Pacheca & Pachequilla Island
After having an interesting day in Barro Colorado Island we went to Pacheca and Pachequilla in the Pearl Islands on board National Geographic Sea Lion. This archipelago was explored by the Spanish in 1513 and was called King Island in honor of King Fernando from Spain.
The chronicles of this place tell us the indigenous chief decorated the floor with pearls and they called this area the gift from the ocean. From here come the three largest pearls in the world; one called the mermaid and the other the peregrine, which is the most famous because Richard Burton bought it for his wife Elizabeth Taylor.
We had a beautiful sunrise, with the birds were flying everywhere and, as they say, coming and looking at us. There were hundreds of birds, including the magnificent frigatebird, among many more.
Brown pelicans, yellow crowned night herons, brown boobies, and blue footed boobies were spotted during the Zodiac rides. We could even see also the chicks of these birds and how the parents cared for them.
We had the opportunity to see how the magnificent frigatebirds were stealing fish from smaller birds, like the boobies, which was a really exciting moment, because we only saw things like that on television programs.
On one island we saw a Catholic symbol of the Madonna, which the local people call the queen of the seas. Every year in Panama we have a marine procession where many fishing boats follow the virgin per almost four hours.
We returned to the ship and had an excellent breakfast provided by the staff of the National Geographic Sea Lion. We lifted our anchor and headed toward Coiba Island and on our way there, one of our naturalist guides saw in the distance a whale shark near the surface. The ship stopped, trying to look but not seen, and to our surprise a green turtle appeared on the side of the ship saying to us “I’m not the big critter but you can take my photo too.”
We had a great lunch onboard and during the afternoon enjoyed the beautiful sunshine.
