This morning we arrived at Granita de Oro, a small island near Coiba Island, off the coast of Panama. The island took ~ 20 minutes to circle via kayak and was the perfect picture of a deserted tropical island.
We had snorkeling training in the morning and then headed off the island after a mid-morning brunch. Mom tried snorkeling, but her fear of water became too overwhelming when it was coupled with the awkwardness of walking in fins and trying to see out of a mask. She opted out and waited on the beach with Matthew while I went.
I saw many brightly colored fish and a white-tipped reef shark while snorkeling. However, I didn't want to leave my mom for too long so I soon headed back. Other travelers continued on seeing a turtle, another shark, a few eels, and more.
Mom and I tried taking out a double kayak with Matthew but he really did not like the idea of having to sit down in the boat so we opted to play on the beach with him instead. I've never seen so many beautiful, unbroken shells anywhere. The beach was also active with hermit crabs scampering around spilled juice and other crumbs left by our travelers.
On the way back to the Pacific Explorer, we saw three spotted jumping out of the water. Our zodiac driver brought us ~ 10 ft away as we tried to click pictures. Mom was so excited to finally see dolphins. Matthew, however, had promptly dosed off when the zodiac started moving and didn't stir in all the excitement.
We spent the evening watching movies in our room. Matthew was watching a DVD while we watched the VCR. He decided he wanted to watch Snow White on VYS instead so I told him "after our movie." He repeated asked for Snow White and finally gave up and snuggled into me. An hour later, he was nearly asleep with his eyes drooping and his body limp against mine. As the credits rolled for our movie, he leapt up and shouted "Snow White." What a sweetheart! He had sat patiently that entire hour, obviously constantly thinking about his movie, but knowing that he had to wait until "after our movie" to say anything more.
The travel specialists we've worked with for 2 vacations have made the trip planning process easy! They ask good questions to ensure they understand our goals and likes and have done an excellent job matching adventures with our preferences - even suggesting things we would not have thought about on our own!
Amy
1 day ago
Erin is great to work with on our adventure to Antartica. She gave us great choices and is very knowledgeable about the options. Her recommendations saved us from making some big mistakes.
Carla
2 days ago
A Mind Blowing Adventure!
Adventure Life kept me well informed and up to date in the lead up to my trip and Albatros delivered a once in a lifetime adventure in full. A totally awesome experience from start to finish.
Jan Price
2 days ago
Jane Packer helped us through the cancellation of our trip due to American Queen Voyages bankruptcy and then finding another cruise with American Cruise Lines.
Jane is very prompt in response, answers any questions, and makes good suggestions thereby making the process much easier!
Deb Donaldson
3 days ago
Adventure Life did an excellent job of planning, organizing and executing a great trip to Argentina. It was nice to have the trip with just the two of us which allowed for a more personable tour with excellent tour guides in all four locations visited. We learned lots of details of the beautiful sites in BA, Mendoza,Baliloche and Iguazu Falls. We want to do another trip with Adventure Life some day.