Curu Wildlife Refuge and Tortuga Island, 1/14/2023, National Geographic Quest
Aboard the
National Geographic Quest
Costa Rica, Panama & Colombia
This morning, we visited the amazing Curu Wildlife Refuge, where guests had the chance to observe a lot of wildlife, including monkeys, coatis, agoutis, macaws, and much more. Guests also had the chance to participate in different hikes. Naturalists led small groups to increase our chances of spotting wildlife.
After a delicious lunch on board, we headed to nearby Tortuga Island for beach time. The location is beautiful with white sand, palm trees, turquoise waters, and more wildlife.
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Coco Islet was our morning destination. This jewel of an island is quite small and surrounded by clear seas rich in marine life. Cocos is a wonderful place for snorkeling from a white sandy beach. About a dozen species of corals were seen, along with surgeonfish, sergeant majors, puffers, king angels and Moorish idols. One of the highlights were the whitetip reef sharks which we saw in deeper waters. National Geographic Quest repositioned a short distance to Isla Coiba. This nature preserve is bigger than some small island countries in the Caribbean. Here we had the opportunity to practice some more water activities, and to take a short walk across the island. The highlight for some was kayaking and stand up paddleboarding. The clear water right next to the tropical rain forest is an incredibly beautiful setting for paddling around. Once we were underway, we had multiple groups of pantropical spotted dolphins who came along to bow ride and playfully swim alongside our vessel.
Isla Iguana Wildlife Refuge was created and protected by law around 1981. This is a 53-hectare wildlife reserve that has 13 hectares of dry tropical rainforest surrounded with a 40 hectare of coral reefs. There is also a large colony of frigatebirds that use this island as an important nesting area. Our guests took the opportunity to explore this refuge with our naturalists and as they did, they passed the nesting area of the frigatebirds. Several males had their gular pouches inflated and were expecting to soon be joined by females. After walks around the premises, we grabbed our gear and went snorkeling. The coral reef that surrounds the islands has over 17 species of coral and a bit more than 340 species of fish. Not only were fish found, but also hawk-billed sea turtles. There was so much to see along the beach, too. A pair of American oystercatchers were found guarding their nest. Two eggs were eagerly protected by their parents. We returned on board and during cocktail hour, we shared our thoughts about the marvelous day we had spent in the wildlife refuge.
After a fantastic crossing of the Gatun Locks, we awoke by Barro Colorado Island (BCI), one of the most researched forests in the tropical world. The island has been administrated by the Smithsonian Institute since the 1940s, becoming the mecca of the most updated data on tropical ecosystems. Gatun Lake is the heart of the Panama Canal, and without this 164 square-miles of water, the canal would not have around 42 transits a day. The lake was created by floating the Gatun and the Chagres rivers, with many towns moved to other areas. A large area of land and forest were covered in water, making all the hilltops of this valley into islands. In the morning we walked the forest, and in the afternoon we cruised the lake. It was a parade of animals. We saw howler, spider, and white-faced monkeys, and as an extra bonus, one of the smallest monkeys in the tropics, Geoffroy’s tamarind. For the bird lovers, we saw several snail kites, toucans, guans, and many more.
