Day 2: Barro Colorado Island & Gatun Lake/Panama Canal Transit

Highlight of the Day:

The kids were up early, and with all good intentions we went up to the sun deck for the morning stretching class.

The girls were keeping a diary...

After breakfast, a professor from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute gave us a short presentation about the history of the island and ongoing research projects. Most of the studies done here are behavioral studies on insects such as wasps or ants.

Barro Colorado Island used to be one of the higher mountain tops and became an isolated island due to the damming of the Chagrass River. Today, Barro Colorado Nature Monument presents untouched tropical rain forest and is home to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

While boarding the zodiacs it started to rain, and since all rain jackets were packed up safely in our backpacks, we decided right there and then not to take the jackets on any further landings - we got wet anyway, from either rain or sweat.

We hiked through the lush forest with Meg, one of the Smithsonian guides.

Researchers collect everything that falls - leaves, fruit, particles - in those nets and periodically analyse their contents.

As always, the forest is full of surprises: first we only saw some big insects and army ants, ....

but later we also saw a Black Gutan and a family of Howler Monkeys, undisturbed by us, eating leaves at a fast pace.

A tiny brown frog and the a more colorful poison dart frog.

On the way back to the Sea Voyager, Alexandra was allowed to steer the zodiac.

After a refreshing shower, lunch was served and all had to come together for a mandatory safety drill in the lounge.

Alexandra and Sophia watch from the bridge as we continue our Panama Canal transit.

The Millenium Bridge

In the later afternoon, we continued our crossing of the Panama Canal which was dramatically lit. (A daylight transit cannot be guaranteed since cargo ships have priority over passenger ships.) Whereas at Colon three locks are located right after each other, raising the ships about 86 feet before releasing them into Gatun Lake, there are first one lock, then another lake passage and finally two more locks to lower the vessels on the Pacific side.