Bay of Panama, Taboga Island and Panama Canal
This morning found us in the Bay of Panama. Scattered inside the Bay are numerous little islands. Of them, Boná and a smaller one provide shelter and nesting areas for numerous seabirds: brown boobies, blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, and Neotropical cormorants. Beginning at the end of the wet season, around November, the trade winds begin blowing across the isthmus of Panama. The bend of the country creates the Gulf of Panama and winds coming from the north create a local upwelling system in the Gulf, which create cold waters but a very productive marine system. The seabirds we see rely on these rich waters for their own food as well as enough to feed their offspring. We spend the earliest part of the morning deploying Zodiacs and kayaks to explore the area.
After exploring the bird islands, we moved toward Taboga island, the largest of 10 islands, 20 km south of Panama City. This island has been anything but calm or peaceful since the early 1500s. This small island, a mere 571 hectares in area, has been host to: Spanish conquistadors, British pirates and buccaneers, headquarters of the Pacific Steamship Navigation Company, and the site of an enormous sanitarium for the Canal workers who contracted yellow fever or malaria. During WWII the US Navy used the hill facing the town for artillery practice, and installed searchlights, antiaircraft guns and bunkers atop the island (the bunkers still remain and can be visited to this day).
We left Taboga island to head towards the entrance of the Canal area. Our crossing was programmed for 8:00 p.m. Our pilot arrived on time and we began our transit through one of the wonders of the new era: The Panama Canal!
This morning found us in the Bay of Panama. Scattered inside the Bay are numerous little islands. Of them, Boná and a smaller one provide shelter and nesting areas for numerous seabirds: brown boobies, blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, and Neotropical cormorants. Beginning at the end of the wet season, around November, the trade winds begin blowing across the isthmus of Panama. The bend of the country creates the Gulf of Panama and winds coming from the north create a local upwelling system in the Gulf, which create cold waters but a very productive marine system. The seabirds we see rely on these rich waters for their own food as well as enough to feed their offspring. We spend the earliest part of the morning deploying Zodiacs and kayaks to explore the area.
After exploring the bird islands, we moved toward Taboga island, the largest of 10 islands, 20 km south of Panama City. This island has been anything but calm or peaceful since the early 1500s. This small island, a mere 571 hectares in area, has been host to: Spanish conquistadors, British pirates and buccaneers, headquarters of the Pacific Steamship Navigation Company, and the site of an enormous sanitarium for the Canal workers who contracted yellow fever or malaria. During WWII the US Navy used the hill facing the town for artillery practice, and installed searchlights, antiaircraft guns and bunkers atop the island (the bunkers still remain and can be visited to this day).
We left Taboga island to head towards the entrance of the Canal area. Our crossing was programmed for 8:00 p.m. Our pilot arrived on time and we began our transit through one of the wonders of the new era: The Panama Canal!
