The morning began with amazing colors, between oranges and purples, and the wind blowing my hat away. One of the most beautiful sunrises that I ever remember showed up and the smell of coffee made me realize that I wasn’t standing alone watching the sun coming out.
Our guests were excited to start the activities, and so was I! Everyone had a quick breakfast, I think because the water and the weather were ideal and inviting us to go out!!!
The first stop was at Granito de Oro Islet. Everyone questioned why it was called that, since it is small and rocky, with white sand and little vegetation. Just when we got into the water, an amazing coral reef of different colors appeared in front of us! It was a completely different world underwater. A pair of bicolored parrot fish were the first species to show up, followed by guinea puffers fish, freckled porcupine fish, king angel fish, Moorish Idols, three banded butterfly fish – they were all over! A big surprise of this parade was a good-sized white tipped shark laying down at the bottom of the reef and this became the favorite sighting of our group! Almost all of our guests enjoyed a second round of snorkeling because it was hard to leave behind the scene of this paradise. Then when we were ready to head back for lunch someone came out and shouted “it’s a turtle! It’s a turtle over there…!” Not all of us were able to see it, but just to know that they were around makes the islet even more special.
We came back onboard to reposition National Geographic Sea Lion in front of the ranger station. A small group of guests decided to do the “repositioning kayak” to that station. They paddled their way across one of the most pristine areas of Panama, an experience to remember.
At the station, our galley had prepared a delicious picnic lunch. We were relaxing, laughing, enjoying the view and drinking some fruit punch when our expedition leader Cristian said… “TITO IS HERE!!! WHO WANTS TO SEE A CROCODILE?” Everybody jumped from their seats and ran to the other side of the island to watch a huge crocodile coming out from the water. What a way to see it!!! So close and with his mouth wide open; it looked like he was smiling at us!
Finally after the crocodile went back to the water, we organized a walk to a great viewing point. It was a great birding opportunity. Even though it was hot, we saw some cool birds like tropical kingbirds, crimson backed tanagers, vireos and woodpeckers. The best show was given by a common black hawk who decided to stay on top of a tree allowing us to see him really well. Walking backed to the beach a troop of white faced capuchin monkeys were looking for food on the ground. They weren’t afraid of us at all. They looked at us, but didn’t give our presence more than a passing thought.
It was just a stunning day, full of colors and sounds of crystals each time the waves arrived to the beaches! And of course, it was a lot of fun!! It was a great last day in Panama.
