Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal
The USA’s construction of the Panama Canal during the 20th century is a true story of adventure, ordeal and accomplishment. It followed the catastrophic French attempt to cut a path between the seas, which claimed 22,000 lives. Despite all the technological advances that have taken place since the completion of the canal almost 90 years ago, the lock and lake waterway remain one of the great engineering marvels of all time. The canal extends 80 km from Colon on the Caribbean side to Panama City on the Pacific. Each year more than 12,000 oceangoing vessels transit it, well over 30 a day.
Last night we crossed the Gatun Locks, the first set of locks, and dropped anchor close to Barro Colorado Island (BCI).
Right after breakfast, we went ashore to explore the well known biological station (BCI) run by the Smithsonian Institute. Some guest went on the Zodiacs searching for wildlife, while others decided that it would be more fun to go on a rainforest nature walk, the first one of our trip. In a matter of a few minutes, wildlife was seen and heard. As we started walking on the trails, howler monkeys kept up their noisy vocalization that could be heard even from the ship. Finally we found them up on a tree, foraging on fresh leaves. Few minutes before, we found a Brown vine-snake up on a bush. Putting together all the wildlife spotted by the different groups, we ended up with a very impressive list. The highlights of birding were: Great tinamou, Snail kite and a King vulture. Some of the animals also found included crocodiles, Howler monkeys, Agouties, Morpho butterflies and Bullet ants. After lunch, with the pilot of the ACP aboard (Panama Canal Authority), we started cruising Culebra Cut, and the rest of the locks.
By the end of the day the National Geographic Sea Lion had cruised the Panamanian Isthmus, and we were dropping anchor on the Pacific Coast.
A magnificent sunset enhanced our transit as we enjoyed cocktails and celebrated our pass between the oceans.
