Barro Colorado Island & Panama Canal
Today we started off a seven day trip program from Panama to Costa Rica and even though today was the first full day of the trip, our adventure began yesterday right after we got on board. We had just enough time to explore the ship and get all the introductions required for the trip and then a nice dinner before we headed straight to the Gatun Locks, the first set of locks in the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. Here we were raised about a total of 85 feet in three steps up to the level of the Gatun Lake where we anchored for the night. Already we had seen one of the marvels of the new era at work in all its splendor.
And first thing today we were repositioned in the early morning by a Panama Canal pilot from Gatun Lake to the Island of Barro Colorado in the middle of the lake. This man made island was created during the construction of the canal by the damming of the Chagres River in order to create the Gatun Lake and the water way for the Panama Canal. So this was basically a mountain top that became the largest island in the lake with an area of 3,865 acres. This is not only the largest island in the lake but also one of the most well studied and researched tropical rain forests on the planet. Barro Colorado was declared a biological reserve in 1923 and managed by the Smithsonian Institute since 1946, it has become a Mecca for long term research and studies of the tropical forest.
Today we had the chance to walk the trails of the island looking for wildlife and at the same time learning about all the different projects going on and their impact to our understanding of the tropical forest. At the same time we got some great looks at monkeys, parrots, agouties and other things in this playground for science.
After our morning and lunch we were ready to sail the rest of our way through the Panama Canal including Culebra Cut, the narrowest part. Then go through the other set of locks known as Pedro Miguel and Miraflores on our way down to the Pacific Ocean.
Not a bad day for the beginning the trip, huh?!
Today we started off a seven day trip program from Panama to Costa Rica and even though today was the first full day of the trip, our adventure began yesterday right after we got on board. We had just enough time to explore the ship and get all the introductions required for the trip and then a nice dinner before we headed straight to the Gatun Locks, the first set of locks in the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. Here we were raised about a total of 85 feet in three steps up to the level of the Gatun Lake where we anchored for the night. Already we had seen one of the marvels of the new era at work in all its splendor.
And first thing today we were repositioned in the early morning by a Panama Canal pilot from Gatun Lake to the Island of Barro Colorado in the middle of the lake. This man made island was created during the construction of the canal by the damming of the Chagres River in order to create the Gatun Lake and the water way for the Panama Canal. So this was basically a mountain top that became the largest island in the lake with an area of 3,865 acres. This is not only the largest island in the lake but also one of the most well studied and researched tropical rain forests on the planet. Barro Colorado was declared a biological reserve in 1923 and managed by the Smithsonian Institute since 1946, it has become a Mecca for long term research and studies of the tropical forest.
Today we had the chance to walk the trails of the island looking for wildlife and at the same time learning about all the different projects going on and their impact to our understanding of the tropical forest. At the same time we got some great looks at monkeys, parrots, agouties and other things in this playground for science.
After our morning and lunch we were ready to sail the rest of our way through the Panama Canal including Culebra Cut, the narrowest part. Then go through the other set of locks known as Pedro Miguel and Miraflores on our way down to the Pacific Ocean.
Not a bad day for the beginning the trip, huh?!
