Panama
Lago Gatún
Container ships glide past islands of howler monkeys on a lake built to split continents.
The water is warm and brown-green, and the sound that carries across it is not birdsong but the low thrum of a container ship sliding between forested islands. Lago Gatún in Panama fills the valley where the Chagres River once ran — a manmade lake so vast it became its own ecosystem, with howler monkeys screaming from treetops on islands that were hilltops a century ago.
Lago Gatún was created in 1913 when the Chagres River was dammed to form the central passage of the Panama Canal. The flooding drowned 163 square kilometres of jungle, producing a lake dotted with over a thousand forested islands. Every container ship crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific passes through these waters — the juxtaposition of industrial shipping and untouched forest islands exists nowhere else. Peacock bass, introduced in the 1960s, now sustain some of the finest freshwater sport fishing in the Americas. Boat tours from Gamboa thread between islands where capuchins and sloths inhabit the canopy, oblivious to the freighters queuing for the locks beyond.
Family
Children watch container ships the size of buildings glide past monkey islands — a living lesson in engineering and ecology that no textbook can replicate. Calm waters, gentle boat tours, and wildlife sightings make this an effortless family day.
Couple
A private boat at dusk, howler monkeys calling from the islands, a freighter's silhouette crossing the sunset — Lago Gatún offers a backdrop that is equal parts romantic and surreal.
Friends
Charter a fishing boat and spend the day casting for peacock bass between canal islands. The catch-and-grill tradition at dockside is the reward.
- The lake was created in 1913 by damming the Chagres River; the flooding drowned jungle and produced 163 square kilometres of water dotted with forested islands.
- Every container ship between Asia and the US East Coast crosses this lake — watching one pass a howler monkey island is a scene that exists nowhere else on Earth.
- Peacock bass, introduced in the 1960s, now draw sport fishermen from across the Americas; Gatún bass fishing is considered some of the best in the world.
- Boat tours from Gamboa pass close enough to Barro Colorado Island's shore to see monkeys at the water's edge without landing.
Peacock bass fished from the lake and grilled at canalside docks.
Fried fish with coconut rice at the fishing villages along the shore.
Fresh pineapple and watermelon from Gatún town's market stalls.
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