Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal, Panama

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW DECADE! HAPPY 2010!

After crossing the first half, and most well-known half, of the Panama Canal, the Miraflores Locks and the Culebra or Gaillard Cut, the first day of the new decade found us anchored just outside the Researcher’s Station in Barro Colorado Island, BCI. This island, in Gatun Lake, was formed around 1910 when the valley was flooded to build the Canal’s second largest lake. BCI has been a major tropical research station since its establishment in 1923 and many of the most renowned tropical biologists have done research here. As one of the three most important tropical stations in the Neotropics (the other two stations are located in the Amazon Basin and in Costa Rica), BCI has produced some of the cornerstones of ecology for the world. The island is approximately 3 800 acres and has over 25 miles of trails.

Early this morning right after breakfast, we were summoned up in the lounge for a quick introduction to tropical ecology and BCI in general. What a pleasant surprise, as the person talking to us was no other than Dr. Tony Coates, one of the most renowned tropical scientists of this era!! His easy-to-understand straight-to-the-point introduction prepared us well for our walk through this research Mecca.

We are very lucky to be here, as it is not every traveler that has a chance to set foot in this miraculous place. Not only to walk through its trails, but to do so with some of the people who have worked here for a while, is just remarkable.

Some of us chose to take a Zodiac ride around the edge of the Island, with great sightings of wildlife, howler and white throated capuchins, green iguanas, long-nosed bats, and more, as a result. One of the most extraordinary experiences of all is sitting on a Zodiac under the shade of the tall dense tropical forest canopy, and all of a sudden, this gigantic carrier makes its way through the leaves. It is quite a surreal sensation.

We came back on board to wait for our Canal Pilot, who would guide us through Gatun Lake and Locks to reach the end of “the path between the seas,” as we descend into the Caribbean Ocean.