Barro Colorado Island & Gatun Locks at Panama Canal
The last day of our trip finally came, but nonetheless it was quite full of sights and activities. The morning outing took place at Barro Colorado Island (BCI), the reason why the National Geographic Sea Lion cuts in two its transit through the Panama Canal. This island is only accessible by boat and it just allows a certain number of visitors per day, in order to protect the number of research projects and data that have been done and collected since the 1940’s when it became one of the most important tropical research stations in the world.
It did not matter which of the two options were taken by our guest, if by foot through the muddy trails or by riding around the perimeters of the island by our Zodiacs. All guests had their last sight of monkeys, crocodiles, bats, toucan, guans, agoutis and the tropical rain forest, the home of strange sounds and sights.
The tropical rain forest is this exotic setting of bizarrely shaped plants, occasional colored flowers and a hint of danger in every corner, ranging from poisonous snakes to sharp thorns or biting ants. It is a different world, hot and sticky and not easy to comprehend by a temperate forest visitor. The luxuriance and diversity is overwhelmingly confusing, a superabundance of undifferentiated greenery, which makes the interpretation of a guide a must. Each step we took through it has a story of struggling for a place in the sun, or the constant work of attracting the most efficient pollinators or as simple as finding food and not becoming one.
Every now and then the sight of an agouti feasting on seeds gave the forest another layer of complexity. They are seed dispersers but also seed predators, like the howler monkeys we heard at a distance working as foliage predators but as they roam through the canopy they drop many fruits that will be eaten by ground dwelling animals like deer, peccaries and the agoutis.
As this ecosystem is a magical intermingling of relations, the afternoon was no less amazing. We were doubling our luck by being able to cross the Gatun Locks during daylight. The same 85 feet that we rose up yesterday afternoon we dropped down today, in three steps but just one lock. As we were heading to our docking site some guest spotted American crocodiles at the edge of the canal. In the distance the Caribbean Sea with its pondering surf set the end of our exploration week. Thanks for coming to our beautiful countries.
