Barro Colorado Island and the Panama Canal
Our Canal transit began last night, going through the Caribbean side's set of locks, the Gatun Locks. Our day today started very early this morning, as the second pilot of our transit arrived at 5:00am, to move us from our anchorage sight at Gamboa to our morning’s destination: Barro Colorado Island. BCI, as the island is known, is a “man-made-island”, as the top of a hill became isolated by the damming of the Chagres River and the creation of the lake. It is managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and since 1923 this island has become one of the best tropical study sites in the Neotropics. Although the 1500 hectare island was once restricted only to scientists, tourism is now allowed with discretion.
We will get the chance to walk through two of the trails inside the area. There are two walking options, one longer trail called the Donato trail, which covers about two and a half miles; and a second trail called the Fausto trail, which covers about 1 ¾ of a mile. For those people not wanting to walk, Zodiacs were also offered to venture along the lush, green edges of the island to try to spot animals. One of the scenes that never seizes to amaze us is walking through the trails or sitting on a Zodiac within the bountiful greenery and, all of a sudden, watching a giant/ghost container ship appear out of nowhere. The three activities remunerated us with glimpses of monkeys, agoutis, keeled-billed toucans, American crocodiles, and many more.
Our afternoon went on with the second half of the Canal crossing. We left the anchorage site of the BCI area and headed towards the south, through the Gaillard Cut – also called Culebra Cut – and through both sets of locks, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores, into the cool waters of the Bay of Panama in the Pacific Ocean. This ocean will be the center of all of the activities during this week, promising warm and clear waters.
Our Canal transit began last night, going through the Caribbean side's set of locks, the Gatun Locks. Our day today started very early this morning, as the second pilot of our transit arrived at 5:00am, to move us from our anchorage sight at Gamboa to our morning’s destination: Barro Colorado Island. BCI, as the island is known, is a “man-made-island”, as the top of a hill became isolated by the damming of the Chagres River and the creation of the lake. It is managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and since 1923 this island has become one of the best tropical study sites in the Neotropics. Although the 1500 hectare island was once restricted only to scientists, tourism is now allowed with discretion.
We will get the chance to walk through two of the trails inside the area. There are two walking options, one longer trail called the Donato trail, which covers about two and a half miles; and a second trail called the Fausto trail, which covers about 1 ¾ of a mile. For those people not wanting to walk, Zodiacs were also offered to venture along the lush, green edges of the island to try to spot animals. One of the scenes that never seizes to amaze us is walking through the trails or sitting on a Zodiac within the bountiful greenery and, all of a sudden, watching a giant/ghost container ship appear out of nowhere. The three activities remunerated us with glimpses of monkeys, agoutis, keeled-billed toucans, American crocodiles, and many more.
Our afternoon went on with the second half of the Canal crossing. We left the anchorage site of the BCI area and headed towards the south, through the Gaillard Cut – also called Culebra Cut – and through both sets of locks, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores, into the cool waters of the Bay of Panama in the Pacific Ocean. This ocean will be the center of all of the activities during this week, promising warm and clear waters.
