Final day in Panama

 Thursday January 15

We transitioned north overnight to Punta Patino on the edge of the Gulf of San Miguel. In the 1980s the northeastern edge of the Darien was being stripped to create cattle ranches, many of them owned by wealthy families connected to Noriega. A conservation non-profit (ANCON) bought 70,000 acres in 1985 to create a private reserve. They have since protected other areas of Panama as well.

The tide swing in this area can be five feet or more; at low tide this morning the ship had to anchor more than 2 nautical miles out from shore. We went zodiac cruising around small rocky islands offshore. We were pleased to see a crab-eating raccoon scampering along the shore. They are  nocturnal species so to see one at 9am was a treat. We also stopped by some small fishing boats to admire the corvina and spiny lobsters they caught this morning. 

This afternoon we zodiac’d the 2+ miles to shore and walked trails in the reserve. We heard thunder as we landed, but the storm held off until we were returning to the ship. Riding in a zodiac into the teeth of the storm made us very grateful for our ponchos!

Pictured: crab-eating raccoon, fishing boats, roadside hawk, female crimson-crested woodpecker 

The Darien Gap

Wednesday January 14

Today we visited a village of the Embera people, an indigenous tribe of Amazonian descent. Most Embera live deep in the jungle along the rivers of the Darien Gap. This is the only Embera village near the coastline, founded to enable the children to have a government primary school. We took zodiacs to Playa Muerto (the beach of death)— so named because in stormy weather the landing is very difficult. Fortunately today was calm and beautiful! 

We enjoyed presentations from the village elders, the local band (named Hurricanes of the Pacific) and dancers. We also had a chance to view and purchase wonderful handcrafts— carvings, baskets, jewelry and other items. Afterwards our group split up to take walks of varying lengths. 

We opted for the “slowest group of the medium hike” so that we could take advantage of a great birding naturalist on the staff. We walked about 5 miles, much of it through the “farm fields” of the village. The villagers clear the understory of the forest but leave the large trees intact. They grown “robusto” coffee, bananas and their other crops in the shade of the trees. We crossed the Playa Muerto River several times (sometimes up to our knees). We saw Panamanian Night Monkeys and Geoffrey’s Tamarins, the two smallest monkeys in Panama. We also saw or heard over 30 species of birds, including two that were new to us. 

The “Darien Gap” is famous in human migration stories. It is literally a “gap in the Pan American highway system” of about 60 miles. The road was never finished because the Darien is an ethnographic and natural treasure. As a result, it is impassable in a car; to get around the gap you must ship your car between Panama and Colombia while you fly or take a ship to meet up with it. The Darien has had (for centuries) a reputation for being dangerous from every aspect— jungle, snakes, outlaws, diseases— but it covers the land connection from South America to Central America, which explains its importance in migration sagas.

Pictured: Panamanian Night Monkeys, Golden-headed Manakin, jumping Geoffrey’s tamarin, Blue-throated Goldentail (hummingbird), Embera man in traditional dress 

Pearl Islands day two

 Tuesday January 13

This morning we anchored at Isla Bayoneta, a bit further south in the Pearl Islands archipelago than yesterday. We took zodiac rides in the mangrove areas while others kayaked. The predominant species we saw were red mangrove, which expel salt from the water to a sacrificial leaf, allowing all the others to thrive. We also saw some black mangroves, which expel the salt to the leaf surfaces and tend to be larger and further back from the water’s edge. The tide was out so we got to see a few shore birds, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, and American Oystercatchers. There were very few boobies because they like to congregate in areas with cliffs rather than wooded areas. 

In the afternoon we moved north again to Isla Chapera for a second (and final) snorkeling opportunity. Chapera is known for its clear waters. Rough seas delayed and nearly cancelled our outing, but luckily winds died down and we were able to snorkel. The rough seas caused a lot of sand to be stirred up, reducing clarity and visibility a bit. We still had a good time and saw some interesting fish. 

Pictured: Hudsonian Whimbrel, Brown Pelican landing, triggerfish, needlefish 

Pearl Islands from above and below

January 12

This morning we anchored near the small northern islands of the Pearl Islands archipelago and explored several of the rocky outcrops by zodiac. We saw many seabirds, including male Magnificent Frigatebirds with their red throat sacks inflated. We’d seen Frigatebirds on several other trips but never the males in breeding colors. 

Frigatebirds have the highest wing-to-weight ratio of any bird, which enables them to stay aloft for so long. In fact, if a frigatebird lands in the water, they cannot fly away and they may die. This is a risk for younger birds who have not yet learned how to pluck food from the water’s surface without getting wet. We found a young frigatebird floundering in the water, and one of our naturalists leaned over the edge of the zodiac, scooped up the bird, and put him on a rock to dry his wings. She said the bird was incredibly light— we noticed that she was so skilled that the bird did not seem at all panicked. 

We also watched a peregrine falcon chase an osprey away, another rare behavior. 

This afternoon we went snorkeling from a sandy beach on another of the small islands. It is an area of “rock coral” that does not have vibrant color but still had many lovely fish. It was great to be in the water!

Pictured: male Magnificent Frigatebirds, Peregrine Falcon, colorful fish  

Gatun Lake and the rest of the canal

 Sunday January 11

We spent the day anchored in Gatun Lake near Barro Colorado Island. The island is the high point of land remaining after the Chagres River was dammed to create the lake. Many different species fled to the island as the water level rose, creating a mini Noah’s ark. The Smithsonian has a tropical research center on the island and some of our shipmates went for a walk there. We chose to travel in pangas down to Gamboa and walk in the Soberania National Park. Gamboa sits at the halfway point in the canal path and is home to the maintenance and dredging teams. At the time of the canal construction, 3500 people lived in Gamboa; the current population is closer to 500. We walked through secondary jungle/forest and while we did not see a lot of wildlife, we did see two new bird species, capuchin monkeys and a sloth. 

Any ship passing through the canal is reliant on the canal authority to give them their time slot for passing through the locks. Our original plan (yesterday) expected us to start on the second leg of the canal in the mid afternoon. This morning that shifted to after 7:30 pm. Then at lunchtime it moved to 5:30 pm. Credit to the National Geographic staff for arranging additional panga rides for the afternoon— we saw several different hawks, iguanas and three kinds of monkeys: howlers, capuchins and tamarins. 

We finally embarked towards the pacific side of the canal about 8pm. This meant that we did not get a good view of the famous “cut” through the continental divide, but the actual lock at Miraflores Lake was well-illuminated. We were again kept centered by small electric locomotives; in this case the lines from the ship to the locomotives were assisted by men in a rowboat. Apparently the rowboat approach has been the most reliable, but it was funny to see a rowboat amidst the much larger ships. At 10:30pm we had reached the Miraflores Lake and we did not stay up to watch the transit through the final two locks down to the level of the pacific. 

Pictured:  baby Mantled Howler monkey, White-faced Capuchin, Whooping Motmot

Portobelo and entering the Canal

 Friday, January 9 / Saturday January 10p

Friday was a transition day. We left our lodge in the highlands mid-morning and drove back to Panama City. We were grateful that we were driving against traffic— by 11:00 on a dry season (vacation season) Friday, the roads out of Panama City were packed with folks leaving for a long weekend. We had seen the same in reverse when we arrived on Sunday.

We met the rest of the group for our National Geographic- Lindblad voyage in the afternoon. We had a few hours to spare, so we walked along the shoreline in Panama City. It gave us a good vantage point to observe the older parts of the city juxtaposed with the modern high rises built in the past few decades. 

The group traveled by bus for about an hour, driving north along the edge of the canal. At this point Panama is only 50 miles across, explaining why this has been the transoceanic route for centuries. We boarded our ship and after dinner transitioned the 23 nautical miles to the sheltered harbor of Portobelo.

On Saturday morning we took zodiacs to the town of Portobelo, named by Columbus in 1502. The town and harbor played an important role as the embarkation port for treasure ships leaving the Spanish colonies in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The Spanish treasure shipments were a target for pirates of various kinds, including Sir Francis Drake who raided Panama several times before dying and being buried off shore at Portobelo in 1596.

Originally the embarkation point was further south at Nombre de Dios, but moved to Portobelo in 1597. The town was protected originally by a fort high above the town that was destroyed by Henry Morgan in 1668. A series of five forts was then built to protect the harbor. 

The wealth that passed through this port is almost unimaginable. A shipwreck from 1710 of a single galleon held 10 million gold doubloons (290 tons of gold) not to mention silver, emeralds and other riches. Much of the treasure came from other colonies (especially Mexico, Peru and Bolivia) by mule train across the isthmus. There was also a treasure route that reached from Manila to Acapulco to Veracruz, and then down to Portobelo to be included in the shipment. From Portobelo the galleons stopped in Cartagena and Havana before sailing to Spain. 

We visited one of the ruined forts. The walls were largely constructed from blocks of coral, which was plentiful and absorbs the impact of cannonballs without collapsing as stone or wood would. We also visited the church and learned about the Black Jesus of Portobelo, the focus of an annual festival for the whole region. Finally, we watched a performance by local Congo dancers. The women’s costumes were traditionally made from fabric scraps left after slaves made dresses for their mistress. The music and dances reflect the harsh life of the slaves, and the drums call devils to come as messengers to God. The devil costumes are made from rooster feathers and cow’s teeth! 

This afternoon we sailed back to Colon to wait our turn to enter the Gatun locks, the first half of the Panama Canal. The canal is comprised of three consecutive locks from the Caribbean side leading up to the enormous manmade Gatun Lake, approximately 87 feet above sea level. A series of locks then take ships back down on the Pacific side.  The water in the lake enables the system to work by gravity, but it means that 52 million gallons of fresh water is “lost” to the oceans with each passage through the canal. The original locks were completed in 1913. Panama has recently built a second set of locks to accommodate larger container ships and to enable recycling of 60% of the transit water. Ships going through the canal must be under the control of a canal pilot rather than our own captain, and for the original locks (which we used) the ships are kept centered by four sets of cables (two front, two back, and on each side) connected to small railroad engines that travel on the edge of the lock walls. 

Tonight we anchored in Gatun Lake. Tomorrow we will do morning activities and then complete our canal passage in the afternoon. Ours is the only ship that is permitted to stay overnight “inside” the canal. 

Pictured: Congo dancers, 32 pound cannons at the Santiago de la Gloria fort in Portobelo, entering the locks, moving into a new lock (note the gates that have opened and the engine on the left)

Last day in the highlands

Thursday January 8

We spent the morning wandering on a muddy trail through an old secondary growth forest up in the cloud forest. The clouds lowered, sometimes engulfing us in mist and other times downright rain. The trail was on the back side of the chicken farm. We learned that this is a farm for producing eggs (which explains why we heard so many roosters!).  The eggs are transported to a different farm at lower elevation where the eggs are incubated for commercial chicken production. 

We saw a number of insect-eating species… one interesting aspect to this kind of birding is that you may spend 15 minutes hearing and seeing nothing, and then a “mixed flock” of different insectivores that hunt cooperatively swoops in and you almost don’t know where to look as you are surrounded by birds for 5-10 minutes. 

Antpittas are a family of ground birds that live in dense forest undergrowth and are thus nearly impossible to see. The guides here have worked for several years to teach one particular bird that when they play a recording of their call, worms will appear on the trail. The bird responded to the call today and happily gobbled up worms very close to us. It even hung around afterwards, apparently hoping more worms might be forthcoming. 

Coquettes are a family of tiny hummingbirds with amazing crests. We have seen two species on previous trips to Costa Rica and were delighted to see a third species today.

In the afternoon we went to two locations in the town of El Valle. We didn’t see any new species but we saw some interesting individuals and behaviors. At a private pond there were many Boat-billed Herons, including two fledglings. The little ones were adorable and fuzzy. We learned that the mother stays awake while the babies sleep and then takes a nap once they wake up.  

Later in the afternoon we watched a female Lineated Woodpecker slip inside a groove carved into a dead tree. Shortly thereafter a male came along, landed on the edge of her cavity and poked his head in to say hello. To our eyes at least, every time he looked in she leaned further back as if she was hiding from him. Some ornithology expert will need to explain this one to us! 

Pictured: Black-crowned Antpitta, Rufous-crested Coquette, baby Boat-billed Herons talking, Lineated Woodpecker standoff, Barred Antshrike