We cooked our own breakfast this morning. Andy had a cheese omelette and I had cheese on toast with fried eggs. And a glass of fresh pineapple juice to go with it.
At 7.45am, Mike came to pick us up. A short drive to the harbour – if you can call it that – and we boarded Dolphin I.
We had a full day of snorkelling ahead of us. Yes, the craziness continues!
After watching a pod of dolphins pass by, we continued to Isla Granito de Oro. The island is idyllic – white sand, palm trees. But we didn’t go ashore. We put our snorkelling gear on – including fins which is a first for me – and we proceeded to swim around the island. Incredible. Such a variety of marine life – we saw turtles, a huge school of fish, cornet fish, reef sharks, spotted eagle ray, blue sting ray, moorish idol, freckled porcupine fish, sea urchins and much much more. And so close to us. This was the first proper snorkelling I’ve ever done, and I only manages it because Mike held my hand most of the time. This gave me the confidence to have a good look around, putting my head just a little deeper into the water.
Our second stop is Islas Cocos. Again Mike held my hand, the variety of fish was incredible. A tiny yellow fish started to follow Andy around. It’s no bigger than 2 cms, and yet it seemed comfortable close to him. It’s quite funny.
We continued on to Coiba Island where we disembarked for lunch. The island used to be used as a prison until fairly recently. Now, it welcomes snorkelling groups. There’s a small educational centre (with some weird exhibits) and a few trails – we hiked the shortest one to the viewpoint, which looked out over the islands we visited in the morning.
I decided to sit out the next snorkel. It’s a short one but clearly my morning’s adventures had taken their toll. I felt nicely tired, that nice feeling you have when you’re gently aching. I think I’ll sleep well tonight.
Our final stop is Isla Ranchería. There were a few boats there already, but we moored away from them. We took a little stroll – enough to see the crocodile trail to and from the sea. We’d seen the sign, and were told to avoid the fresh water river. We splashed in the water for a bit, reflecting on what an excellent leg the San Jose to Panama City was. Totally unexpected.
On the way back, we saw more dolphins in the distance.
We dropped our stuff in our room, and set off to find La Mencheria – where according to Lonely Planet we’d find the best ice cream in the whole of Panama. Andy and I both had scoops of passion fruit and nutella. Delicious!
We’re currently sitting in the hammock outside our room. There is a cold bottle of Panama Lager near us, the little kitten is asleep nearby. There is the smallest of breezes. I just chatted to Andy, and he agrees… this was the most excellent of days.
If Bocas del Toro was paradise, what does it make this place? Heaven?
Incredible pictures! The good weather has caught you up again as well.