We had to link up with Lindblad again to join our next expedition, and to do so, we met an incoming group flight at Tocumen Airport. A group of about 20 then boarded a bus to take us to Colon, about an hour away on, mostly, a 4 lane divided road. On the way, we stopped over at Miraflores Locks, and it was good to have another viewing.
The part of Colon we drove through to get to the massive container port (next door to the west's largest free-trade zone), where the Sea Lion was docked, looked very poor. The slums we saw in Panama City are more than replicated here, but Felix, our guide for the bus trip, told us the government is staging a massive reinvestment (urban renewal?) program for the city.
On arrival, we were positively rushed onto the Sea Lion. It seemed that the pilot was already on board, and if we didn't go now, we would lose him and our slot on the canal! Our cabin, #106, is on the Bridge Deck (the uppermost of 3 passenger decks), had two single bunks, and was relatively spacious compared to #6 on the Pan Orama II.
The Sea Lion was docked in Colon port, a massive terminal processing container ships.
We learned that the Sea Lion has 39 expeditioners this trip, maybe only half full. The passenger list revealed 6 Aussies (we haven't met them yet) and the rest from the USA, some from Canada. We met the expedition crew. The Sea Lion is US registered, and the officers are all American. The Expedition Leader, Chris and most of his team (Fico, Margrit, and two Jose's, all naturalists) are from either Panama or Costa Rica. It's good to see Lindblad NG employing local experts in senior positions. Other staff were Amy (wellness), Sarah (video) and John (doctor), all from USA.
Jose Perez, our Panama Canal expert, gave running commentary as the passed though Gatun Locks.
Immediately after we left the dock, we entered the canal and arrived quickly at the Gatun Locks, a set of three steps up into Lake Gatun. We shared the 1000ft long locks with a larger cargo ship, in front of us. The Panamanian Jose (Perez) is a canal expert, and gave a detailed commentary on how the docks work, as we traversed them. Apparently, the daylight passage through the Gatun Locks was a rare privilege - it's usually at night for the Sea Lion.
Now at full elevation, the ship in front of us slowly motors into Gatun Lake, still under control of the mules. Getting dark, we were very lucky to get a daylight passage through here.
The drivers of the mules which, with ropes, position ships in the centre of the locks, must be amused when ships loaded with passengers sipping prosecco, and with accompanying commentary, are passing through. The Sea Lion at only 9m wide, is a breeze for the mule drivers. They must have to be very careful when Panamax ships are passing through! Sea Lion pays USD8,000 to transit the canal in one direction.
Anchoring on Gatun Lake is limited to two vessels at a time, but somehow Lindblad have arranged for the Sea Lion to receive a permit. Under the command of the pilot, who must be on board whenever any large vessel moves, we were guided to a suitable overnight anchorage, where we spent a calm night.
All movements on the Panama Canal are strictly controlled by canal pilots. A pilot boarded the Sea Lion at about 05:00 and we motored a short distance from our overnight anchorage to a bay on Barro Colorado Island, the largest in Gatun Lake, a National Monument, and the home to a large Smithsonian sponsored biological science research facility. Access is strictly controlled, but Lindblad have made the necessary arrangements, naturally.
Professor Egbert Giles Leigh gave us the background to the research here. He proved to be an eccentric academic prone to droll humour, and his presentation was not only informative but entertaining. Barro Colorado Island (BCI for short) is special because it was created when Lake Gatun was flooded for the canal, capturing a large range of animal life which has since thrived in relative isolation, making it perfect for behavioural studies. Of particular interest is how such a realtively small place can support huge diversity - the answer basically gets down to different species making demands on different resources.
The briefing we received on DIBs was much the same as on the Orion for Zodiacs last year. (The Sea Lion cannot carry Zodiacs because US regulations require US made inflatables. The crew were clearly of the opinion that the French made Zodiacs were a better brand, they don't leak!) There would be wet landings and very wet landings, but not today, where we could offload onto a pier. There were 2km and 4km "strenuous" bush walks as options, and DIB cruises as an alternative.
Marcos from the research station was our guide for the 4km walk. Throughout the walk (steep up and down hills on half buried besser blocks as stepping stones) we could hear howling monkeys howling - sometimes they were very close/loud, but still very hard to see and much harder to photograph. Spider monkeys swung through the trees with great ease, but they don't pose for pictures!
Marco, our local guide on Barro Colorado Island. He admitted it was his first guiding assignment.
It was a pleasure to have the exercise, although it was hot and muggy. We were instructed to wear long trousers tucked into our socks with proper walking boots, to counter ticks. From a photographic point of view the walk was a little bit frustrating, too much time getting to the monkeys, too little time spent where they were. However tips from the expedition photographer (Costa Rican Jose Calvo Samayoa), about jungle photography in poor light, were helpful and greatly appreciated.
Rainforest tree develop these prickles for self-defence. We think they're called "crocodile trees".
So many leaf-cutter ants scurry though the forest that they mark their own trail. Each ant can carry 5000 times its own weight.
We're near the top of the canopy in this part of the rainforest.
This is a creeper just starting its journey up to the sun on a compliant tree.
Howler monkeys are very loud, but really hard to get good pictures of. A mum and baby here, if you look hard.
Henry piloted a DIB around the edge of the island for a different perspective, spectacular as it turned out. We saw a large, blue-grey crocodile, and spider monkeys hanging from tree limbs, quite interested in us.
By contrast, the spider monkeys are positive exhibitionists - fast movers though. [Photo credit: Gerald Levy]
American crocodile (we didn't know there were any!) looking for sun on the beach at Barro Colorado. [Photo credit: Gerald Levy]
Leaving Barro Colorado Island, after a canal pilot had come on board, we set sail towards the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Because the Panama isthmus twists like an S-bend, you actually travel in a south-easterly direction through the canal to get to the Pacific, west of the Atlantic. It's confusing and counter-intuitive.
It was dark by the time we traversed the 13km Culebra Cut, the canal's most difficult engineering challenge apart from the locks themselves, and part of Lake Gatun. The cut runs through the Continental Divide and passes under the subtly-lit Centennial Bridge, quite spectacular at night. We had driven over this bridge with Clemente, days previously.
Really hard to hold the camera still enough on a boat for this 0.6sec exposure.
The Centenary bridge behind us, we passed the single step Pedro Miguel lock, and then the double step Miraflores locks which lowered us 26m to the ocean level. It was 11pm, and the previously crowded visitors centre was closed. It was after midnight by the time we passed the Bridge of the Americas and our previous Country Inn hotel, both in relative darkness.
10:20pm as we creep into the Pedro Miguel lock.
And then, at the Miraflores Locks, the locks crew tug on the securing ropes from a mule before we manoeuvre into position.
We felt we had ticked off a serious bucket list item. The Panama Canal is something we all know about from school, but until this experience, we had no real appreciation of its workings or its scale and complexity. What a privilege to be able to observe it so comprehensively over the last week!
We went to bed while the Sea Lion ploughed into the Gulf of Panama.
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