Gatun Lake and Barro Colorado Natural Monument
Overnight, after having gone through the two sets of locks on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and after having travelled through the infamous Gaillard or Culebra Cut, we arrived at Barro Colorado Island (BCI). We were awakened by the call of howling monkeys coming from the island, and by looking through our windows, we could see the endless tropical rain forest surrounding us.
BCI was created as a biological reserve in 1923, not long after the area was isolated from the mainland by the creation of Gatun Lake. It is managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and they have been able to make it one of the most intensively studied areas in the tropics, a true Mecca for tropical ecologist.
Right after breakfast, we had a researcher of BCI coming aboard to let us know more about some of the projects taking place here, including the ocelot tracing project with radio transmitters. We disembarked on our Zodiacs for a morning exploration.
Walking on the different trails on the island, we got to see some of the rich avifauna of this place, including trogons, different kinds of parrots, antbirds and the spectacular keel-billed toucan, which were everywhere. Anteaters, agouties, spider monkeys and howler monkeys were also spotted. One of our groups came back with the great news that they had found the elusive Geoffrey’s Tamarind, maybe because of the little rain that had fallen, cooling the forest off. Panama is the fartherest north that it gets in the Americas.
The rest of the day was spent sailing through Gatun Lake and the last set of locks, the Gatun locks. With this we had completed the transit from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean, and tied up to our dock in Colon in the evening. Truly a day to remember.
Overnight, after having gone through the two sets of locks on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal and after having travelled through the infamous Gaillard or Culebra Cut, we arrived at Barro Colorado Island (BCI). We were awakened by the call of howling monkeys coming from the island, and by looking through our windows, we could see the endless tropical rain forest surrounding us.
BCI was created as a biological reserve in 1923, not long after the area was isolated from the mainland by the creation of Gatun Lake. It is managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and they have been able to make it one of the most intensively studied areas in the tropics, a true Mecca for tropical ecologist.
Right after breakfast, we had a researcher of BCI coming aboard to let us know more about some of the projects taking place here, including the ocelot tracing project with radio transmitters. We disembarked on our Zodiacs for a morning exploration.
Walking on the different trails on the island, we got to see some of the rich avifauna of this place, including trogons, different kinds of parrots, antbirds and the spectacular keel-billed toucan, which were everywhere. Anteaters, agouties, spider monkeys and howler monkeys were also spotted. One of our groups came back with the great news that they had found the elusive Geoffrey’s Tamarind, maybe because of the little rain that had fallen, cooling the forest off. Panama is the fartherest north that it gets in the Americas.
The rest of the day was spent sailing through Gatun Lake and the last set of locks, the Gatun locks. With this we had completed the transit from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean, and tied up to our dock in Colon in the evening. Truly a day to remember.
