Barro Colorado Island & Gatun Locks, Panama Canal
It was not even dawn's early light when the anchor was retrieved form the bottom of Gatun Lake Anchorage. In the middle of the night after transiting the southern half of the Panama Canal and the tremendous waters of Gatun Lake, the Sea Voyager dropped anchor for the remaining part of the night. It was a short cruise back to the south a few miles to Laboratory Bay off the east side of the indented shoreline of the largest island formed by the reservoir waters. Barro Colorado Island was first protected in 1923 and some years later in 1946 came under the management of the Smithsonian Institution. In the ensuing decades literally 1000s of students have come to this relatively small 3800 acre island to study every aspect of rainforest ecology.
Our morning was filled with activity at Barro Colorado Island. One group took one of the longer trails winding up and through the forest of the island. A second group took a similar trail but only shorter. Both groups of hikers had an opportunity to learn about some of the past and current research projects conducted on the island. A third group spent the morning cruising along the shores via Zodiac. Since the island was once a mountain top the forest comes right down to the water’s edge.
Following our morning at Barro Colorado we were boarded soon after lunch by another Panama Canal Pilot. For the early afternoon we cruised through the main channel of the Canal only a short distance before we veered off into an alternate route. The pilot agreed to the Captain’s request to take us on a “scenic route” in the old Banana Channel. Here we closely passed a number of the smaller islands and had a chance to see some of the backwaters of Gatun Lake. We then had a short waiting period at the top of Gatun Locks before entering inline for the completion of the Canal transit. This time we were making a tandem transit with many other small vessels – in a way. Ahead of us was a yacht transport filled with a number of small and large private yachts going to a different ocean and probably different destinations. As the last lock doors opened we were in the Atlantic having traveled along the Pacific side of Central America. Over the last week we had many unique experiences, shared much with fellow travelers, had a lot of fun, and learned mountains of information about the Neotropics – all of which will remain vividly in our memories.
It was not even dawn's early light when the anchor was retrieved form the bottom of Gatun Lake Anchorage. In the middle of the night after transiting the southern half of the Panama Canal and the tremendous waters of Gatun Lake, the Sea Voyager dropped anchor for the remaining part of the night. It was a short cruise back to the south a few miles to Laboratory Bay off the east side of the indented shoreline of the largest island formed by the reservoir waters. Barro Colorado Island was first protected in 1923 and some years later in 1946 came under the management of the Smithsonian Institution. In the ensuing decades literally 1000s of students have come to this relatively small 3800 acre island to study every aspect of rainforest ecology.
Our morning was filled with activity at Barro Colorado Island. One group took one of the longer trails winding up and through the forest of the island. A second group took a similar trail but only shorter. Both groups of hikers had an opportunity to learn about some of the past and current research projects conducted on the island. A third group spent the morning cruising along the shores via Zodiac. Since the island was once a mountain top the forest comes right down to the water’s edge.
Following our morning at Barro Colorado we were boarded soon after lunch by another Panama Canal Pilot. For the early afternoon we cruised through the main channel of the Canal only a short distance before we veered off into an alternate route. The pilot agreed to the Captain’s request to take us on a “scenic route” in the old Banana Channel. Here we closely passed a number of the smaller islands and had a chance to see some of the backwaters of Gatun Lake. We then had a short waiting period at the top of Gatun Locks before entering inline for the completion of the Canal transit. This time we were making a tandem transit with many other small vessels – in a way. Ahead of us was a yacht transport filled with a number of small and large private yachts going to a different ocean and probably different destinations. As the last lock doors opened we were in the Atlantic having traveled along the Pacific side of Central America. Over the last week we had many unique experiences, shared much with fellow travelers, had a lot of fun, and learned mountains of information about the Neotropics – all of which will remain vividly in our memories.
