Las Perlas Islands, Panama
There seems to be a direct relationship between moving south and our morning wake-up calls; the further south, the later our breakfast! We finally could sleep in, until 8:00 am! We sat out at the bow, the best place to be on the ship, and what a surprise, it was windy and cold! Some of us had to run down to get our windbreakers or long-sleeved shirts to stand watch for marine life. Our persistence and patience were rewarded with fourteen blue-footed boobies and Pantropical spotted and bottlenose dolphins, which came to ride the bow.
Later, we disembarked onto Contadora Island. This island served as an “accounting house” during the Spanish colony, where they would count the amount of pearls to be shipped to Spain.
The highlights of this day were the two smaller islands of Pacheca and Pachequilla, which harbor hundreds of brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, blue-footed boobies, and Neotropical cormorants. But our favorite sighting was a couple of American oyster catchers (pictured above). We went to bed to the rhythm of salsa, merengue, and cumbia.
There seems to be a direct relationship between moving south and our morning wake-up calls; the further south, the later our breakfast! We finally could sleep in, until 8:00 am! We sat out at the bow, the best place to be on the ship, and what a surprise, it was windy and cold! Some of us had to run down to get our windbreakers or long-sleeved shirts to stand watch for marine life. Our persistence and patience were rewarded with fourteen blue-footed boobies and Pantropical spotted and bottlenose dolphins, which came to ride the bow.
Later, we disembarked onto Contadora Island. This island served as an “accounting house” during the Spanish colony, where they would count the amount of pearls to be shipped to Spain.
The highlights of this day were the two smaller islands of Pacheca and Pachequilla, which harbor hundreds of brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, blue-footed boobies, and Neotropical cormorants. But our favorite sighting was a couple of American oyster catchers (pictured above). We went to bed to the rhythm of salsa, merengue, and cumbia.
