Barro Colorado Island and the Panama Canal
We started the first day of our voyage amidst the jungle of the Panama Canal. With a misty sunrise and Howler Monkeys yowling from the nearby rainforest, we found a moment to stretch our muscles on the sundeck and prepare for our active morning.
And soon after breakfast, we were on our way, boarding Zodiacs and heading across Lake Gatun to the shore of Barro Colorado Island (BCI). BCI, a “tropical intact rain forest,” was once the summit of a 4,000- foot mountain. With more than 230 species of wildlife, the island is the home of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. By exclusive invitation, we met our Smithsonian guides and departed via a Zodiac option or two different hiking trails to explore the extraordinary opportunity. Howler monkeys, white throated capuchins, tamarinds, long nosed bats, sac-wing bats, among others, were spotted in the canopy!
We bade farewell to the island and returned to the Sea Voyager to complete our canal crossing. Passing merchant ships and continuous dredging along the shore, we were soon entering the Pedro Miguel Locks. Encompassing 300,000 million acres, we began to witness the symbiotic relationship between the existence of the Panama Canal and the lush rainforest surrounding us. So with our Panamanian guide Alvaro Perez narrating our journey, we gathered on the sundeck to bird watch; with his assistance we spotted an osprey, American kestrel, yellow headed caracara, tropical mockingbird. Soon we were entering the final chambers of the Miraflores Locks, lowering us 55.5 feet from the Miraflores Lake and into the Pacific Ocean.
With the sun setting, we crossed under the Bridge of the Americas and passed Panama City, returning us to the year 2007. Considering the experience, the will, the determination and the vision of our ancestors to complete the Panama Canal, man accomplished much more than had ever been foreseen 100 years ago. The rainforest and canal both remain locked in time, while the environment continues to change with the present. What a gift to bear witness to this wonder of man and nature.
We started the first day of our voyage amidst the jungle of the Panama Canal. With a misty sunrise and Howler Monkeys yowling from the nearby rainforest, we found a moment to stretch our muscles on the sundeck and prepare for our active morning.
And soon after breakfast, we were on our way, boarding Zodiacs and heading across Lake Gatun to the shore of Barro Colorado Island (BCI). BCI, a “tropical intact rain forest,” was once the summit of a 4,000- foot mountain. With more than 230 species of wildlife, the island is the home of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. By exclusive invitation, we met our Smithsonian guides and departed via a Zodiac option or two different hiking trails to explore the extraordinary opportunity. Howler monkeys, white throated capuchins, tamarinds, long nosed bats, sac-wing bats, among others, were spotted in the canopy!
We bade farewell to the island and returned to the Sea Voyager to complete our canal crossing. Passing merchant ships and continuous dredging along the shore, we were soon entering the Pedro Miguel Locks. Encompassing 300,000 million acres, we began to witness the symbiotic relationship between the existence of the Panama Canal and the lush rainforest surrounding us. So with our Panamanian guide Alvaro Perez narrating our journey, we gathered on the sundeck to bird watch; with his assistance we spotted an osprey, American kestrel, yellow headed caracara, tropical mockingbird. Soon we were entering the final chambers of the Miraflores Locks, lowering us 55.5 feet from the Miraflores Lake and into the Pacific Ocean.
With the sun setting, we crossed under the Bridge of the Americas and passed Panama City, returning us to the year 2007. Considering the experience, the will, the determination and the vision of our ancestors to complete the Panama Canal, man accomplished much more than had ever been foreseen 100 years ago. The rainforest and canal both remain locked in time, while the environment continues to change with the present. What a gift to bear witness to this wonder of man and nature.
