Bona, Otoque and Estivá Islands
After a great night sleep, since the seas were kind to our vessel overnight, our guests on board National Geographic Sea Lion seemed well rested and ready for another wonderful exploration day on Panamanian waters. Our ship made perfect time getting started with the scheduled Zodiac rounds; even earlier than we first thought due to quiet sailing and a nice cruising speed.
Naturally, breakfast is always a very festive occasion celebrated by everyone here! However, many more “early souls” were already active, enjoying coffee in the lounge or getting ready to commence their morning stretching sessions on our upper deck, before the time that Hotel Manager Erasmo announced breakfast time!
The first round of Zodiacs took off for what we believed would be a fantastic bird life observation. The birds were visible by the hundreds from the fantail. Nothing but good news was expected upon return! Everyone had a magnificent view from the Zodiacs that circled these incredibly rich groups of islets located at the entrance of Panama Bay. As we anticipated, everyone was excited to explore the area. Furthermore, our guests spent time encouraging the second round of participants to have a sensational time. A little bit of tropical rain accompanied the second Zodiacs on their way home to National Geographic Sea Lion.
While our guests were waiting for their turn to go, the already famous presentation “A Man, a Plan, a Canal” was shown on the bar lounge. What a great presentation it was and how well done. Everyone enjoyed the movie as a perfect “starter” to open the Panama Canal visit later on.
Lunch was served in the dining room and our guests were happy!
For the rest of the afternoon we waited for the go ahead from the Panama Canal Authority. By the end of the evening, and after some two and a half hours sailing from our last destination, National Geographic Sea Lion was ready to initiate its transit through the canal. This was a very exciting time for our guests, while we were also enjoying the marvelous taste of a dinner typical to the Panama-Costa Rica region. It was hard to decide if we wanted to wait for dinner or not; or perhaps pick up out plate and take it outside and watch as we entered the Panama Canal!
Bon Appetite and we hope you enjoyed the transit through one of the greatest engineering marvels of the world, the Panama Canal.
