Dracula, a short walk up the road. You pay 10$/pers entrance fee, but for that money, a guide takes you all around the garden and greenhouses and explains you really a lot about orchids. We had quite some questions and her answers showed that she is an expert. Although we went outside the high season for orchids, there are always real beauties to be seen, so as far as we know, a visit is fascinating in any season. My husband is not into flowers, but also he was impressed after the 1.5h visit.

very beautiful place! Well worth the excursion. Now I feel educated on Orchids. Definately came out with a wealth of knowledge and respect for this variety of plant.

Thus was a true highlight of our trip to Panama actually a few years ago. So many exotic orchids. Young children might get bored, but would love exploring the beautiful grounds. You might get lucky and be there like we did in the only day of the year that a particular type of orchid blooms. You do not realize how many types of orchids there are.....ones that even look like monkeys