Animals of Gatun Lake, Panama

Whilst in Panama I did an tour on Gatun Lake. Gatun Lake is a large freshwater lake to the south of Colon. It forms a major part of the Panama Canal. Colon is a city beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal. The lake is man made, created by damming the Chagres River. 

From Colon we drove along the highway then turned off through the national park. We saw the prison, complejo carcelario El Renacer, where Manuel Noriega spent the last years of his life. He was Panama’s drug running military dictator of the 1980s. He died 2017.

At the jetty of Gamboa we transferred to a boat. Initially we went along the canal and saw the large crane used for lifting the dock gates.  

The first critter we saw was a crocodile, but I didn't get a clear photo as the boat was bobbing up and down. 

We carried on to Monkey Island where we saw a Capuchin monkey. The boatmen lured it closer with a banana. 

We then came into the lake, some saw a Howler Monkey but I was the wrong side of the boat. Nearby was a Panama tree, Sterculia apetala, which is the national tree of Panama.  

Further on saw a tamarin and a snail kite. 

We also saw various iguanas

A Southern lapwing -

As we were leaving, the Panama Canal train went past. The passenger train runs once a day in each direction Panama City to Colon, and serves as a commuter as well as a tourist train. 

There are also around 10 freight trains in each direction in 24 hours. See more on the passenger service and also the freight service. The cargo train going over a bridge (taken from inside the van!).