Barro Colorado Island and the Panama Canal
Last night we boarded the National Geographic Sea Lion and started our transit through the Panama Canal. We began our south bound transit with the Gatun Locks, where our ship was raised 85 feet. We then dropped anchor for the night in the huge man-made Gatun Lake.
This morning we took Zodiacs to Barro Colorado Island (BCI) home to one of the major research facilities for tropical ecology in the world. Much of what is known about the dynamics of biodiversity and ecology of the tropics has resulted from studies done here.
We divided up into groups and local Smithsonian guides took us through the beautiful rainforest on the Donato and Fausto Trails.
We learned that there are over 300 species of trees and saw large termite nests in some of them. The very large and impressive cuipo tree provided a wonderful photo opportunity. Seeing movement in the tops of the trees, we spotted white-throated capuchin monkeys moving gracefully through the branches. The loud growls of the howler monkeys were unmistakable and luckily we had good views of these animals that seldom come down to the ground. One had a baby clinging to her back. At the end of our hike the bright red belly of a slaty tailed trogon called our attention.
Some guests chose to explore the area by Zodiac and they saw a small American crocodile and several birds including an osprey, a yellow headed caracara, and a snail skite all on the same branch!
After lunch our pilot came onboard and we went through the narrow Culebra Cut and the San Pedro Locks followed by the Miraflores Locks, completing our transit through the Panama Canal, one of the world’s engineering marvels.
The galley made delicious ceviche and we enjoyed a traditional Central American buffet dinner to end a truly amazing day!
