Mark Painter
Most of the route of the Panama Canal passes through a large artificial lake called Lake Gatún, the surface of which is about 90 feet above sea level. The locks take a ship from the ocean and raise it until it reaches the level of the lake, then it crosses the lake, then another set of locks lowers it to sea level.
The lake was created when the canal was built, in the rugged interior of the country. A number of hills in the region became islands. The largest of these islands is Isla Barro Colorado (“Red Clay Island”) or IBC for short. It is named for the village that used to be there. (Don’t overlook the fact that the canal project displaced many Panamanians.)
From the beginning, IBC was reserved for the use of the Smithsonian Institution and became the home of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). Even after the canal was returned to Panama, the Panamanian government allowed STRI to continue its work.
I spent a day touring IBC with a small group of other people. No one in the group was more than half my age; every one of them was either a grad student working on tropical research or the spouse of one. I was the only North American in the group. The grad students said they came because STRI generates so much tropical research that they come across it all the time in their work and they wanted to see it.
While I was waiting for the boat to take me to the island, I took a short walk to take this picture of the Panama Railroad. This rail line, built by a US company in the 1850s, was the way you crossed the Isthmus of Panama before the canal was built.
On The Road – Mark Painter – Panama – Isla Barro ColoradoPost + Comments (15)