Barro Colorado Island and Gatun Locks, at Panama Canal, Panama
A tropical Caribbean breeze was the only witness that accompanied National Geographic Sea Lion as it navigated through Gatun Lake in order to arrive to our morning’s destination, Barro Colorado Island. This former hilltop became the “capital” of tropical research since the 1940s when the Smithsonian Research Institute took over its administration. For any tropical biologist or ecologist, this is a dream-come-true “playground” and therefore a great source of data from the tropical rain forest ecosystems. A lot of our knowledge as naturalists is based on information researched, classified and cataloged on this island.
Our guests on this trip were given the unique chance to visit these scientific facilities; also we cut the transit through the canal in two days, something not allowed to any other ship and then we are invited to walk through the island or Zodiac ride around its perimeters. The guests on the Zodiac rides were granted with beautiful sights of at least six keel-billed toucans, better known as the “Fruit Loops” toucans, which actually are not as sweet as they look, and are quite the predators. Howler monkeys, snail kites, crocodiles and iguanas were part of the memories that our guest will take home.
Those who decided on taking the last walk through the entangled, lush and towering tropical rain forest were rewarded with a couple troops of spider monkeys. Their ability to swing from branch to branch, using their tails as a fifth limb is impressive. Perfectly adapted to this lifestyle, they mainly feed on fruits and some flowers, travel in small numbers and have even reduced the size of their thumbs (to almost non-existent) to avoid getting stuck in branches and lianas as they swing through the canopy.
Around lunch time our Panama Canal pilot arrived at National Geographic Sea Lion, for the continuation of our transit through this man-made engineering masterpiece, which by the way was an amazing daylight transit, beautifully complementing last night’s transit. The Gatun Locks comprise the same three steps (or 85 feet) we went up last night, but in one single lock. Crossing through in daylight enables us to admire the lushness of the tropical rain forest that frames Gatun Lake and as well the construction of the new set of locks, which our Panama Canal pilot kindly let us admire for a while. Great crossing!
The sun was setting on our backs as we were looking to the Caribbean Sea and to the end of an amazing week.
