Submitted by Jennifer Peasnall on the 2017 winter session study abroad program in Costa Rica and Panama sponsored by the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology…
If heaven was a place on earth, it would be Coiba Island.
We were on the boat for an hour and a half before we made it to the island. I couldn’t believe my eyes when our boat found the shore. It was as if we sailed straight into a screensaver; the sand was a dusty tan and palm trees swayed, laden with coconuts. My eyes were drawn to the brightly colored cabins and hammocks. So, this was the mystery island where we’d be spending the next couple of days. It didn’t seem so bad after all.
After lunch, our guide, Javier, took us snorkeling on the coral reef lining Granita de Oro, an island five minutes away. The underwater world was unbelievable! I’ve always been a marine lover, but when I spotted a hawksbill sea turtle, (you know, the critically endangered ones) I may have yelled in delight. I may have yelled even louder when I saw the white tip reef shark swimming next to me. This was the best day ever.
The two days on the island were unreal. I still cannot fathom that I had the opportunity to experience this place. We saw bird species endemic only to the island. We snorkeled three days in a row and even though we got attacked by jellies our last time out, it was an experience I will never forget.
We explored Coiba by boat. Javier navigated us down a canal where we drifted past mangrove forests filled with bird species of every kind. Sitting idle in the canal, we heard the call of a scarlet macaw. We followed it. Around the bend, we looked up at the trees and saw an entire group. There were at least a dozen.
I can’t remember the last time I felt so free. We had no connection with the outside world; no WiFi and no service. We bathed in the ocean. We woke to the sound of howler monkeys. We ate the sweetest coconuts I had ever tasted. We wandered the island during the day and gazed at the stars during the night.
Only a few people in the world have experienced what I have. Only sixty people are allowed on the island at once and most only visit for a couple of hours. Yet, we stayed for three days and two nights. When it was time for us to take the boat back to the mainland, we all felt as if we left a bit of ourselves back on Coiba Island.