Boca Grande and Granito de Oro, Isla de Coiba, Panama
We stood on the back deck wiping the sleep from our eyes and eagerly anticipated the Zodiac cruise in the river of Boca Grande. The sky was just turning pink as we pulled away and headed up the river. The kayakers got an earlier start and they rhythmically paddled away from the beach and up the river. The reports that came back from the mornings’ sojourn included sightings of a red brocket deer, ibis, mealy and red-lored parrots and iguanas.
After a delicious buffet lunch that was served in the lounge, we made preparations to go ashore at our next destination—Granito de Oro. This little collection of sand and coconut trees is one of the many representatives that make up the archipelago of islands in Coiba National Park, a protected marine environment where formerly only 160 hectares of coral reefs were believed to exist.
The day was gloriously hot and everyone was ready to get wet. I grabbed the underwater housing for the digital video camera and was eager to capture some video footage. I was not disappointed! One of our snorkelers up above on the surface waved at me and indicated that she had seen two sharks and off I went to find them. Sure enough, there was a white-tipped reef shark and another and another to a total count of five sharks! I was so excited that I tried to film in the standby mode of the camera! After quickly rectifying that little detail, I set out to get some lovely images of this graceful animal. I finally had to pull myself away because it was time to head back to our ship.
And for those that missed seeing the ballet of the sharks, they got a close encounter of the shark kind as we played back the footage in the lounge on our plasma screen while they sipped their favorite beverages and stayed dry. What a day! Tomorrow, we enter the country of Costa Rica and who knows what marvelous adventures she will share with us.
We stood on the back deck wiping the sleep from our eyes and eagerly anticipated the Zodiac cruise in the river of Boca Grande. The sky was just turning pink as we pulled away and headed up the river. The kayakers got an earlier start and they rhythmically paddled away from the beach and up the river. The reports that came back from the mornings’ sojourn included sightings of a red brocket deer, ibis, mealy and red-lored parrots and iguanas.
After a delicious buffet lunch that was served in the lounge, we made preparations to go ashore at our next destination—Granito de Oro. This little collection of sand and coconut trees is one of the many representatives that make up the archipelago of islands in Coiba National Park, a protected marine environment where formerly only 160 hectares of coral reefs were believed to exist.
The day was gloriously hot and everyone was ready to get wet. I grabbed the underwater housing for the digital video camera and was eager to capture some video footage. I was not disappointed! One of our snorkelers up above on the surface waved at me and indicated that she had seen two sharks and off I went to find them. Sure enough, there was a white-tipped reef shark and another and another to a total count of five sharks! I was so excited that I tried to film in the standby mode of the camera! After quickly rectifying that little detail, I set out to get some lovely images of this graceful animal. I finally had to pull myself away because it was time to head back to our ship.
And for those that missed seeing the ballet of the sharks, they got a close encounter of the shark kind as we played back the footage in the lounge on our plasma screen while they sipped their favorite beverages and stayed dry. What a day! Tomorrow, we enter the country of Costa Rica and who knows what marvelous adventures she will share with us.
