Early in the morning, a pilot came on board National Geographic Quest to reposition her in front of Barro Colorado Island. This island used to be a mountain top. When the Chagres River valley was flooded to create Gatun Lake, animal species gathered here to survive. Today, this rainforest environment is studied by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
To explore BCI, guests could walk along the trails accompanied by a local scientist. They could also spot wildlife by Zodiac, or take a speedboat to visit the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center.
In the afternoon, we continued our southbound transit through the Panama Canal. We cruised through the Gaillard Cut and completed our transit by going through Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks. We went from 85 feet above sea level down to Pacific Ocean level.
What a great start to our expedition!
