Barro Colorado Island and the Panama Canal
Our journey began last night. With perfect timing and as early as it can happen, we began our Panama Canal transit as the lights around the locks slowly turned on. The evening transits of the Canal are surreal! This phenomenal venture created one of the world’s best known wonders of the modern world. Because of its historical importance, and the US involvement in its construction, it is usually in the back of most people’s mind as a must-do-some-day trip. Our journey proposes a chance most of the regular transits don’t offer: we get to cross the Canal in two parts. One set of locks is crossed during the first afternoon on board, and the second set is crossed on the second afternoon. We set on the crossing of the Gatun Locks, on the Caribbean (northern) end of the Canal, towards the Gatun Lake. The Sea Voyager is the only vessel, and its guests are the only group of people that get to stay inside the Lake overnight and visit the Barro Colorado Island (BCI) Research Station.
We woke up this morning to the calls of mantled howler monkeys just off of the BCI dock. This island, run by the Smithsonian Institute, is one of the most important tropical research sites in the Neotropics. We had the option of walking through the trails on the island or taking Zodiac cruises along the island’s edge. Those of us on the trails encountered many creatures of the rainforest like toucans, hummingbirds, monkeys, agoutis, and many species of insects that we forget also are a very important part of the habitat. Those of us that took the Zodiacs were not left behind, mantled howler monkeys, snail kites, kiskadees, long-nosed bats, and nest watching crocodiles were some of the animals we saw.
Back on board at noon, we were ready to start heading towards our second half of the Canal crossing. Heading towards the southern end of the Canal we reached Gamboa, crossed the Culebra or Gaillard Cut, crossed the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks, went under the Bridge of the Americas and exited onto the warm waters of the “Southern Sea” - the Pacific Ocean. By doing so, we started the fraction of our adventure that follows the coast of Panama and Costa Rica onto their natural wonders.
Our journey began last night. With perfect timing and as early as it can happen, we began our Panama Canal transit as the lights around the locks slowly turned on. The evening transits of the Canal are surreal! This phenomenal venture created one of the world’s best known wonders of the modern world. Because of its historical importance, and the US involvement in its construction, it is usually in the back of most people’s mind as a must-do-some-day trip. Our journey proposes a chance most of the regular transits don’t offer: we get to cross the Canal in two parts. One set of locks is crossed during the first afternoon on board, and the second set is crossed on the second afternoon. We set on the crossing of the Gatun Locks, on the Caribbean (northern) end of the Canal, towards the Gatun Lake. The Sea Voyager is the only vessel, and its guests are the only group of people that get to stay inside the Lake overnight and visit the Barro Colorado Island (BCI) Research Station.
We woke up this morning to the calls of mantled howler monkeys just off of the BCI dock. This island, run by the Smithsonian Institute, is one of the most important tropical research sites in the Neotropics. We had the option of walking through the trails on the island or taking Zodiac cruises along the island’s edge. Those of us on the trails encountered many creatures of the rainforest like toucans, hummingbirds, monkeys, agoutis, and many species of insects that we forget also are a very important part of the habitat. Those of us that took the Zodiacs were not left behind, mantled howler monkeys, snail kites, kiskadees, long-nosed bats, and nest watching crocodiles were some of the animals we saw.
Back on board at noon, we were ready to start heading towards our second half of the Canal crossing. Heading towards the southern end of the Canal we reached Gamboa, crossed the Culebra or Gaillard Cut, crossed the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks, went under the Bridge of the Americas and exited onto the warm waters of the “Southern Sea” - the Pacific Ocean. By doing so, we started the fraction of our adventure that follows the coast of Panama and Costa Rica onto their natural wonders.
