Panama Canal
Last night we started our transit of the Panama Canal through to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus. The skyline of Panama City surprised us all… from a distance one has the impression of approaching Hong Kong or Miami. Tall modern skyscrapers extend from one end to the other of this modern city, which hosts over one hundred banks from all over the world and in which commerce and a service industry are quite developed.
After crossing Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks we proceeded through the canal into Gamboa and then Gatun Lake where we spent the night at anchor. Gatun Lake is one of the largest man made lakes in the world and when it was made it was actually the largest one. The creation of this body of fresh water that extends for about 124 square miles guaranteed a constant supply of water for the canal and created a whole new ecosystem. Forests that once covered this whole valley now lay under water and what used to be mountaintops are now small islands. Among these we find Barro Colorado Island and five surrounding peninsulas (Bohio, Pena Blanca, Gigante and Buena Vista). In 1923 this unique nature reserve became part of the invaluable patrimony of the Smithsonian Institution, an entity created in 1846 after an Englishman who had never been to the United States bequeathed his fortune to the American people so they would use it to create an institution dedicated to the “increase and diffusion of knowledge among all men.” The Barro Colorado Island reserve is now one of the most important centers of study for scientists from all over the world who come here to carry out their research. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most intensely studied areas in the tropics and about half of all the books that we read about tropical biology make reference to the research which is carried out there. After breakfast we were able to go visit the island and its surroundings accompanied by scientists who are working on the reserve as well as by our own naturalists. Many wonderful creatures great and small were sighted during our walks.
Lunch was served in the lounge and then we continued the passage of the canal, which ended in the port of Cristobal in the city of Colon. At night farewell dinner and then packing our belongings and our memories of a great trip.
Last night we started our transit of the Panama Canal through to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus. The skyline of Panama City surprised us all… from a distance one has the impression of approaching Hong Kong or Miami. Tall modern skyscrapers extend from one end to the other of this modern city, which hosts over one hundred banks from all over the world and in which commerce and a service industry are quite developed.
After crossing Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks we proceeded through the canal into Gamboa and then Gatun Lake where we spent the night at anchor. Gatun Lake is one of the largest man made lakes in the world and when it was made it was actually the largest one. The creation of this body of fresh water that extends for about 124 square miles guaranteed a constant supply of water for the canal and created a whole new ecosystem. Forests that once covered this whole valley now lay under water and what used to be mountaintops are now small islands. Among these we find Barro Colorado Island and five surrounding peninsulas (Bohio, Pena Blanca, Gigante and Buena Vista). In 1923 this unique nature reserve became part of the invaluable patrimony of the Smithsonian Institution, an entity created in 1846 after an Englishman who had never been to the United States bequeathed his fortune to the American people so they would use it to create an institution dedicated to the “increase and diffusion of knowledge among all men.” The Barro Colorado Island reserve is now one of the most important centers of study for scientists from all over the world who come here to carry out their research. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most intensely studied areas in the tropics and about half of all the books that we read about tropical biology make reference to the research which is carried out there. After breakfast we were able to go visit the island and its surroundings accompanied by scientists who are working on the reserve as well as by our own naturalists. Many wonderful creatures great and small were sighted during our walks.
Lunch was served in the lounge and then we continued the passage of the canal, which ended in the port of Cristobal in the city of Colon. At night farewell dinner and then packing our belongings and our memories of a great trip.
