Tuesday, on the Boat

After boarding the boat, we had an orientation and the de rigeur safety drill. With only 24 passengers, this was much simpler than on our other cruise ships with 1400 people. Still, important and we now know how to find our life jackets and muster for evacuation.

Lunch was a very nice salad, plantain chips, and a pork or chicken wrap. Then we set sail and headed out of the anchoring area in Colon. There were a multitude of ships anchored inside the breakwater.

Carol


Chuck

Once we cleared the breakwater, we sailed to the mouth of the Chagres river. When they built the canal, they dammed the Chagres not far from Colon to form a waterway. At the time, it was the largest man-made lake in the world. The mouth of the river is mostly untravelled. Earlier, it was heavily guarded by the US military because of the strategic importance of the Canal. 

As we entered the mouth of the river, we saw an occasional flying fish. Caroline pointed one out to me and I aimed my camera and started clicking away. With incredible luck, I got this picture.

FlyingFish
Insect

The boat anchored for the night in the river. This is one of the advantages of being on a small boat. We anchor in places where bigger cruise ships cannot even go, much less anchor. After we anchored, we got a green visitor to the boat. It was a beautiful place to "park", quiet and peaceful.

We boarded small boats for a trip on the river to look for wildlife and see the sites. Because we had a guide with incredible eyes and some avid birdwatchers, we were rewarded with some interesting animals. Here are some examples of what we saw.

BlueHeron

A Blue Heron.

Monkey

Howler Monkey

Sloth

A sloth at the top of the tree. They apparently will stay at the top of the tree for a week. In the heat of the day, I felt much like a sloth.

Toucan

Toucan.

ChagresRiverDam

The dam on the Chagres which formed Lake Gatun.

We got back about sunset and had dinner which was wonderful. After dinner Iann, one of our guides, talked to us about the role of the isthmus in trade before the canal. Then, it was early to bed.

© Charles Eklund 2012