Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal
Much has been written about the tremendous engineering marvels of the Panama Canal, and this I will not dispute. However, we aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion can tell you something few have had the pleasure to discover… what a wonderfully peaceful place to sleep it is! After several days and nights of rough seas during our voyage this week, many of us awoke this morning feeling well-rested at our anchorage point in the huge man-made Gatun Lake inside the Panama Canal. Dry decks enabled us to do our morning stretch sin zapatos. The heat and humidity clung to our skin, hair and clothes and made our mango banana smoothies all the more enjoyable.
While we breakfasted, the ship repositioned just off Barro Colorado Island and Reserve, where we were greeted by the calls of Howler monkeys. We explored the shoreline by Zodiacs and hiked the forest with our guides from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Those of us on the walks immediately felt the closed-in heat as we entered the tangle of trees, vines and plants we have come to know as typical of dry tropical rainforest. Not long after we began our walk Mother Nature gifted us with refreshing showers. Most of the rain was caught by the many layers of thirsty canopy, however, we had our fair share to keep us cool and remind us we were indeed in a rainforest. Patience and persistence rewarded us with glimpses of many species of birds, monkeys, bats and insects.
After lunch, we made our way through the northern part of Gatun Lake, and through the final and third set of locks, Gatun Lock, which lowered our ship back to sea level and emptied us into the Atlantic Ocean. There was much excitement on the ship, as this transit through the Panama Canal was indeed a highlight of the voyage for many people and especially memorable.
As much as we came here to experience the beauty and majesty of natural and man-made wonders distant from our own backyards, often it is the shared human connection that is most deeply felt and remembered. Thank you all for a beautiful voyage!
