Playa Blanca, 1/17/2023, National Geographic Quest
Aboard the
National Geographic Quest
Costa Rica, Panama & Colombia
National Geographic Quest visited Playa Blanca today. Our guests chose from different options and enjoyed a delightful day appreciating the culture in Costa Rica. As a special treat, a local dancing group performed for us during a picnic style lunch served on the beach.
And, of course, there were amazing natural sights to enjoy while learning from the naturalists and taking photographs.
Frank is a naturalist guide with a long career path involving his beloved Costa Rica. He grew up in Escazu, a small town surrounded by blue and green mountains in the Central Valley. His admiration for nature and wildlife turned him into an autodidac...
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Today, National Geographic Quest explored Coiba Island National Park. In the morning, we divided our guests into two groups to maximize the experience. One group visited Coco Islet for a memorable snorkeling adventure, where they encountered a variety of vibrant fish and a whitetip reef shark. The second group headed to the ranger station, enjoying a relaxing time swimming and kayaking in the pristine waters. After a fulfilling morning, we returned to the ship and began our navigation toward the Panama Canal. In the afternoon, guests gathered on the weather decks to observe marine wildlife. Several birds, dolphins, sea snakes, and turtles were spotted, adding to the excitement of the day. The calm seas and clear skies made for perfect wildlife watching conditions as we continued our journey. It was an exciting and enriching day filled with incredible encounters with nature.
We arrived right before sunrise to Rio Seco, a former cattle ranching farm and our morning destination. Now it hosts a beautiful tropical garden and a dense secondary growth rainforest. We spent the morning exploring the garden and the trails that lead to the forest. We enjoyed good wildlife sightings, including colorful scarlet macaws, different species of birds, and a very active troop of squirrel monkeys that ignored our presence while foraging. During lunch, we repositioned National Geographic Quest to the dock in Golfito. We explored the mangrove estuaries by kayak and Zodiac cruises. Our guests returned to the ship with happy faces to share their experiences of all that Mother Nature had shared while they explored. It was our last day exploring the wonders of Costa Rica. Now we cast off the dock and start navigating to our next destination, Coiba National Park in Panama.
An amazing day of cultural experiences was had by all as we explored the many facets of Playa Blanca in Gulfo Dulce today. Using Playa Blanca as our “hub,” we visited several families and their farms and businesses. We enjoyed panning for gold at an artisanal mine, long treks through the Danta Rainforest, a barbecue lunch at Playa Blanca with youth presenting local dances, and visits to a sugarcane mill, the Finca Kobo chocolate farm, and Mrs. Eida’s hearts of palm plantation. Everyone returned to National Geographic Quest well-fed and full of great stories from our day ashore.
