This morning we woke up anchored in front of our destination for our morning activities at
Barro Colorado Island (BCI), the famous man-made island in the middle of the Panama Canal.
Last night we arrived to the Panama Canal after our journey from Costa Rica, and while we eagerly awaited for the officials of the canal to approve our passage, we enjoyed the views of the impressively modern skyline of Panama City.
Yesterday, once underway, in the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores Locks, we admired in awe, the intense activity and the clockwork precision of the Panama Canals operation.
After being raised a total of 85 feet, from sea-level, we sailed half way through the narrow isthmus of Panama to end up last night here, at BCI.
Run by the Smithsonian Institute, BCI is a very famous research facility. A well-protected and secluded living laboratory, where many generations of researchers and scientist have been studying the tropical rainforest. Indeed, today much of what is known about the tropical rainforest and the intricate relationships of its many inhabitants, plants and animals, have gathered here.
Today, as the sun started to come out from behind the densely green forested hills, behind the man-made lake of Gatun, from the bow of National Geographic Sea Lion, cup of hot coffee in hand, we enjoyed the distant calls of canopy dwelling howler monkeys and Amazon parrots, beginning their day.
For breakfast, we were accompanied by one of the prominent scientists of BCI, Dr. Egbert Giles Leight, who gave us an introductory welcome presentation, just before our disembarkation.
During our visits to BCI, we had the choice of circumnavigating the island with our exploration boats, or walking on the vast network of trails used by the researchers.
All groups were escorted by a certified naturalist of BCI who explained some of the research done in the past and present, and while exploring the island they gave us interpretations of the wildlife that encountered: howler monkeys, spider monkeys, American crocodiles, snail kites, Central American agouties were all spotted throughout the morning.
We spent the afternoon and evening sailing and crossing the Gatun locks, descending down again to sea-level and gather at dinner time to celebrate the great week we spent together.
