Another terrific day in Panama! We enjoyed the entire day in the Panama Canal, a high point of the expedition in both ecological exploration and engineering marvels. Our day started at anchor just off Barro Colorado Island with a lovely sunrise over Gatun Lake. After breakfast we headed to shore where we disembarked at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Local scientists and naturalists guided us along forest trails, where we searched for birds like mot mots and trogans, watched groups of aguoti feeding on the forest floor, and photographed sleeping howler monkeys. Spider webs draped the sides of the trail, pink flowers fallen from the canopy graced our path, and we had our eyes peeled for the ubiquitous ticks and chiggers. Some folks opted for an expedition landing craft cruise around the island where they saw a swimming monkey, crocodile, and pelicans. We boarded the ship for lunch and began to sail towards the Gatun Locks.
The afternoon was very exciting as we transited the Gatun Locks. After waiting to collect our pilot at the top of the locks, we pulled in and began our journey through the system. Our naturalist Joshua Hall narrated for a couple hours as we made our way down to sea level. It was a wonderful experience for us to live a piece of history!
Late in the afternoon we sailed to Colon where we docked beside some large container and freighter ships. The night ended with a celebration of our week with the world premier of the guest slide show, an excellent dinner and dessert, and swapping stories about our week together.
