Otoque & Bona Islets and Panama Canal, Panama

After recap last night, December 31st, our Expedition Leader checked with us on what we would prefer to do: celebrate New Year’s Eve while we were cruising (cruising “Punta Mala” no less) or hold the festivities and celebrate as we crossed the Panama Canal having Champagne, eating grapes (traditional in many Latin American countries) and making a lot of noise. This was put to vote, and without any doubt the celebration was moved for today! Democracy is an interesting thing!!

After navigating the 190 nautical miles of the rolling Pacific Ocean to the rich water of the Gulf of Panama, we dropped anchor at three islets full of nesting seabirds. These great amounts of birds are due to a very interesting feature: upwelling. The Northeasterly trade winds blow over the Gulf, pushing surface waters away; nutrient-rich waters from below up well to replace them, bringing about an extremely high productivity that forms the basis of a complex web of life. Thousands of seabirds take advantage of this phenomenon and nest all through the islands of the Gulf of Panama.

As our appointment with the Panama Canal Authorities for the transit of the National Geographic Sea Lion was for 3 pm, we had time for Zodiac cruises around the islands where brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds and brown boobies were nesting in large numbers. We also spotted some blue-footed boobies. To our surprise, not only marine birds were spotted today, but two whales where seen from our Zodiacs, probably the very elusive Bryde’s whale. We waited to see if they would surface again, but we had to accept the fact that they were not in a social mood.

After lunch and after cruising the 22 miles from the islands to the mainland, we arrived at the entrance of the Panama Canal. We waited for the pilot of the Panama Canal Authorities to come aboard, and we started our cruise across the narrowest part of the Central American Isthmus, as the Bridge of the Americas welcomed us.

We went under the Bridge of the Americas, beginning our Panama Canal Transit. After the Miraflores Locks, the first set of locks on the Pacific Ocean, we welcomed and celebrated another New Year! The incredible tungsten lights of the Canal, the thrill of finally crossing it and the new friends we had to celebrate the New Year with, have made for a memorable New Year’s Eve and a memorable trip.