Barro Colorado Island and The Panama Canal
Yesterday we boarded the ship at about 6 pm at Port Cristobal, on the Caribbean side of Panama, and began our Sea Voyager experience. After all our staff introductions and a talk about life on the vessel, we headed for our first dinner together; we were enjoying dessert and coffee when it was announced that we were entering the Gatun locks! Our experience crossing the Panama Canal was starting! We were all amazed about this engineering wonder, started by the French in the late 1800s and finished by the U.S.A. in 1914. This lock type canal is approximately 50 miles long and unites the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean at one of the narrowest points of the Isthmus of Panama and the American Continent.
The canal serves as a water lift, elevating ships to 85 feet above sea level to Gatun Lake, a fresh water manmade lake, to allow vessels to cross the Continental Divide and lower them back to sea level on the other side of the isthmus.
We anchored in Gatun Lake to visit the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute field station at Barro Colorado Island (BCI.).This island was created when the Chagres River was dammed during the construction of the canal to form Lake Gatun between 1910 and 1914, isolating this area from the mainland. Today we had the opportunity to take a Zodiac cruise, or explore the trails of Barro Colorado Island by foot. Those of us who choose to take the Zodiac cruise where lucky to see mantled howler monkeys, snail kites, ospreys, keel-billed toucans, anhingas, several hummingbirds feeding on blooming Inga trees, and colorful blooming trees such as the mountain almond with its purple blooms and several Psichotrias with orange and bright yellow inflorescences.
We visited the Research Station bookstore, where crafts and books were the first purchase of the trip. Just around the building, a trail of leaf cutter ants distracted us for several minutes. Those who chose the hike were greeted with views of Geoffrey’s tamarins, white-throated capuchins, mantled howler monkeys, Central American agoutis and white tailed deer. Between the bird sightings were white-shouldered and gray-headed tanagers, black-headed trogons and dusky antbirds, amongst others. At sunset, we were traveling along Gatun Lake on our way to the Pedro Miguel Locks.
Yesterday we boarded the ship at about 6 pm at Port Cristobal, on the Caribbean side of Panama, and began our Sea Voyager experience. After all our staff introductions and a talk about life on the vessel, we headed for our first dinner together; we were enjoying dessert and coffee when it was announced that we were entering the Gatun locks! Our experience crossing the Panama Canal was starting! We were all amazed about this engineering wonder, started by the French in the late 1800s and finished by the U.S.A. in 1914. This lock type canal is approximately 50 miles long and unites the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean at one of the narrowest points of the Isthmus of Panama and the American Continent.
The canal serves as a water lift, elevating ships to 85 feet above sea level to Gatun Lake, a fresh water manmade lake, to allow vessels to cross the Continental Divide and lower them back to sea level on the other side of the isthmus.
We anchored in Gatun Lake to visit the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute field station at Barro Colorado Island (BCI.).This island was created when the Chagres River was dammed during the construction of the canal to form Lake Gatun between 1910 and 1914, isolating this area from the mainland. Today we had the opportunity to take a Zodiac cruise, or explore the trails of Barro Colorado Island by foot. Those of us who choose to take the Zodiac cruise where lucky to see mantled howler monkeys, snail kites, ospreys, keel-billed toucans, anhingas, several hummingbirds feeding on blooming Inga trees, and colorful blooming trees such as the mountain almond with its purple blooms and several Psichotrias with orange and bright yellow inflorescences.
We visited the Research Station bookstore, where crafts and books were the first purchase of the trip. Just around the building, a trail of leaf cutter ants distracted us for several minutes. Those who chose the hike were greeted with views of Geoffrey’s tamarins, white-throated capuchins, mantled howler monkeys, Central American agoutis and white tailed deer. Between the bird sightings were white-shouldered and gray-headed tanagers, black-headed trogons and dusky antbirds, amongst others. At sunset, we were traveling along Gatun Lake on our way to the Pedro Miguel Locks.
