Panama Bay Islands & Panama Canal
After our nocturnal 190 miles navigation, the Sea Voyager finally dropped anchor on the quiet waters around Bona and Otoque islands. Our “early birds” enjoyed the accustomed greeting on the lounge where the fresh coffee, fruits and sweet pastry announced the beginning of another exceptional expedition day.
This group of islets is conveniently located only about 22 miles from the Panama Canal entrance. Nevertheless, this lonely nesting site is far enough to gather up an exceptional number of attractive sea birds framed by the unique seascape and native vegetation. Even though this area is not particularly protected by any national law in Panama, the solitude of this incredible place has acted as a natural barrier to protect this fabulous natural environment. Among the expected species for these islands we found brown boobies, magnificent frigatebirds, brown pelicans as well as perhaps one of the most remarkable birds for this latitude, the blue-footed boobies.
After a very tasty breakfast, all of our guests had a chance to take a Zodiac ride around the islands in order to observe very closely the thriving life in so many magnificent forms and colors. The colossal cacti garden kept an incredible number of birds somehow hidden from our lenses and cameras, but at the end our guests were able to take either photos or memories out of this singular location. The fantastic display of birds both perched and in flight accompanied our Zodiac riders on their exploration. One of the most elegant birds in flight is precisely the brown booby that gracefully posed for a photograph!
As our guests came back from their Zodiac rides, we had an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful presentation on the lounge regarding Barro Colorado and the Smithsonian Institute. Life and death in the rain forest was majestically presented by this National Geographic video named Panama Wild. Rain Forest of life.
As the last Zodiacs returned to the Sea Voyager, our captain commenced the short routing towards the Panama Canal. The ship anchored off the canal to patiently wait for our canal authority pilot to come on board and only then starting the northbound transit across the Central American Isthmus. From this moment on, our ship was steered by the Panama Canal Pilot into the first set of locks while our guests enjoyed freshly prepared “ceviche” and “continental divide” cocktail up on the sun deck.
As the multicolor sunset proclaimed the conclusion of another successful day, our guests were invited to the lounge for recaps, briefings and a sensational typical Panamanian dinner served by good looking muchachos wearing traditional Panama Hats!
During the remaining part of the evening, our Panamanian naturalist kept on providing interesting facts, information and very amusing trivia while we ended our canal transit for the day. The vessel would now get ready to sleep in the calmed waters of Gatun Lake for a well deserved rest. Good Night Everyone!
After our nocturnal 190 miles navigation, the Sea Voyager finally dropped anchor on the quiet waters around Bona and Otoque islands. Our “early birds” enjoyed the accustomed greeting on the lounge where the fresh coffee, fruits and sweet pastry announced the beginning of another exceptional expedition day.
This group of islets is conveniently located only about 22 miles from the Panama Canal entrance. Nevertheless, this lonely nesting site is far enough to gather up an exceptional number of attractive sea birds framed by the unique seascape and native vegetation. Even though this area is not particularly protected by any national law in Panama, the solitude of this incredible place has acted as a natural barrier to protect this fabulous natural environment. Among the expected species for these islands we found brown boobies, magnificent frigatebirds, brown pelicans as well as perhaps one of the most remarkable birds for this latitude, the blue-footed boobies.
After a very tasty breakfast, all of our guests had a chance to take a Zodiac ride around the islands in order to observe very closely the thriving life in so many magnificent forms and colors. The colossal cacti garden kept an incredible number of birds somehow hidden from our lenses and cameras, but at the end our guests were able to take either photos or memories out of this singular location. The fantastic display of birds both perched and in flight accompanied our Zodiac riders on their exploration. One of the most elegant birds in flight is precisely the brown booby that gracefully posed for a photograph!
As our guests came back from their Zodiac rides, we had an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful presentation on the lounge regarding Barro Colorado and the Smithsonian Institute. Life and death in the rain forest was majestically presented by this National Geographic video named Panama Wild. Rain Forest of life.
As the last Zodiacs returned to the Sea Voyager, our captain commenced the short routing towards the Panama Canal. The ship anchored off the canal to patiently wait for our canal authority pilot to come on board and only then starting the northbound transit across the Central American Isthmus. From this moment on, our ship was steered by the Panama Canal Pilot into the first set of locks while our guests enjoyed freshly prepared “ceviche” and “continental divide” cocktail up on the sun deck.
As the multicolor sunset proclaimed the conclusion of another successful day, our guests were invited to the lounge for recaps, briefings and a sensational typical Panamanian dinner served by good looking muchachos wearing traditional Panama Hats!
During the remaining part of the evening, our Panamanian naturalist kept on providing interesting facts, information and very amusing trivia while we ended our canal transit for the day. The vessel would now get ready to sleep in the calmed waters of Gatun Lake for a well deserved rest. Good Night Everyone!
