Otoque and Bona Island, Bay of Panama
While the sun was rising, the Sea Voyager remained at anchor behind Otoque Island. We had arrived during the night after having a wonderful transit through the Panama Canal. So as soon as we heard the wake up call, we were anxious to go up to the decks to enjoy the beautiful sunrise. While some began their daily stretching exercises, others were getting their gear ready to go out on the Zodiac cruise to see what nature had to show today.
The names of Otoque and Bona come from ancient Indian chiefs that settled in these areas. These days, there are fishing villages on the Island of Otoque. During the colonial time, several pirates and privateers used these places as headquarters to plan their attacks on the Spanish Galleons that usually came loaded with gold and silver from either South America or the pacific side of Central America. The islands are known also as the nesting place of magnificent frigatebirds, brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies and brown boobies.
So right after breakfast some of us took Zodiacs to explore the area while others went on kayaks to enjoy the morning. This area is one of the best places in which deep ocean water upwelling can be seen. Lots of pelicans were plunge diving while frigatebirds were waiting for the best opportunities take food from them. Blue-footed boobies, on the other hand, were giving a good performance of their mating ritual and their blue feet were the best evidence of their marvelous dance.
It indeed was a spectacular morning kayaking around and visiting the nesting places, but we had to keep on going. Back on board, we lifted our anchor and started on our way. Nature had been very kind for letting us enjoy these wonderful scenes. A leatherback turtle decided to escort us for a while as we sailed. 190 nautical miles were still to be covered before we could reach our next destination: Coiba Island!
While the sun was rising, the Sea Voyager remained at anchor behind Otoque Island. We had arrived during the night after having a wonderful transit through the Panama Canal. So as soon as we heard the wake up call, we were anxious to go up to the decks to enjoy the beautiful sunrise. While some began their daily stretching exercises, others were getting their gear ready to go out on the Zodiac cruise to see what nature had to show today.
The names of Otoque and Bona come from ancient Indian chiefs that settled in these areas. These days, there are fishing villages on the Island of Otoque. During the colonial time, several pirates and privateers used these places as headquarters to plan their attacks on the Spanish Galleons that usually came loaded with gold and silver from either South America or the pacific side of Central America. The islands are known also as the nesting place of magnificent frigatebirds, brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies and brown boobies.
So right after breakfast some of us took Zodiacs to explore the area while others went on kayaks to enjoy the morning. This area is one of the best places in which deep ocean water upwelling can be seen. Lots of pelicans were plunge diving while frigatebirds were waiting for the best opportunities take food from them. Blue-footed boobies, on the other hand, were giving a good performance of their mating ritual and their blue feet were the best evidence of their marvelous dance.
It indeed was a spectacular morning kayaking around and visiting the nesting places, but we had to keep on going. Back on board, we lifted our anchor and started on our way. Nature had been very kind for letting us enjoy these wonderful scenes. A leatherback turtle decided to escort us for a while as we sailed. 190 nautical miles were still to be covered before we could reach our next destination: Coiba Island!
