Our first full day in this expedition started early morning when our second pilot of the Panama Canal arrived to the National Geographic Sea Lion who repositioned the ship toward the Smithsonian Research Institute, Barro Colorado Island (BCI).
As we arrived, the sun was just breaking through the clouds, lightening up the lush rainforest that surrounds the whole Gatun Lake. This is a very unique stop, as we are the only vessel that stops its transit through the Canal to visit this island. Also, it is one of the most important places in the field of tropical ecology since the 1940s. Hundreds of researchers, students, scientists from around the world have been here collecting data for their projects, which later on are important for the rest of the scientific world.
The explorations of today were able to be done by foot, through many of the trails on the island and accompanied by BCI guides, who showed us, monkeys, toucans among many other great sightings. But as well for the ones that wanted to see the outer look of this rainforest, exploration landing craft cruises were the other option. And for these guests, the sightings ran from: crocodiles basking in the sun, bats hanging from tree trunks, snail kites eating snails, spider monkeys launching on branches, howler monkeys eating leaves and toucans flying across the lake.
After a great lunch, our third Pilot was on board and the rest of our Panama Canal transit began by slowly navigating the Gatun Lake, just to arrive before sunset to Pedro Miguel Locks. The Pacific Locks in the Canal are split in two set of locks, Pedro Miguel with just one chamber, then the Miraflores Lake and then the Miraflores Lock with two steps down.
This transit couldn’t be more than perfect, as the sun was setting and the most beautiful postcard colors were showing up in the sky, the National Geographic Sea Lion was dropped down to its final destination, the Pacific Ocean sea level, and along with the crossing under the Bridge of the Americas, a whole new array of adventures are just to begin!
