Coiba Island, Panama
We were welcomed to Panama by a lovely sunrise after sailing through the night from Costa Rica. The sun began to show the newest National Park in Panama, Isla Coiba National Park. With 271,000 hectares of which only 50,000 are land, this park has the second biggest coral reef in the eastern Pacific.
Some of us departed for early birdwatching, eager to explore what the area could offer us. We arrived at the park headquarters and Sara, a red brocket deer, greeted us with her indifferent attitude while she had a delicious breakfast of grass. Bananaquits, blue-gray tanagers, red-lored parrots, sulphur-bellied flycatchers, and red-crowned woodpeckers were some of the many birds that enjoyed our visit to the park headquarters. While birding, we could hear in the distance the island’s endemic species of howler monkey, Alouatta coibensis. This paradise of Coiba Island has been kept pristine due to being used has a penal colony since the early 1900s. Once it was created a National Park and being protected by law, the prisoners were relocated to different jails around the country.
We returned for breakfast while the Sea Voyager repositioned close to a small islet known as “Granito de Oro,” little grain of gold. Honoring its name, this place offered a good site for different activities – we spent the morning snorkeling and swimming, others kayaking, while others just decided to sit and enjoy this spectacular place.
Back on board we lifted anchor and started sailing towards the bay of Panama. 190 nautical miles had to be covered before reaching our next destination. A pod of Pantropical spotted dolphins escorted the ship, bow riding, while a few green sea turtles gave us the farewell to Coiba National Park. What a wonderful day!
We were welcomed to Panama by a lovely sunrise after sailing through the night from Costa Rica. The sun began to show the newest National Park in Panama, Isla Coiba National Park. With 271,000 hectares of which only 50,000 are land, this park has the second biggest coral reef in the eastern Pacific.
Some of us departed for early birdwatching, eager to explore what the area could offer us. We arrived at the park headquarters and Sara, a red brocket deer, greeted us with her indifferent attitude while she had a delicious breakfast of grass. Bananaquits, blue-gray tanagers, red-lored parrots, sulphur-bellied flycatchers, and red-crowned woodpeckers were some of the many birds that enjoyed our visit to the park headquarters. While birding, we could hear in the distance the island’s endemic species of howler monkey, Alouatta coibensis. This paradise of Coiba Island has been kept pristine due to being used has a penal colony since the early 1900s. Once it was created a National Park and being protected by law, the prisoners were relocated to different jails around the country.
We returned for breakfast while the Sea Voyager repositioned close to a small islet known as “Granito de Oro,” little grain of gold. Honoring its name, this place offered a good site for different activities – we spent the morning snorkeling and swimming, others kayaking, while others just decided to sit and enjoy this spectacular place.
Back on board we lifted anchor and started sailing towards the bay of Panama. 190 nautical miles had to be covered before reaching our next destination. A pod of Pantropical spotted dolphins escorted the ship, bow riding, while a few green sea turtles gave us the farewell to Coiba National Park. What a wonderful day!
