Otoque, Boná & Iguana Island
After the transit through the Panama Canal the Sea Voyager spent the night sheltered between Otoque, Bona and Estiva, a group of islands in the bay of Panama that rise 23 nautical miles away of Panama City. A lovely sunrise gradually revealed the islands. Sea birds began to soar in the sky. Birds with a very wide wingspan were gliding as they looked for their early breakfast and embellished our picture of the area.
The Bay of Panama is well known because of the “up welling”. Trade winds blow the warm surface water allowing the cold current from the bottom to rise with a richness of nutrients. This event allows many sea birds to nest close to their food supplies.
Just before breakfast, we went to explore the surrounding islands. Brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies and blue-footed boobies are the species that nest in the area. They offered us spectacular scenery. We saw several brown booby hatchlings being fed by their parents. Frigatebirds were harassing the pelicans and boobies, too.
Back on board, we commented about what we had seen this morning. The Sea Voyager weighed anchor and navigated to our next destination of the day. Isla Iguana is a wildlife refuge where one can appreciate the regenerating coral reefs and colorful fish. Isla Iguana is another island chosen by frigatebirds as a nesting site for its safe distance from the main land.
We arrived in the afternoon. As soon as the anchor was dropped, we pick up our gear and went ashore. A nice white sand beach loaded with hermit crabs greeted us. Some of us went for a hike around the island, looking for nesting frigatebird, and others could not resist and just dived to explore the waters of the island. The coral reef showed the scars of the military practices, but nature showed its healing powers. Surgeonfish, parrotfish and hawks billed sea turtles paraded for us.
This seemed like a great place to stay, yet our other destinations promise great appeal on our expedition. A lovely sunset gave us the farewell while we left behind another piece of paradise on this trip.
