National Geographic Sea Lion sailed throughout the night from the Bay of Panama. The northern trade winds had brought her to a lovely west corner of the Gulf of Panama. The sound of the anchor being dropped indicated the she had arrived to our morning destination: Isla Iguana Wildlife Refuge, in the Azuero Peninsula.
It was still dark when a group of our explorers decided to go ashore and wait for the sunrise. They left geared with tripods, cameras, lenses and a great will to explore the shores of the island. The white sand, hermit crabs and hundreds frigate birds soaring welcomed to the refuge.
They rush to set up the cameras and waited for the sun to rise. Beautiful orange colored sunrays began to appear as the cameras began to snap. Shooter speeds, aperture settings, white balance, exposures were the most common words heard among these photographers. What a delight they had as nature began to reveal itself for them. After a while they realized that it was time to return to the ship for breakfast.
One by one began to board the expedition landing crafts and head back to the ship. Those who had stayed onboard questioned them that how the trip had been. On their faces, a smile was the evidence that waking up early had been worth the sacrifice.
Right after breakfast, we all went ashore to enjoy the beach. There were different options of activities. Short hikes to nesting areas of sea birds, kayaking and snorkeling were the best options to enjoy this paradise. Everybody enjoyed the visit to this paradise – from taking pictures of yellow warblers, spiny tailed iguanas to snorkeling along the reef.
We returned back on board for lunch and weight anchor. We had to cover around 130 nautical miles in order to reach to our following day destination. As we cruised, we gathered in the lounge to share our thoughts and to enjoy presentations given by our expedition staff. It was another day in the paradise of Panama.
