PANAMA

December 28,29

Our ship docked at Colon on the Caribbean side of Panama, and the first day we took a train about 50 miles to Panama City on the Pacific side.   The train essentially runs parallel to the canal through the jungles of Panama.   Along the way our guide gave us a good lesson on the construction of both the railway and the canal as well as the history of the country of Panama.   We returned to the ship by bus.

The second day our ship departed Colon, traversed the canal and entered the Pacific Ocean.   

The Panama Canal is deemed to be one of the 8 Engineering Wonders of the World.   We had in our minds that the canal was essentially a ditch connecting the two oceans.   But in reality, it goes over a rise of 85 feet.   Initially the challenge was to go over an elevation of some 250 feet in rugged, jungle pest-infested terrain.  Through a massive effort using dynamite and hauling away the rock and soil, a channel was cut reducing the maximum elevation to 85 ft.   Three locks on either side lift the ships up and down the rise.   

The distance between the Caribbean and Pacific ports is about 51 miles.   The builders of the canal brilliantly dammed the Chagres River making a large lake in the middle of Panama.   Narrow channels of 8 to 9 miles long enter and exit the lake; so about 2/3 of the 51 miles of the Panama Canal is by way of the man-made lake and a smaller lake near Panama City.  

There are actually two canals side by side.   The first canal was completed in 1913, while the second wider and deeper canal was completed in 1996.   The second canal can handle a cargo ship carrying as many as 13,500 shipping containers. (Boggles the mind....who needs all that stuff?).

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing and learning about the famous Panama Canal.   We recommend putting it on your bucket list.   

                                            On the train


                                                   At the train terminal in Panama City

                                                Big cargo ship waiting to enter the canal

                                        Panama City skyline

Our ship entering the first lock.   The vehicle on the track beside of us is one of eight pulling and guiding our ship into and out of the lock.   These electric workhorses replaced mules that did the same job many years ago.
                                                    

A petroleum tanker in the wider/newer lock heading in the opposite direction.



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