The Pearl Islands

A quick word on the weather. We have been very fortunate since we arrived in Panama, with more or less sunny skies all the time. This is in marked contrast with the weather a week ago, when there was heavy rain. Today has been another perfect day of sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s (Fahrenheit).

Before I write about today, here are two interesting facts concerning the Pearl Islands and Isla Contadora. Firstly, Contadora is where the Shah of Iran lived in exile after he was was forced to flee from Iran in the 1970's and, secondly, this is where the TV series "Survivor" was filmed.

I went up on deck at 6am to film the sun rising over the sea.

We were anchored about a mile off the shore of Isla Contadora and, at about 7.30am, we all met at the reception area to board the Zodiacs for the short trip to the beaches. Here we are heading ashore on our Zodiac with Claudia, our climate change expert, at the helm.

 

As we approached the island, we could see a wrecked boat marooned on the beach. We were told by our guide that it had been used for drug-running.

 

Once we had all arrived on the island, we started a walk through the forests hoping to see some of the many bird species that inhabit these islands.

To start with, we went past ruined buildings that used to be a resort hotel. Apparently, the owners had been arrested for drug-running and their property was confiscated. Strangely, they were found not guilty at their trial, so why the resort ended up as a ruin, I am not sure.

We came across this plant, a member of the pepper family, that had strange 'flowers' that resembled the golden arches of McDonald's. Perhaps this is where they got the logo from!!

Here Moondog is showing us part of a termite nest. The termites build their nests in trees to keep the nest cool. Moondog's nickname came from the fact that, as a young boy, he could forecast the weather from the halo around the moon. We Googled 'moondog' and discovered that the two bright spots of the halo, on either side of the moon, are called moondogs.

A view out across the Pacific from the forest, which we were told was a 'dry' forest, not a 'rain' forest.

Our group all looking up into the tree canopy to see birds that were being pointed out to us by our guides.

We had a very enjoyable walk through the forest, though we didn't see many birds. Near the end of the walk, we went past some more ruins and I saw Silver Explorer through one of the window openings. To see the ship more clearly, click on the photo to open it in another window. Remember to click the browser back button to return to the blog and not exit the window, as this will mean you have to log into the blog again.

We walked down to a very beautiful sandy beach. From left to right in the photo below are Bob, Patrizia, one of the bird experts, Thelma and Wendy.

The cliffs where we saw this lovely heron.

 

We returned to the place where the Zodiacs were moored and they took us to another beach close by where I went snorkelling and Wendy, Thelma and Bob swam. The water was very warm and I saw a reasonable number of tropical fish.

At this beach, there was a restaurant where we had a very good lunch and enjoyed a couple of beers. Next to the restaurant was the local airstrip and planes came in to land, skimming the trees just before they touched down. It was quite dramatic to watch.

Looking across the beach, with the end of the runway at the extreme right of this photo.

In the afternoon, we went on the Zodiacs to a small island that is a bird sanctuary, where brown pelicans and boobies nest. We saw many pelicans perched in the trees and, as we approached them, they flew off in a large flock.

 

As we rounded the island, you could see Silver Explorer in the distance and I took this photo looking across a lovely white sand beach that extended out from the bird island.

We returned to the snorkelling beach and I went for another snorkel. This time, I saw a great deal more fish, including some beautiful parrot fish and a spectacular black and white moray eel that must have been five feet long.

Wendy and Thelma, meanwhile, returned to the ship in a Zodiac driven by Hans-Peter, the botanist. On the way back, he suddenly turned in the opposite direction, as he had heard there were some humpback whales nearby. They, together with another Zodiac, sat and watched two whales quite close by, blowing and breeching. They felt very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.

We all returned to the ship where we had an evening briefing given by the expedition crew. They told us about tomorrow's visit to an Indian village, in the rainforest of the Darien National Park. It is one of the highlights of the cruise.