This morning National Geographic Sea Lion anchored in front of Barro Colorado Island (BCI), considered not only the first and the most important tropical field research center of Panama, but also one of the most important of the tropics of the world. Created right after the construction of the Gatun Lake, BCI is managed by the Smithsonian Institute; ever since its establishment, it has played a very important role in elucidating the mysteries of the tropical rain forest.
Today after breakfast the personnel from BCI visited us on board and gave us a very interesting introduction to the island before we began the first outing of the week. Some of our guests went to explore the trails of the island by foot, where they found great tinamous, poison dart frogs, Central America agouties, crested guans and several species of insects. As usual it is always great to witness blue morpho butterflies in flight, the bizarre nests of the Azteca ants and the golden orb spiders.
Others went on Zodiac cruises and they had an incredible flow of lucky events; crocodiles, mantled howler monkeys as well as spider monkeys were spotted. Nevertheless, the highlight of the trip was a really big boa constrictor resting and digesting its food on a branch on the edge of the forest. In general, we had a fantastic morning exploring the different spots that Barro Colorado Island offered.
At midday, we came back to Sea Lion and enjoyed the great lunch our galley staff had prepared for us. Not too much later, the anchor was lifted and we sailed towards the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks. We enjoyed every minute of this part of the transit.
After leaving the locks behind and passing the Bridge of the Americas we finished our day anchored in Panama Bay where in the middle of friendly chatting and happy conversation the sunset enhanced the beauty of the skyline of Panama City. Little by little, as the sun began to set, the lights of the city turned on and we could appreciate its impressive presence.
