Coiba Island, Panama.
The wake up call announced that we had arrived at our destination after navigating around 120 nautical miles. The sun was giving us a welcome to Panama with its first rays. What spectacular scenery! The calm waters of the Pacific were washing the Shore of Coiba Island. Coiba Island was declared a National Park in the late 80’s and was protected by law on November of 2004. It covers an area of 271,000 hectares of which only 52,000 are mainland. The rest is marine area. The second biggest coral reef of the Eastern Pacific is found among the limits of this park. This island was used as a penal colony since the beginning of the 1900’s. After being declared a park, the prison’s camps were closed and the prisoners sent to other jails. Because of its history as a prison, the island had been kept pristine and isolated from visitors.
Several early risers were ready to take the Zodiacs for an early birding outing at the headquarters of the park. As we arrived at the headquarters, we began to experience the wonders and beauty of this park. A red brocket deer called “Sara” was wandering around the camp. An endemic species of agouti was foraging close to the shore and getting ready for his duty in the forest: “seed disperser.” Crimson-backed tanagers, red-legged honeycreepers, red-crowned woodpeckers, palm tanagers, streaked flycatchers, Panama flycatchers and many other species of birds showed up for our wonderful birding morning.
Back on board for breakfast, we repositioned the Sea Voyager close to a little islet, similar to a Gary Larson comic; “Granito de Oro.” Snorkeling gear in hand, we went ashore to enjoy the wonders of the marine life around this little paradise. While some went kayaking, others had hermit crab races and others just went to see what the area had to offer in the sea. A white-tipped reef shark, bicolor parrotfish, octopus, hawk billed turtle, box fish, Moorish idols, and many other species of fishes showed up for our delight.
We could have had stayed here forever, but our trip had to continue. A few pantropical spotted dolphins escorted us as we left behind this paradise. We had to sail the rest of the day to reach our next destinations in Panama: Otoque and Bona Islands, and the Panama Canal!
The wake up call announced that we had arrived at our destination after navigating around 120 nautical miles. The sun was giving us a welcome to Panama with its first rays. What spectacular scenery! The calm waters of the Pacific were washing the Shore of Coiba Island. Coiba Island was declared a National Park in the late 80’s and was protected by law on November of 2004. It covers an area of 271,000 hectares of which only 52,000 are mainland. The rest is marine area. The second biggest coral reef of the Eastern Pacific is found among the limits of this park. This island was used as a penal colony since the beginning of the 1900’s. After being declared a park, the prison’s camps were closed and the prisoners sent to other jails. Because of its history as a prison, the island had been kept pristine and isolated from visitors.
Several early risers were ready to take the Zodiacs for an early birding outing at the headquarters of the park. As we arrived at the headquarters, we began to experience the wonders and beauty of this park. A red brocket deer called “Sara” was wandering around the camp. An endemic species of agouti was foraging close to the shore and getting ready for his duty in the forest: “seed disperser.” Crimson-backed tanagers, red-legged honeycreepers, red-crowned woodpeckers, palm tanagers, streaked flycatchers, Panama flycatchers and many other species of birds showed up for our wonderful birding morning.
Back on board for breakfast, we repositioned the Sea Voyager close to a little islet, similar to a Gary Larson comic; “Granito de Oro.” Snorkeling gear in hand, we went ashore to enjoy the wonders of the marine life around this little paradise. While some went kayaking, others had hermit crab races and others just went to see what the area had to offer in the sea. A white-tipped reef shark, bicolor parrotfish, octopus, hawk billed turtle, box fish, Moorish idols, and many other species of fishes showed up for our delight.
We could have had stayed here forever, but our trip had to continue. A few pantropical spotted dolphins escorted us as we left behind this paradise. We had to sail the rest of the day to reach our next destinations in Panama: Otoque and Bona Islands, and the Panama Canal!
