Just Another Day in Puerto Lindo

Rodolfo came for us at 10am. We grabbed our gear and walked down the road to the boat waiting for us at the beach. We motored across the bay into an extensive mangrove system. Rodolfo drove us through the “tunnel of love” where we saw white-faced monkeys (capuchin?) darting through the trees.

We saw egrets and herons and birds of all kinds and colors. The Panamanian Caribbean coast is dotted with lush, hilly, mostly uninhabited tropical islands and islandettes. We circled Linton Island, home of an abandoned research station, and were greeted at the dock by spider monkeys (cacique?).

We beached the boat on a deserted islet called Sodros to do some snorkeling. Rodolfo and Annie were hunting for lobsters, and Pablo and I were just looking around at the young, reasonably healthy coral reef and numerous but small fishes. We walked halfway around Sodros Island. I found an oar. Pablo found a turtle egg. Rodolfo found another egg. The oar came in handy to dig a hole in the sand and rebury the turtle eggs. There was evidence that some had hatched.

We headed over to another little beach and dropped anchor. After investigating more reef and fish, we combed the beach. We started collecting seashells and coconuts. We discovered an almond tree full of nuts and ate them on the spot. We gathered noni fruit to take to Sara’s toucan. Rodolfo picked ripe sea grapes for us to taste. Once we were sun-crisped, we headed back to the beach and the guest house. We grilled fresh spiny lobster tails on the patio while listening to howler monkeys, and watching parrots, toucans, hummingbirds and butterflies.

The jungle atmosphere intensified when the skies clouded up and the afternoon tropical rains came. I love the sound of a tin roof in the rain. We sat on the front porch until nightfall just passing time. We were all tired and crashed early. Just a typical day in Puerto Lindo.