Panama Canal & Barro Colorado Island, Panama
We spent the night at Gatun Locks near Barro Colorado Island. Early in the morning we moved to the Barro Colorado Island. The anchor was dropped at dawn with an impressive view of the rainforest. The watershed supports the operation of the canal as the ships are lifted to cross the isthmus.
Egbert Leigh joined us for breakfast and then he enlightened our group about the amazing job of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
We disembarked to visit this known monument of science. We found American crocodiles near the shore, and on the trails we saw keel billed and chestnut mandibled toucans, crimson headed woodpeckers, tamandua anteaters, agoutis, howler monkeys and the Geoffrey’s Tamarin.
On the forest floor we saw the green and black poison dart frog, the bullet ant and dung beetles. The call of the chestnut backed and the spotted breasted antbirds kept us on the search until we could have a short look at these elusive and shy understory birds.
Some people took a boat ride around the island to enjoy the wildlife from a different perspective.
During lunch we weighed anchor and found our way to the Caribbean side of the lake. We had a smooth transit through the Gatun Locks into the sea and we looked to find an adult crocodile on the Eastern shore of the canal.
We reached Cristobal with daylight and the certainty of a calm night.
It has been a great week with wonderful experiences: rainforests, coral reefs, bird rookeries, the tropical biology research temple, and the Panama Canal.
