The next morning we woke to be driven at 4 in the morning from El Valle to Gamboa to catch a boat for our tour to Barro Colorado Island that day. We met our guide Wendy on the boat, where we learned about the history of the island and the Smithsonian Research Institute stationed there. Once o the island, we had coffee and then went on a hike through the trails in the rainforest to see what lay in wait for us. Along the way, we could see tags on trees or the ground marking different experiments in progress. We also were able to speak with some of the researchers to learn about what they were studying and how they hoped to go about collecting data. During our time on the island we spotted 4 different troops of howler monkeys, some of which crossed in the trees right over our heads, and one troop of Capuchin monkeys. Also, we saw crocodiles, an anteater (which was surprisingly larger than I expected it to be for eating such small creatures), a poison dart frog, agoutis, turtles, and many different birds. After the tour, we boarded the vessel again to return to Gamboa where we rested up for the evening in our room with a beautiful view of the canal below.
