Coiba Island, Panama
Our last day in Panama could not have been any better! Coiba Island is the largest island on the Pacific coast of Central America and also one of the most pristine pieces of forest remaining in all of Panama. The reason for this may not be the most conservationist oriented of all, but still worked to keep the area virtually untouched… For many decades, Coiba Island was used by the Panamanian government as a prison for some of the most wanted criminals! With this fame, the island was not developed and by the time people thought it would be a great area to develop, the place had already been declared a national park. Due to these unique circumstances, we were able to visit today relatively untouched forests. Mangrove estuaries were the event of the morning, either by kayak or Zodiac, we explored the waters of the river on the southeast of the island: Boca Grande River. Howler monkeys, brocket deer, crocodiles, bat falcons and other species of animals were part of the entertainment!!
But everyone must agree that the highlight of the day was a tiny, caricaturesque tropical paradise, maybe twice the size of our ship, called Granito de Oro. With a name that fits it properly, the Little Grain of Gold, this area delighted all of us with a rich and colorful underwater kingdom. We were enchanted by the brightly colored bicolor parrotfish, polka-dotted Guinea fowl puffer fish, scary white-tipped reef shark, slippery snake eel, and many others. The blue colors of the water soon gave way to burgundy red skies and we had to leave Panama to head off to the second country of our journey: Costa Rica.
Our last day in Panama could not have been any better! Coiba Island is the largest island on the Pacific coast of Central America and also one of the most pristine pieces of forest remaining in all of Panama. The reason for this may not be the most conservationist oriented of all, but still worked to keep the area virtually untouched… For many decades, Coiba Island was used by the Panamanian government as a prison for some of the most wanted criminals! With this fame, the island was not developed and by the time people thought it would be a great area to develop, the place had already been declared a national park. Due to these unique circumstances, we were able to visit today relatively untouched forests. Mangrove estuaries were the event of the morning, either by kayak or Zodiac, we explored the waters of the river on the southeast of the island: Boca Grande River. Howler monkeys, brocket deer, crocodiles, bat falcons and other species of animals were part of the entertainment!!
But everyone must agree that the highlight of the day was a tiny, caricaturesque tropical paradise, maybe twice the size of our ship, called Granito de Oro. With a name that fits it properly, the Little Grain of Gold, this area delighted all of us with a rich and colorful underwater kingdom. We were enchanted by the brightly colored bicolor parrotfish, polka-dotted Guinea fowl puffer fish, scary white-tipped reef shark, slippery snake eel, and many others. The blue colors of the water soon gave way to burgundy red skies and we had to leave Panama to head off to the second country of our journey: Costa Rica.
