After missing the boat earlier, we were able to reschedule our tour of Barro Colorado Island for our last day in Panama. This island is a world-renowned research area run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). To protect the integrity of the island’s ecosystem, visiting the island is limited to researchers and support personnel and small tour groups. Our guide books recommended making reservations up to a year in advance, but they had a cancellation and were able to fit us in. The contact person, Patrizia Pinzon, is fabulous.
Barro Colorado Island is a product of millions of years of evolution combined with the construction of the Panama Canal. Building the canal required damming the Chagres River to create the 166 square-mile Lake Gatun. This resulted in submerging all but the tallest peaks in this region of central Panama. The tallest of these is Barro Colorado Island.
We left the Melia Resort even earlier this time (4:45am) and got to the dock in Gamboa by 6, so we had over an hour to enjoy the tropical sunrise. A dog kept us company while we had our breakfast. He really likes peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.
Our tour group consisted of 6 people and our guide, Ian. A boat took us from the dock to the island in about 40 minutes. Just as we were pulling into the dock at Barro Colorado, we noted the familiar howling we had heard two days ago and one of our fellow travelers pointed out howler monkeys in the grove of trees next to us. We watched them swinging from branch-to-branch, using their tails almost like a fifth paw. We even saw a baby howler riding on its mother’s back.
We then went on a leisurely 5-hour hike along a mildly steep trail. Ian stopped at many spots to point out various plants, animals, fungi, and even geological subjects of interest. Highlights included another group of howlers (who were right above us and told us emphatically that they did not like us there), a group of white-faced monkeys, an anteater, and colorful poison dart frogs. We also noted several different bird species including toucans and parrots. Seeing the largest tree on the island, "the big tree" was another highlight of the hike, but being from California, I can say that it’s not nearly as impressive as a Giant Sequoia.
We finished our hike and had lunch in the cafeteria at around 1 and this was followed by a slide show explaining the goals of STRI and the island. Next to the cafeteria, a bulletin board has photos of everyone who works on the island as well as the title of the investigator’s research, which included things as diverse as bioenergetics of butterfly migration and behavior of howler monkeys. We had another hour to walk around the island before our boat departed for Gamboa and another 12 before we had to leave for the airport as our time in Panama drew to a close.