Isla Coiba, Panama

After leaving the Darien National Park, we had a run of over 240 nautical miles to our next port of call, Isla Coiba. The journey took us until the early afternoon, so during the morning we had two lectures. The first, given by Patrizia, was about how birds feature in art and religion. Wendy went to this, while I decided to enjoy some of the morning up on deck. The second lecture was by Robin Aiello on tropical fish found in the region. It was very interesting, especially the description of the extraordinary sex life of the parrot fish! The parrot fish is able to change sex at will. There is a dominant male who ensures all his harem remain female. When his powers wane, the females compete to take his place. The dominant female that wins the fight then changes sex. What a complicated life they lead!

There were two walks organised for us on Coiba,  a long and a short one. We opted for the long walk and boarded the Zodiacs for the short ride to the island.

It was a wet landing on the beach and I changed out of my sandals into walking-boots once we had disembarked. The walk took us straight into the rainforest through dense vegetation.

Our guide talked to us about the different plant species as well as the animals that inhabit the forest. We soon heard a howler monkey calling out from the tree canopy. It was very difficult to see it hidden in the leaves, near the tops of the trees. The howler monkeys are herbivores, while the white-faced ones are omnivores. Looking up into the canopy, we could see dark shapes moving through the trees.

The walk took us on a loop through the forest and back to a tiny rocky beach, where we were picked up by the Zodiacs. Wendy decided to head back to the ship while I went to another small island, Granito de Oro, to do some snorkelling.

It was an idyllic tropical island with a small grove of palm trees and a lovely sandy beach. The snorkelling was quite good and some of the group saw a small shark that we had been told inhabited the waters by the island.

After about an hour, I took one of the Zodiacs back to the ship. It had been an enjoyable, but not very strenuous, day of the cruise.

In the evening, we had the Venetian Society cocktail party held for frequent Silversea travellers. There were mentions for those passengers who had spent the most time on ships in the Silversea fleet. Some people have spent over 300 nights on cruises with the company! Afterwards, we had dinner with Bob and Thelma and a very pleasant couple from New Jersey, Arleen and Dick. The menu had an Italian theme and, as always, it was a very good dinner.