Our tropical journey, on board National Geographic Quest, began last night with the crossing of the first set of the Panama Canal Locks, the Gatun Locks on the Caribbean Sea side. This first segment took us directly to Gatun Lake, formed by the damming of the Chagres River in 1923, which also created the first – and one of the three most productive – research stations in the Neotropics, Barro Colorado Island (BCI). With segments that include part of the mainland, BCI is nowadays declared a Natural Monument, and we got the chance to explore this amazing site three ways: a walk on the mainland site known as the Discovery Center, another one on the original island, or via a Zodiac cruise, exploring the island’s edge. Whatever we chose to do, we were rewarded with great sights of various animals like black throated and slaty-tailed trogons, spectacled owls, golden-orbed spiders, howler and white-throated capuchin monkeys and many more. This is just the beginning of our week’s journey through Panama and Costa Rica.
3/20/2025
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National Geographic Quest
Caletas Private Reserve and Corcovado National Park
Over five days ago, we began our journey in Panama and now we’re on our last day in Costa Rica. We decided to explore one of the most important areas in terms of biodiversity, the Osa Peninsula. The Osa Peninsula is home to approximately 4% of the biodiversity in the world. For many years, people tried to mine the area because it is very rich in minerals, specifically gold. Over thirty years ago the government of Costa Rica decided to promote the country as a tourist destination and today it is a pioneer of sustainability in Central America. We began our morning activities offering different options for our guests. The first activity was a coastal walk, and some had the opportunity to see a boa, a white-throated capuchin monkey, and a mantled howler monkey. In the afternoon, part of our group chose to go for a waterfall hike led by our naturalists, and they finished at a swimming hole where they took time to relax and enjoy themselves. Other guests took the long Pargo trail where they saw a Central American spider monkey, and a tapir, one of the most difficult animals to see in the tropics. We finished our day with an amazing sunset from the bow of the National Geographic Quest , a great end to a great day.
