Isla Coiba & Granito de Oro, Panama

15 years ago Lindblad Expeditions was the first company to venture to the remote yet breathtaking Island of Coiba. Just like 15 years ago, the dozens of dolphins, the sea turtles, reef sharks, mangrove warblers, herons, parrots, giant size palms, mangroves and the wealth of life that cover every crevice and rock of this island were there for the awe of the very few who have the opportunity to come here.

Today the air was as fresh and pure as the first day an expedition vessel arrived here.  From a prison island, Coiba was turned into a Nature World Heritage Site by UNESCO just 2 years ago.

This island has been isolated from mainland for so long that some of its inhabitants had evolved into full new species. It was in a National Geographic expedition in the 1960’s that Alexander Wetmore, renowned ornithologist, found two new species of birds: the Brown-backed Dove and the Coiba Spinetail.

Today the prisoners are all gone home and the island receives visitors who come for its beauty and the abundant wildlife. But it was thanks to the pioneers who proved that science and tourism were an alternative in such a remote place, that Panama protected the waters and other islands that surround Coiba.

Today we enjoyed a good load of that richness that flows from Coiba. We saw from the Pantropical spotted dolphins early in the morning to a huge whale in the late afternoon and from the tiny red-legged honeycreeper to the enormous king vulture. From the thousands of hermit crabs at Granito de Oro to the lonely black hawk who flew in all day long and everywhere you looked around was teaming with life despite the humid 90 degrees.

The largest Island off the shore of the Pacific versant of Central America and its surroundings are protected and serving a more noble purpose to its visitors and it all started with the decision of some few people who saw in this former prison the opportunity to free the human soul into this land of life.