National Geographic Sea Lion anchored right in front of Barro Colorado Island (BCI) early in the morning. We had spent the night in Gatun Lake and now we were in front of one of the first tropical research centers in the region and one of the most important in the world.  Both of them, Gatun Lake and BCI,  are the result of damming the Chagres River a hundred years ago.  

 

Right after breakfast, we had a visit from a laureate staff field scientist, Dr. Egbert Leigh. Dr. Leigh gave us an introduction to the fantastic research that is being done on the island.

 

Two main activities were offered for this morning – hiking in the forest or enjoying an inflatable boat cruise. On the hike, our guests found agouties, howler monkeys, spider monkeys and even tamarind monkeys, an important sighting since this type of monkey is not easy to find, due to their size and numbers. The other guests that went exploring by inflatable boat enjoyed the sightings of iguanas, hawks, egrets and several other water birds.

 

After our morning activities, we returned back on board. Our pilot had come on board and we began our navigation towards the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. Soon National Geographic Sea Lion was passing Culebra Cut, a well known area where the builders of the canal concentrated most of their resources.

 

As we approached Pedro Miguel Locks, something different took place. This time we did not follow the routine of having the line handlers on board nor were we escorted by locomotives (mules).This time, our deckhands were responsible for controlling the slack of the heavy lines that kept us attached to the walls of the locks while we descended to sea level.

 

National Geographic Sea Lion had a spectacular transit through the Panama Canal. We exited the last set of locks, then began our navigation towards the Bay of Panama. Our hotel manager Anne Marie invited us all up to the sundeck to enjoy the social hour. As we gathered on deck, we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, the skyline of Panama City and a delicious ceviche.

 

What a great day we had!