BECOMING GREEN - Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism - page 180

stared at the stars, gathered in the lounge below or retired to their rooms. No nights of
karaoke or dance contests.
Before leaving the Panamanian coast we dropped anchor in the Gulf of Chiriquí at
Coiba National Park. A rare refuge for threatened species like the crested eagle, this park
is known as a spectacular site for scuba diving, with 760 species of well-protected marine
fish, 33 species of shark and acres of live coral reefs. We snorkeled in the warm waters,
weaving our way through schools of yellowtail surgeonfish, rays, zebra morays, the pencil-
thin trumpetfish, and—my favorite—the spotted boxfish that look as if they were wearing
organza party dresses. It was like swimming in an aquarium. Never had Bill or I been so
close to nature and so at ease. We were outnumbered by these glorious fishes, guests in
their world.
This was the moment when I understood the huge appeal of ecotourism. We were the
only boat in sight. Only ships that leave the area as they found it receive approval for pas-
sage from the Panamanian national park system. In this case, that meant leaving the waters
and beaches pristine and unspoiled, without polluting sewage or fuel or crowds. By defin-
ition, that excludes large modern cruise ships.
We had sailed into paradise. If we had arrived a few years earlier, we would have found
something closer to hell. Until 2004 the island had been the heavily fortified penal colony
known as Coiba Prison. Panama emptied it after eighty years of operation in this isolated
area and turned the islands and marine area into a national park.
Lunch was a picnic on the beach, followed by two more hours to swim and snorkel. By
the time we returned to the ship, the sun was beginning to set in bands of soft pink and
yellow and my arms felt like worn rubber bands from the hours chasing fish.
Our next stop was Costa Rica, birthplace of ecotourism.
• • •
Isabel Salas said environmentalism is bred into her fellow citizens. “We grow up with con-
servation, knowing the names of trees and animals,” she told me over morning coffee.
“We've had so much time to think about conservation, not like our neighbors with their
wars. We've had no army since 1948.”
That year President José Figueres Ferrer abolished the military and redirected its funds
to the police force, education, cultural preservation and the environment. Salas can be for-
given for bragging about that prescient move. Thirty years later it helped save Costa Rica
from being involved in the bloody wars that engulfed its northern neighbors. This wasn't
the only time Costa Rica had been the odd country out in Central America.
Costa Rica was the poorest of the Spanish colonies in Central America, relegated to
the sidelines of history for several centuries. Christopher Columbus mistakenly named the
area Costa Rica or rich coast in the belief that gold was buried in its hills. He was wrong.