Isla de Coiba and Granito del Oro, Panama
We slipped away from the shores of Costa Rica during the night taking along memories of large mandibled birds and exotic flowers. Shortly after a gorgeous sunrise that promised that the day would be a scorcher, we dropped anchor close to a tiny rocky island with what looked like a few coconut trees and other green dense shrubs and trees. The sandy beach spread out invitingly in front and more huge rocks broke the surface of the clear warm water. We had traveled all night to get to our new destination and that would be the largest island of Panama. Coiba is Panama’s newest national park and includes 493 square miles of pristine and spectacular natural beauty. In 1991 Coiba, which until this year had been the site of a large federal penal colony, became the centerpiece of a 270,000 hectare national park, over 80% of which is oceanic. It seems that the Panamanian government has plans for keeping this area as intact as possible.
Our “little grain of gold”, which is the literal translation, was waiting for us to come ashore and explore. Once ashore, we discovered that the sand and island was writhing with hermit crabs. These little crabs carry their homes on their back wherever they go and they were everywhere! While the first group of snorkelers set off to check out the waters the rest were off to hike the main island of Coiba. They were not disappointed. There were sightings of a Lance-tailed Manakin and a Blue-throated Goldentail Hummingbird while the Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds performed their acrobatic displays above.
Back on our little speck of sand that was fast disappearing with the incoming tide, the snorkelers were having the time of their life. Puffers, angelfish and groupers were just a sampling of the exotic species of fish that thrive here in this small but dynamic coral reef system of the eastern Pacific.
Sadly, we moved away from our paradise island in search of a new destination. While underway we spotted numerous Olive-Ridley Sea Turtles and Green Turtles as well and even a pod of Pilot Whales! What an incredible first day in the country of Panama.
We slipped away from the shores of Costa Rica during the night taking along memories of large mandibled birds and exotic flowers. Shortly after a gorgeous sunrise that promised that the day would be a scorcher, we dropped anchor close to a tiny rocky island with what looked like a few coconut trees and other green dense shrubs and trees. The sandy beach spread out invitingly in front and more huge rocks broke the surface of the clear warm water. We had traveled all night to get to our new destination and that would be the largest island of Panama. Coiba is Panama’s newest national park and includes 493 square miles of pristine and spectacular natural beauty. In 1991 Coiba, which until this year had been the site of a large federal penal colony, became the centerpiece of a 270,000 hectare national park, over 80% of which is oceanic. It seems that the Panamanian government has plans for keeping this area as intact as possible.
Our “little grain of gold”, which is the literal translation, was waiting for us to come ashore and explore. Once ashore, we discovered that the sand and island was writhing with hermit crabs. These little crabs carry their homes on their back wherever they go and they were everywhere! While the first group of snorkelers set off to check out the waters the rest were off to hike the main island of Coiba. They were not disappointed. There were sightings of a Lance-tailed Manakin and a Blue-throated Goldentail Hummingbird while the Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds performed their acrobatic displays above.
Back on our little speck of sand that was fast disappearing with the incoming tide, the snorkelers were having the time of their life. Puffers, angelfish and groupers were just a sampling of the exotic species of fish that thrive here in this small but dynamic coral reef system of the eastern Pacific.
Sadly, we moved away from our paradise island in search of a new destination. While underway we spotted numerous Olive-Ridley Sea Turtles and Green Turtles as well and even a pod of Pilot Whales! What an incredible first day in the country of Panama.
