Isla Coiba & Granito de Oro, Panama
Early risers went ashore on Coiba Island for bird watching. Our luck with birds could hardly be any better. The streaked saltator, crimson backed tanagers, red crowned woodpecker, mealy and red lore parrots, roadside hawk, yellow headed caracaras are only a few of the birds we saw on a deafening bird watching outing. Not only birds flew amongst the trees that we visited, as there were hundreds of loud cicadas performing their desperate mating call.
We could see the effects of the species trapped on an island after the Ice Age. Yellow faced grassquits generally inhabit higher elevations, but they occur at sea level at Coiba. The Coiba agoutis, once the same species found in Central America has been isolated long enough to have become a new species and so did the Coiba spinetail.
After the experiences that could easily fill one day’s activities, we were only coming back to the ship to have breakfast while the ship repositioned closer to Granito de Oro (a small island in the Coiba National Park), where a spectacular underwater world is found in this wonderful marine ecosystem that includes the second largest coral reef in the Eastern Pacific.
Zebra, jewel, spotted and green morays, white tipped sharks and other colorful reef fish had us very excited. While some people had the unique opportunity to swim among the pan tropical spotted dolphins, the hawksbill turtle and the rare chance of seeing a seahorse kept others very entertained.
In the afternoon, we explored another side of this marine preserve and later we took the possibility to enjoy more of the flora and the fauna of the island on kayaks and Zodiac cruises.
Early risers went ashore on Coiba Island for bird watching. Our luck with birds could hardly be any better. The streaked saltator, crimson backed tanagers, red crowned woodpecker, mealy and red lore parrots, roadside hawk, yellow headed caracaras are only a few of the birds we saw on a deafening bird watching outing. Not only birds flew amongst the trees that we visited, as there were hundreds of loud cicadas performing their desperate mating call.
We could see the effects of the species trapped on an island after the Ice Age. Yellow faced grassquits generally inhabit higher elevations, but they occur at sea level at Coiba. The Coiba agoutis, once the same species found in Central America has been isolated long enough to have become a new species and so did the Coiba spinetail.
After the experiences that could easily fill one day’s activities, we were only coming back to the ship to have breakfast while the ship repositioned closer to Granito de Oro (a small island in the Coiba National Park), where a spectacular underwater world is found in this wonderful marine ecosystem that includes the second largest coral reef in the Eastern Pacific.
Zebra, jewel, spotted and green morays, white tipped sharks and other colorful reef fish had us very excited. While some people had the unique opportunity to swim among the pan tropical spotted dolphins, the hawksbill turtle and the rare chance of seeing a seahorse kept others very entertained.
In the afternoon, we explored another side of this marine preserve and later we took the possibility to enjoy more of the flora and the fauna of the island on kayaks and Zodiac cruises.
