Gatun Locks & Barro Colorado Island
The sun was barely waking up as the Sea Voyager was heading into the Panama Canal, the perfect way to start our trip through the wonders of Panama & Costa Rica.
The Gatun Locks are the north entrance of the canal; three locks in a row that raised us 85 ft from sea level. It is incredible how something that was built around a hundred years ago still works as good as in 1914, when it was first inaugurated. The heavy iron doors are been closed behind us and the chamber starts to fill up with the water from the next chamber faster that you fill up your bath tub at home!
After completing the first half of our transit through this man-made wonder, we were able to visit a mother nature-wonder, the tropical rain forest. The Sea Voyager is the only vessel allowed to stop its canal transit in order to visit this island name after the color of its dirt. Barro Colorado (red dirt) was the top of a hill that became an island as the Chagres River was dammed to form the Gatun Lake, whose waters are used in the Panama Canal. The island became an open laboratory for 20th century scientists and around the 1940 the Smithsonian Institute took over its administration. Since then, it is known to be the most researched piece of rain forest in the world, and therefore a major source of natural history information.
In order to explore the island, some of the guests went on a Zodiac cruise around the perimeters, spotting monkeys, crocodiles and several bird species. Others decided to be more up close and personal with nature and went for a hike, with wonderful sightings of howler monkeys, agoutis and other wildlife.
After we all were back on board, the Sea Voyager, lifted anchor and started the second half of our transit. The navigation to the next set of locks is this gorgeous, lush green forest framing the narrow cut through the tough rock. As the naturalists spotted monkeys, crocodiles, ospreys and pelicans among many others nature wonders, the delicate silhouette of the Centennial Bridge reminded us how close we are to Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. We transited them with the sun setting low in the horizon and a tropical breeze welcoming us to the Pacific Ocean.
It can’t get better than this, I thought, but the journey is just beginning…
The sun was barely waking up as the Sea Voyager was heading into the Panama Canal, the perfect way to start our trip through the wonders of Panama & Costa Rica.
The Gatun Locks are the north entrance of the canal; three locks in a row that raised us 85 ft from sea level. It is incredible how something that was built around a hundred years ago still works as good as in 1914, when it was first inaugurated. The heavy iron doors are been closed behind us and the chamber starts to fill up with the water from the next chamber faster that you fill up your bath tub at home!
After completing the first half of our transit through this man-made wonder, we were able to visit a mother nature-wonder, the tropical rain forest. The Sea Voyager is the only vessel allowed to stop its canal transit in order to visit this island name after the color of its dirt. Barro Colorado (red dirt) was the top of a hill that became an island as the Chagres River was dammed to form the Gatun Lake, whose waters are used in the Panama Canal. The island became an open laboratory for 20th century scientists and around the 1940 the Smithsonian Institute took over its administration. Since then, it is known to be the most researched piece of rain forest in the world, and therefore a major source of natural history information.
In order to explore the island, some of the guests went on a Zodiac cruise around the perimeters, spotting monkeys, crocodiles and several bird species. Others decided to be more up close and personal with nature and went for a hike, with wonderful sightings of howler monkeys, agoutis and other wildlife.
After we all were back on board, the Sea Voyager, lifted anchor and started the second half of our transit. The navigation to the next set of locks is this gorgeous, lush green forest framing the narrow cut through the tough rock. As the naturalists spotted monkeys, crocodiles, ospreys and pelicans among many others nature wonders, the delicate silhouette of the Centennial Bridge reminded us how close we are to Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. We transited them with the sun setting low in the horizon and a tropical breeze welcoming us to the Pacific Ocean.
It can’t get better than this, I thought, but the journey is just beginning…
