Rio Chagres

Most everyone has heard of The Panama Canal, which connects the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.  But you may not have heard of the Chagres River.

Points Beyond, up the Rio Chagres

The Chagres River, surrounded by rainforest.

Although not as well known as the Panama Canal itself, there would be no canal without the Rio Chagres.  

Panama Canal Diagram, with the Chagres River area we explored circled with a white dotted line.
Source: Wikipedia

The river snakes it’s way through the rain forest,  and is the main watershed for the canal.  Two dams along the river help create Gatun Lake, which is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.   From the Caribbean, the Chagres River is navigable all the way to the Gatun Dam, located about 6 miles from the mouth of the river. 

Fort San Lorenzo, at the mouth of the Chagres River.

The Chagres River was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in 1502, and was explored by Hernando de la Serna in 1527.  He founded the town of Chagres and built a fort, San Lorenzo, on a promontory at the mouth of the river.  The river was used as a transportation trail from the Pacific, across Panama, from which gold was “exported” from Peru to Spain.

Looking out the the Caribbean from Fort San Lorenzo.

Fort San Lorenzo, under cover of jungle growth.

View from the fort, with the Rio Chagres in the right corner.

We had heard that the Chagres River was worth exploring.  In fact, we had heard that it was a “don’t miss it!” spot, and so we crossed the bar into the river with great expectations.  The fort is still at the mouth of the river, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

A view of the River from inside the fort.

The square slab is the fort cistern. 

The original cannons still stand sentry around Fort San Lorenzo.

A Royal Crest can still be seen on this cannon.

And the river still meanders through the rainforest as it flows downstream from Gatun Dam.  Was it as magical and mystical as described to us?  A “don’t miss” kind of place?  Oh Yes.  Yes, it was.

Magical, mystical Rio Chagres.

Rainforest all the way to at the edge of the river.

We sailed up the river, all the way until we came in sight of the dam, where we anchored and listened to the noises of the jungle.  There are no buildings, no visible man-made structures of any sort between the fort and the dam. 

No sign of humans...except us.

We were completely alone, having traveled upstream without encountering any other people or boats, and it stayed that way for days.  But truly we were far from alone.  The jungle is teeming with life.  

We spotted toucans, red parrots, green parrots, yellow headed caracaras, osprey, and a variety of other flying creatures. 

Toucans!  Where are the Fruit Loops?

Cute birds hanging out on our bow rail.

Yellow-headed Caracara.  (I think.)

Osprey?

We watched families of Howler Monkeys, Spider Monkeys, and White Faced Capuchins, too.  

You looking at me?

Seriously.  You looking at me?

Capuchin family, with baby on the mother's back.

Capuchin monkey, having a stare-down with the humans.

 

Oh, hello!

And then there was the sloth, who wins the funniest/strangest creature award for sure.

Sloth.  Strangest creature candidate.  

Sloth.  Or Sasquatch.  Could be either.

Check out his claws!  

The noise of birds and bugs is constant, even though at the same time it is incredibly quiet and peaceful.  Until, that is, the howler monkeys start howling.  Howling doesn’t quite describe this incredibly loud roar.  We weren’t sure what it was at first; it sounded like a cross between wolves and lions.  Only louder. 

Can you spot the howler monkeys in the jungle?
You could if this picture included sound.

Ah, there's a howler.

Howler monkey swinging from a vine.  

Howler monkeys are said to be the loudest land animals; the sound of their calls can travel up to 3 miles.  They tend to howl most at dawn and dusk.  Or if you happen to speed by too close to them in your dingy.   

A spider monkey checking us out.

Spider monkey.  These guys are quiet.

We spent nearly a week in this wonderland, and felt like we could have happily spent a month exploring tributaries and jungle paths.  

Sunset on the rainforest canopy.

At anchor in the Rio Chagres.

From our anchoring spot near the dam we were also able to visit the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal.  This unforgettable experience included (spoiler alert!) WALKING ACROSS the Gatun Locks.  Stay tuned for our upcoming post for the details on our Panama Canal experience.

The Gatun Dam as seen from the Chagres River.
Just behind the dam a cruise ship can be seen as the ship transits the Panama Canal.