In August, we visited Isla Barro Colorado, which is a biological research station run by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). The island is in Lake Gatun, a large man-made lake which was created when the Chagres river was dammed to as part of the creation of the Panama Canal. http://www.stri.org/english/visit_us/barro_colorado/Scientists from all over the world come to STRI to conduct research - they have dorms and a cafeteria and the researchers, and sometimes their families stay for weeks or even years.
We had a nice hike in which it poured rain almost the entire time. It was fun anyway, because the rain made the howler monkeys come out and howl, which scares the crap out of you the first time you hear it. Here are a few photos from things we saw: bats, spiders and frogs. Cool stuff.
