Day 18 - Panama Canal

Between the hotel and the sea front there is a very large car park.  Yesterday there were just a handful of cars in it and it was the same when we returned from dinner.  This morning when we got up at 6am it was completely full of cars.  We couldnt work out why but later we realised that there was a 10km road race going on as we saw a lot of people in mauve race t-shirts walking around

We were picked up at 8am for our Panama Canal Tour and were taken to a ferry terminal at the end of a long causeway, which we can actually see from our hotel room, where we checked in.  The water here was very clear and there were many different varieties of fish visible together with laughing gulls trying to cath them.

 

Fish in the water at the Ferry terminal

 

A small island near the Ferry Terminal

 

Panama skyline from the Causeway

 

 

Us in front of a very large Panama sign

We were taken by bus to Gamboa which is a small town in the north of the country where the tourist transit to the Panama Canal starts.  The bus journey took about 45 minutes and we passed through some small villages and through the Soberania National Park, which is a jungle area.  The road ran parellel to a railway line but we didnt see any trains.  We boarded our boat, called "The Pacific Queen" and watched a few very large container ships that had just come through the canal from the Pacific Ocean before we set sail.

 

View of Gamboa from our boat

 

Looking across the Chagres River from Gamboa

 

Very large container ship, almost fully laden 

We think this size ship can carry about 12000 containers

 

Smaller container ship, not fully loaded.

Further north from here ships pass along the Chagres River, across Lake Gatun and through another man made canal with a 3 step lock system taking the boats down to the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean at Colon.

We sailed south across the Chagres River and into the Panama Canal which was 26m above sea level at this point.  It was quite wide here and our boat overtook the container vessel.  In this stretch we could see where the canal had been carved through rocks on both sides.  We saw a crocodile and an osprey along this stretch of water.

 

Dredging equipment at Gamboa

 

Lighthouse at Gamboa

 

East side of the canal

 

Water course entering canal

 

Crocodile

 

Terrain along the canal side

 

Osprey

 

We passed under Centennial Bridge, a road bridge opened in 2004 and is now part of the Pan American Highway, before arriving at the first set of locks named after Pedro Miguel.This consists of two lanes (east and west) each containing one chamber. Boats are lowered 10m into the next section.   We entered the lock with 3 other vessels.  On entry we were tied to the lock side with mooring ropes and another tourist cruise boat was tied to us.  Then there was a sailing yacht on the other side.  Behind us all was a very large container ship called "Box Endurance".  These vessels stayed together while passing through all the locks.

 

This was a mountain of solid rock and was carved out in steps

 

Looking backwards to the "Box Endurance"

 

The Box Endurance entering the lock behind us

 

The port side engine pulling the Box Endurance through the lock to keep it central

(there is another on the other side)

 

The Box Endurance and the other tourist boat behind us

 

The front gates of the lock.  The water level is gradually lowered in the lock.

 

Video in the lock

 

We exit the lock following the yacht.

 It is another 1.5km before we reached the Miraflores Locks which are a 2 step system taking the boats down a further approximately 16m depending on the tides in the Pacific Ocean.  There is a tectonic plate in this area and is the reason why another 3 step lock system could not be built as it would have been too dangerous.  On the way we saw a train carrying containers for loading onto ships at Colon or other loading sites along the canal.  The train is also an alternate way of getting containers between the north and south without transiting the canal but it can only take a maximum of 200 containers.

 

The train running alongside the canal

 

The train carrying containers to the  Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea)

A bird was struggling to fly up to one of the lamp posts.  It had one very long tail feather and it looked like the other was missing.  I got a fuzzy photo and Merlin said it was a Fork Tailed Flycatcher

 

The Box Endurance entering the first of the Miraflores locks

 

The Box Endurance being pulled through the lock by engines either side

 

Miraflores Lock Station

 

Looking down from first lock to second lock and then sea level

 

Lock Gates starting to open

 

Looking down from second lock to sea level

 

Waiting for water level to drop at second lock

 

The lower gates opening at the Miraflores lock

 

Yacht and Box Endurance following us out of the 2nd Miraflores lock

We were now at sea level and the rest of the trip was out to the Ferry Terminal at the Pacific Ocean end of the canal.  We passed the

 

Lighthouse on the eastern side of the canal

 

Monument in the hills just outside Panama City

 

Lots of Pelicans on a bouy

 

Pelicans and other seabirds feeding.

 

Container Ship being loaded at the Panama Pacific Terminal

 

The Bridge of the Americas, Panama City.

We went under this as we approached the end of the tour.

 

Video of our Pilot leaving the boat as we leave the Panama Canal

We were met by our tour guide as we left the boat and were taken back to the hotel.  I went for a swim in the hotel pool which is on the 6th floor but although hot, it was very windy.  The pool is tiny and I didnt stay in too long.

We had a rest in the hotel and then went to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. None of the staff spoke English and they didnt have an English menu.  I was fine and knew what I wanted but then we had great difficulty trying to explain that Paul didnt want mayonaisse, sauces, onions etc.  I tried to emphasise that I wanted everything but both meals came without any of the things Paul didnt want.  

We walked around some of the high rise buildings in the area.  They really are very modern and this part of the city resembles Singapore or Hong Kong.  I havent seen anything like this in any other South/Central American city.  Panama has the 2nd best economy in the region after Costa Rica.  The affluent area is very close to the not so desirable area where a lot of apartments and houses are really run down.  However some of the office blocks are all boarded up on the ground floor but look really nice from the 2nd or 3rd floor upwards.  Everything is considerably cheaper here than in Costa Rica.

We are going on another tour tomorrow but not leaving until 10am so will have a bit of a lie in.