Isla Coiba, Panama
After a calm night at sea, we awoke to flat waters and a shining sun over one of the little-known treasures of Panama: Coiba Island. Located in the Gulf of Chiriqui, it is Panama’s largest island and was until very recently the site of a federal penal colony. At first one thinks “why would we want to have anything to do with that?” but this dark history had an unforeseen positive consequence: it stopped the island from being developed and helped it maintain amazingly pristine conditions.
In 1991 it became the centerpiece of a 270,000–hectare national park, over 80% of which is oceanic. Not only is the number of terrestrial species (birds, reptiles, mammals) very high, but there are over 69 species of fish and the island is home to the second-largest eastern Pacific coral reef and amongst the finest snorkelling to be had in this part of the world.
We dropped anchor off the dream-like desert islet of “Granito de Oro” and set off straight after breakfast for a couple of outings on the main island. Whilst the more adventurous took off on a hike through the dense tropical forest, others took a ride to the park warden station for some serious birding, that included an enormous number of tropical species and, as icing on the cake, a magnificent king vulture circling overhead.
The rest of the day was spent lazing on the gorgeous little beach watching thousands of hermit crabs busily at work, snorkelling over dense corals reefs inhabited by myriad brightly coloured reef fish whilst the occasional reef shark or turtle cruised by, or taking kayaks around the islet and back to the ship.
Later on that day we returned to the ship and set off for Costa Rica. We still had a couple of hours of daylight, which we spent of deck looking out for sea life. As the bow of the Sea Voyager ploughed through the flat waters, hundreds of flying fish took off on either side of us, and a couple of green sea turtles were spotted. Just as we prepared to make our way in for a talk on the geology of the isthmus, a shiny back lifted out of the water – a whale! A female minke whale and her calf swam along beside us for ages, offering us tantalizing glimpses of their majestic bodies, then diving down to the mysterious depths, beyond our imagination.
As the sun was setting, our captain, Jorge, called us all out on deck: the conditions were perfect for a green flash – a strange phenomenon many doubt the existence of. We waited with baited breath as the last sliver of sun disappeared below the horizon, and lo and behold! A definite green glow lingered momentarily after the globe disappeared, the atmosphere acting as a prism and separating the different wavelengths of the light.
After a calm night at sea, we awoke to flat waters and a shining sun over one of the little-known treasures of Panama: Coiba Island. Located in the Gulf of Chiriqui, it is Panama’s largest island and was until very recently the site of a federal penal colony. At first one thinks “why would we want to have anything to do with that?” but this dark history had an unforeseen positive consequence: it stopped the island from being developed and helped it maintain amazingly pristine conditions.
In 1991 it became the centerpiece of a 270,000–hectare national park, over 80% of which is oceanic. Not only is the number of terrestrial species (birds, reptiles, mammals) very high, but there are over 69 species of fish and the island is home to the second-largest eastern Pacific coral reef and amongst the finest snorkelling to be had in this part of the world.
We dropped anchor off the dream-like desert islet of “Granito de Oro” and set off straight after breakfast for a couple of outings on the main island. Whilst the more adventurous took off on a hike through the dense tropical forest, others took a ride to the park warden station for some serious birding, that included an enormous number of tropical species and, as icing on the cake, a magnificent king vulture circling overhead.
The rest of the day was spent lazing on the gorgeous little beach watching thousands of hermit crabs busily at work, snorkelling over dense corals reefs inhabited by myriad brightly coloured reef fish whilst the occasional reef shark or turtle cruised by, or taking kayaks around the islet and back to the ship.
Later on that day we returned to the ship and set off for Costa Rica. We still had a couple of hours of daylight, which we spent of deck looking out for sea life. As the bow of the Sea Voyager ploughed through the flat waters, hundreds of flying fish took off on either side of us, and a couple of green sea turtles were spotted. Just as we prepared to make our way in for a talk on the geology of the isthmus, a shiny back lifted out of the water – a whale! A female minke whale and her calf swam along beside us for ages, offering us tantalizing glimpses of their majestic bodies, then diving down to the mysterious depths, beyond our imagination.
As the sun was setting, our captain, Jorge, called us all out on deck: the conditions were perfect for a green flash – a strange phenomenon many doubt the existence of. We waited with baited breath as the last sliver of sun disappeared below the horizon, and lo and behold! A definite green glow lingered momentarily after the globe disappeared, the atmosphere acting as a prism and separating the different wavelengths of the light.
