Barro Del Colorado Island, Panama Canal
Usually an average transit through the Panama Canal takes about eight hours from beginning to end. Ours started last night right after the pilot got on board the ship. We went on and reached the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal at Gatun Locks where the Sea Voyager was raised 85 feet above sea level in three steps up to the waters of Gatun Lake where the ship dropped anchor and we stopped our transit of the canal.
This interruption of our transit was intentionally made and gave us the chance to explore one of the islands created in Gatun Lake. This is not an ordinary island, this is the biggest island that was formed in Gatun Lake during the construction of the Canal when the U.S. dammed the Chagres River and created Gatun Lake to make the Panama Canal.
This island was a mountain top before becoming an island and once it became an island it became the focus of most tropical rain forest research, in fact most of the books written on tropical rain forest mention or use data collected from this place. This island is Barro Del Colorado Island (BCI) and has been under the administration of the Smithsonian Institute since 1946 and is the Disneyland for tropical scientists.
Right after breakfast we split into different Zodiac cruises and hikes and went to learn of some of the research and studies taking place at BCI and, of course, look for some of the elusive tropical creatures living here.
And what a morning we had, not only for the great weather but because we got our first sights of howler monkeys, white throated capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, toucans, kites and even some close looks of an American crocodile.
The rest of our day we dedicated to finishing our transit through the Panama Canal on our way to the Pacific Ocean. This canal is without a doubt one of the marvels of the modern world.
Usually an average transit through the Panama Canal takes about eight hours from beginning to end. Ours started last night right after the pilot got on board the ship. We went on and reached the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal at Gatun Locks where the Sea Voyager was raised 85 feet above sea level in three steps up to the waters of Gatun Lake where the ship dropped anchor and we stopped our transit of the canal.
This interruption of our transit was intentionally made and gave us the chance to explore one of the islands created in Gatun Lake. This is not an ordinary island, this is the biggest island that was formed in Gatun Lake during the construction of the Canal when the U.S. dammed the Chagres River and created Gatun Lake to make the Panama Canal.
This island was a mountain top before becoming an island and once it became an island it became the focus of most tropical rain forest research, in fact most of the books written on tropical rain forest mention or use data collected from this place. This island is Barro Del Colorado Island (BCI) and has been under the administration of the Smithsonian Institute since 1946 and is the Disneyland for tropical scientists.
Right after breakfast we split into different Zodiac cruises and hikes and went to learn of some of the research and studies taking place at BCI and, of course, look for some of the elusive tropical creatures living here.
And what a morning we had, not only for the great weather but because we got our first sights of howler monkeys, white throated capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, toucans, kites and even some close looks of an American crocodile.
The rest of our day we dedicated to finishing our transit through the Panama Canal on our way to the Pacific Ocean. This canal is without a doubt one of the marvels of the modern world.
