Manuel Antonio National Park
We woke up to the sound of the anchor being dropped in front of Manuel Antonio National Park. From the sundeck we could see the gray clouds hiding the sun from above. We thought it would rain and prepared to get wet but the rain never came and instead we had a comfortable temperature for hiking through the trails.
After breakfast we boarded the Zodiacs and landed on the beach where the white foam of the waves were kissing the sand and the roots of the trees. Once on land we chose to go on the short hike through the Sloth Valley or the longer one into Cathedral Point. In both cases we were able to see plenty of wild life: howler monkeys, white faced capuchins, agoutis, raccoons, coatis and someone even saw an anteater. There were also many birds, we saw an osprey catch a fish and then perched on a branch of a Panama tree enjoy its meal. After hiking we were all ready for lunch and went back to the ship for paella.
In the afternoon the sun came out and we went back to the beach for one last swim in the warm waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean.
By 1630 we were all back onboard for a presentation on Central American history and an orientation session for those going on the land post extension. We had time to go to our rooms and start packing our bags. As the sun started to set we went out to see the green flash but it was not the day for that. Instead a humpback whale showed up and breached within about 500 yards from us then it disappeared on the horizon with the sun. It was a grand finale to a great journey that started just a week ago.
We woke up to the sound of the anchor being dropped in front of Manuel Antonio National Park. From the sundeck we could see the gray clouds hiding the sun from above. We thought it would rain and prepared to get wet but the rain never came and instead we had a comfortable temperature for hiking through the trails.
After breakfast we boarded the Zodiacs and landed on the beach where the white foam of the waves were kissing the sand and the roots of the trees. Once on land we chose to go on the short hike through the Sloth Valley or the longer one into Cathedral Point. In both cases we were able to see plenty of wild life: howler monkeys, white faced capuchins, agoutis, raccoons, coatis and someone even saw an anteater. There were also many birds, we saw an osprey catch a fish and then perched on a branch of a Panama tree enjoy its meal. After hiking we were all ready for lunch and went back to the ship for paella.
In the afternoon the sun came out and we went back to the beach for one last swim in the warm waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean.
By 1630 we were all back onboard for a presentation on Central American history and an orientation session for those going on the land post extension. We had time to go to our rooms and start packing our bags. As the sun started to set we went out to see the green flash but it was not the day for that. Instead a humpback whale showed up and breached within about 500 yards from us then it disappeared on the horizon with the sun. It was a grand finale to a great journey that started just a week ago.
