Coiba Marine National Park, Panama
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend our lat day in Panama, than visiting Coiba Marine National Park (Coiba MNP). This 270,000 hectare preserve area is a vital link on a marine corridor that includes several islands in different countries. Cocos island in Costa Rica, Coiba in Panama, Malpelo in Colombia and Galápagos in Ecuador. A marine corridor is used by coral larvae, giant whales, green sea turtles and other sea creatures.
We started the day by riding the Zodiacs to the beach of Granito de Oro, as the name implies, the "little grain of gold". As a dear friend of mine says, "The island could be the inspiration for a cartoonist: white sand, rocky ledges, a couple of palm trees and thousands of hermit crabs every where."
Pedrarias Davila, first governor of Panama in colonial times, wrote the Spanish court about why the first Spanish settlement on the Pacific side of the Americas been called Panama. He said that the meaning of the word Panama in the indigenous language was “abundance of fishes". He could not have been more correct about this fact. Coiba MNP is home of the second largest coral reef in the eastern pacific, sights of Cortez rainbow wrasse, moorish idol, and even a Hawksbill sea turtle were some of the treasures that this little piece of paradise had to share with us.
At noon we said goodbye to Granito de Oro and repositioned to the ranger’s station. We had a delightful BBQ picnic lunch at the station, and while some of us went birding, others just relaxed and watched the crew enjoy a game of futbol (soccer), one of the most popular sports in Latin America. For the birders, sights of crimson-backed tanagers, red legged honey creepers, and the blue-throated golden tail were some of the gifts of nature of the afternoon. A beautiful sunset, cocktails and recaps gave closure to a magnificent last day in Panama. Tomorrow we enter the wonders of Costa Rica.
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend our lat day in Panama, than visiting Coiba Marine National Park (Coiba MNP). This 270,000 hectare preserve area is a vital link on a marine corridor that includes several islands in different countries. Cocos island in Costa Rica, Coiba in Panama, Malpelo in Colombia and Galápagos in Ecuador. A marine corridor is used by coral larvae, giant whales, green sea turtles and other sea creatures.
We started the day by riding the Zodiacs to the beach of Granito de Oro, as the name implies, the "little grain of gold". As a dear friend of mine says, "The island could be the inspiration for a cartoonist: white sand, rocky ledges, a couple of palm trees and thousands of hermit crabs every where."
Pedrarias Davila, first governor of Panama in colonial times, wrote the Spanish court about why the first Spanish settlement on the Pacific side of the Americas been called Panama. He said that the meaning of the word Panama in the indigenous language was “abundance of fishes". He could not have been more correct about this fact. Coiba MNP is home of the second largest coral reef in the eastern pacific, sights of Cortez rainbow wrasse, moorish idol, and even a Hawksbill sea turtle were some of the treasures that this little piece of paradise had to share with us.
At noon we said goodbye to Granito de Oro and repositioned to the ranger’s station. We had a delightful BBQ picnic lunch at the station, and while some of us went birding, others just relaxed and watched the crew enjoy a game of futbol (soccer), one of the most popular sports in Latin America. For the birders, sights of crimson-backed tanagers, red legged honey creepers, and the blue-throated golden tail were some of the gifts of nature of the afternoon. A beautiful sunset, cocktails and recaps gave closure to a magnificent last day in Panama. Tomorrow we enter the wonders of Costa Rica.
