The morning started for me as the sun rose and the boat was anchoring in a little bay on Barro Colorado Island (BCI). (Caroline: It started for me when Chuck brought me a nice cup of coffee in our stateroom) As we motored into the bay, we must have disturbed the howler monkeys because they were making a huge racket. It is a very eerie sound. Now all I hear is chirping birds and the hum of the generator.
After breakfast we took our small boats over to BCI. BCI is a nature preserve and laboratory for the Smithsonian Institute of Tropical Research. There are a handful of buildings on one part of the island. The rest is as untouched as is possible. We were joined by guides from the Smithsonian and we headed off on a walk on the island learning about the flora and fauna of the island. I forgot to mention that the canal swimmer had two men in a small boat with him with guns to protect him from the crocodiles. As you will see later, this warning is worth heeding.
(Caroline) There are a number of people on board that are "birders's: I have never been inclined to traipse through forests and jungles to find exotic birds. However, I was impressed with our guide that could spot various birds or animals amongst the dense jungle vegetation without binoculars. It was interesting and quite educational. Jon, Jeanne and I took the mile and a half trek through the jungle. I was happy to follow Jon as he is quite tall, as I feared walking through a large cobweb or worse things! The picture on the right is Jon and Jeanne on our mile and a half jungle walk.
The ecology of the island is fascinating. Because it was made by the lake, over its 100 years of its existence, some species have gone extinct on the island (not enough territory, wrong kind of forest, or other reasons). Here are some the things we saw.
Caroline got this picture of a Walking Stick Bug on a Screen.
Lizard.
Ant Nest hanging from a free. This is the bottom half.
A Slatey-Tailed Trogan (thanks to George for the name)