Barro Colorado Island and Panama Canal, Panama
The last day of our voyage was one of contrasts. During the morning we managed to visit one of the best-known and productive biological stations in the Neotropics: Barro Colorado Island. Formed by the flooding of the valleys near the Chagres River to form the Gatun Lake, the mountaintop became an island and since has been the melting pot of great scientific knowledge. Leaf-cutter ants, howler monkeys, tree ecology, bird ecology, bat’s behavior, global warming and many other interests have found fertile soil at this site. Walking through its trails or taking a Zodiac cruise with one of their naturalists gave us a paintbrush of the complexities of tropical biology.
Coming back on board and awaiting our third pilot, we began the second part of out transit towards the Caribbean Ocean. The Canal configuration is such that the Pacific entrance is 43.2 km east of the Caribbean side. It passes under the broad sweep of the Bridge of the Americas, running at sea level about 6 km inland to the Miraflores Locks. At these locks, ships are raised 16.5m to the Miraflores Lake, where they reach the second set of locks: Pedro Miguel locks. Beyond these locks, the ships enter the Gaillard Cut, formerly called the Culebra Cut, which was the deepest and most difficult section of the canal construction. A 13.6 km long cut through the rock and shifting shale of the continental divide, an enormous amount of excavation was required and the work was plagued by devastation landslides. After the Cut, the canal channel continues for 37.6 km across the Gatun Lake. At this lake’s far end, ships are brought back down to sea level in three stages by the Gatun Locks. As we approached the Locks, a large group of capybaras made their appearance to welcome us onto the last phase of our trip. Once on the Caribbean side, though not officially until tomorrow morning, our voyage reaches an end.
The last day of our voyage was one of contrasts. During the morning we managed to visit one of the best-known and productive biological stations in the Neotropics: Barro Colorado Island. Formed by the flooding of the valleys near the Chagres River to form the Gatun Lake, the mountaintop became an island and since has been the melting pot of great scientific knowledge. Leaf-cutter ants, howler monkeys, tree ecology, bird ecology, bat’s behavior, global warming and many other interests have found fertile soil at this site. Walking through its trails or taking a Zodiac cruise with one of their naturalists gave us a paintbrush of the complexities of tropical biology.
Coming back on board and awaiting our third pilot, we began the second part of out transit towards the Caribbean Ocean. The Canal configuration is such that the Pacific entrance is 43.2 km east of the Caribbean side. It passes under the broad sweep of the Bridge of the Americas, running at sea level about 6 km inland to the Miraflores Locks. At these locks, ships are raised 16.5m to the Miraflores Lake, where they reach the second set of locks: Pedro Miguel locks. Beyond these locks, the ships enter the Gaillard Cut, formerly called the Culebra Cut, which was the deepest and most difficult section of the canal construction. A 13.6 km long cut through the rock and shifting shale of the continental divide, an enormous amount of excavation was required and the work was plagued by devastation landslides. After the Cut, the canal channel continues for 37.6 km across the Gatun Lake. At this lake’s far end, ships are brought back down to sea level in three stages by the Gatun Locks. As we approached the Locks, a large group of capybaras made their appearance to welcome us onto the last phase of our trip. Once on the Caribbean side, though not officially until tomorrow morning, our voyage reaches an end.
