Barro Colorado Island and the Panama Canal, Panama
This morning found us anchored in front of the Barro Colorado Island research station. This area was actually a hill top in the early 1920s before the valley was dammed to create the Gatun Lake, and is one of the most important research sites on tropical biology in the world. Data of the last 80 years has been accumulated on precipitation, soils, animal and plant physiology, phenology, and many other topics of biology making this spot one of the only places on Earth where comparative studies can be done. Today we had the chance to explore the island from two different perspectives: land and water. Some of us chose to take the intricate trail system path, the rest took the first of a series of Zodiac cruises we will have during this week of contrasts. We all came back on board with a smile on our face and a few sweat beads on our forehead!
Our pilot arrived during the early afternoon, and we began moving towards our second part of the Canal crossing. Our ship is the only ship that is allowed to stop right in the middle of the Gatun Lake and does the crossing in two parts. This allows us to enjoy the seventh wonder of the modern world twice. As we headed south towards the Pacific side, one of the famous – or infamous – tropical rain showers caught up with us. Wow! Sheets of white rain surrounded our ship, and we had little visibility, but who knew… It was this unexpected wetness which permitted our pilot to sneak in front of less versatile, large ships and move us considerably ahead of our scheduled entrance to the Locks. We had the best of both worlds: a morning of forests and wilderness and an afternoon of manmade wonders!!
This morning found us anchored in front of the Barro Colorado Island research station. This area was actually a hill top in the early 1920s before the valley was dammed to create the Gatun Lake, and is one of the most important research sites on tropical biology in the world. Data of the last 80 years has been accumulated on precipitation, soils, animal and plant physiology, phenology, and many other topics of biology making this spot one of the only places on Earth where comparative studies can be done. Today we had the chance to explore the island from two different perspectives: land and water. Some of us chose to take the intricate trail system path, the rest took the first of a series of Zodiac cruises we will have during this week of contrasts. We all came back on board with a smile on our face and a few sweat beads on our forehead!
Our pilot arrived during the early afternoon, and we began moving towards our second part of the Canal crossing. Our ship is the only ship that is allowed to stop right in the middle of the Gatun Lake and does the crossing in two parts. This allows us to enjoy the seventh wonder of the modern world twice. As we headed south towards the Pacific side, one of the famous – or infamous – tropical rain showers caught up with us. Wow! Sheets of white rain surrounded our ship, and we had little visibility, but who knew… It was this unexpected wetness which permitted our pilot to sneak in front of less versatile, large ships and move us considerably ahead of our scheduled entrance to the Locks. We had the best of both worlds: a morning of forests and wilderness and an afternoon of manmade wonders!!
