Our day started with a wonderful blue sky and gorgeous calm ocean. As our morning continued, the kayakers started off on their adventure, followed by our first round of Zodiac expeditions.

The morning couldn’t haven been any better; beautiful weather and amazing scenery with the rain forest and mangrove forest combined. As we went further upriver the wildlife started appearing in the density of the vegetation; green iguanas, common basilisk, white ibis, green herons and many other creatures that inhabit this amazing ecosystem were part of the surprises that the Esquinas River had for all of us.

Back on board National Geographic Sea Lion everyone was talking about their experiences during lunch, and getting excited for our afternoon visit to Casa Orquideas Botanical Gardens.

This afternoon at Casa Orquideas, the bromeliads, heliconias, gingers, aroids, orchids (of course!) and all kind of birds turned our afternoon into a unique experience in a place where the rain forest meets the ocean, the amazing Golfo Dulce.

Once back at the ship, we enjoyed the social hour in the lounge followed by another interesting round of recaps from our professional team of naturalists.