Panama Canal
Our first full day on board the Sea Voyager started on Gatun Lake on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. After crossing the first set off locks of the Panama Canal the previous afternoon, the Sea Voyager anchored off the shore of Barro Colorado Island on Gatun Lake.
Gatun Lake was created when the Chagres River was dammed during the construction of the canal. Once the lake filled with water the highest mountain tops became a series of new islands. Among those islands, the biggest is Barro Colorado, which means in Spanish “red clay,” because of the predominant clay soil on the island. Since the creation of the lake the island has been protected, becoming a biological reserve in 1923 and a bureau of the Smithsonian Institute in 1946. Since then Barro Colorado has become an icon for tropical ecology worldwide. Today there are more than 300 scientific publications a year from research done on the island. It is virtually impossible to read a book on tropical ecology that doesn’t mention the island at some point. By foot and Zodiac we explored the tropical rainforest of the island and encountered many of its wild inhabitants. As always, the forest is unpredictable and full of surprises, our first sight of the morning as soon as we arrived to the island and before beginning our hikes were two 12 foot long female crocodiles nesting on the shore of the island. Other exiting wildlife seen today were howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin monkeys, red brocket deer, many tropical exotic birds such as slaty-tail trogon, chestnut-mandibled toucan and keel-billed toucan. After our morning visit we continued our expedition sailing through the middle of Panama toward the second set of locks of the Panama Canal in order to reach the Pacific Ocean. This remarkable piece of human engineering is truly one of the wonders of human history. It is amazing that 100 years ago with few technology and a lot of will, men were able to build a short-cut between two oceans.
Our first full day on board the Sea Voyager started on Gatun Lake on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. After crossing the first set off locks of the Panama Canal the previous afternoon, the Sea Voyager anchored off the shore of Barro Colorado Island on Gatun Lake.
Gatun Lake was created when the Chagres River was dammed during the construction of the canal. Once the lake filled with water the highest mountain tops became a series of new islands. Among those islands, the biggest is Barro Colorado, which means in Spanish “red clay,” because of the predominant clay soil on the island. Since the creation of the lake the island has been protected, becoming a biological reserve in 1923 and a bureau of the Smithsonian Institute in 1946. Since then Barro Colorado has become an icon for tropical ecology worldwide. Today there are more than 300 scientific publications a year from research done on the island. It is virtually impossible to read a book on tropical ecology that doesn’t mention the island at some point. By foot and Zodiac we explored the tropical rainforest of the island and encountered many of its wild inhabitants. As always, the forest is unpredictable and full of surprises, our first sight of the morning as soon as we arrived to the island and before beginning our hikes were two 12 foot long female crocodiles nesting on the shore of the island. Other exiting wildlife seen today were howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin monkeys, red brocket deer, many tropical exotic birds such as slaty-tail trogon, chestnut-mandibled toucan and keel-billed toucan. After our morning visit we continued our expedition sailing through the middle of Panama toward the second set of locks of the Panama Canal in order to reach the Pacific Ocean. This remarkable piece of human engineering is truly one of the wonders of human history. It is amazing that 100 years ago with few technology and a lot of will, men were able to build a short-cut between two oceans.
