Canal!

This should be my last post about Panama. Sorry it has taken me so long to get the whole trip covered. This post is about the last tour we were able to go on. It was called the Partial Transit of the Panama Canal. On this tour we were able to get a first-hand view of the Canal operation by going through 2 sets of locks, the Pedro Miguel and the Miraflores. The following graphic shows how the canal operates.

The reason they raise and lower the boats is because the lake (Gatun Lake) in the middle of the Canal is at 85 feet above sea level. So they raise the boats to the level of the lake and once you get to the other side they lower you back down to sea level. On a typical day they said it takes 8 hours to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and vice versa through the Canal. 

We started our trip in the middle of Gatun Lake and headed towards the Pacific Ocean.This is the lovely boat we spent the majority of the day on.

 Along the way we passed underneath this neat bridge that was built by the US. It is the only bridge that crosses over the Canal. And apparently it is a tradition to kiss someone while you are directly under the bridge. At least that is what the tour guide told us.

A little while after the bridge we came upon the first set of locks. We were headed for the lock on the left while this huge ship carrying cars was headed for the lock on the right.

As we approached the lock they opened up this huge door so we could go in.

 

This is what it looks like inside the lock. They said the locks are 1000 feet long and 110 feet wide. They try to squeeze as many boats/ships as possible in at one time to conserve water since all the water is fresh water flowing in from Gatun Lake and it is currently their dry season. 

We had to wait forever for this ship to come in behind us. If you look close there are little trains off to the sides guiding/pulling the ship into the lock. As you can see the ship barely fits width wise.  

Here is a lovely picture of us in front of the huge doors of the Pedro Miguel Lock.

Like I said there are huge doors right in front of our boat. They are the original doors from when the Canal was finished in 1914. Note the level of the water and then the next few pictures will show what it looks like as they lower the water. I think they said it takes about 2 minutes for the water to lower. 

Pretty neat huh? While they were opening up the doors we got a picture of me touching the wall next to our boat. We were told that it is good luck to do this. :)

After we got through this lock we headed for the Miraflores Lock. On the way we caught a brief glimpse of the Panama Temple.

The second lock took a lot more time to get through because we had to wait for the huge ship that was behind us at the first lock to catch up and go through the second lock with us. So while we waited we took some pictures. Here is one of the Panama Canal Visitor Center.

Here is a picture of.... Brian.

Finally the ship behind us caught up. I still can't believe how large that thing is.

Once the ship was secured behind us they lowered the water and let us through the huge doors.

This is the view looking back at the lock with a neat tug boat behind us.

We got another brief glimpse of the Panama Temple once we got out of the Canal. It is a really pretty temple.

It was at this point that we thought our tour would be over. Nope, we had to ride another hour to the dock where our bus was waiting for us. Mind you we had already been on this boat for about 6 hours and it was hot and humid. Let's just say the tour was awesome but we were exhausted. Brian found ways to entertain himself by taking pictures.

We are so exciting aren't we?

Well I have one more cool picture to show you of the Panama City skyline. We couldn't believe how many huge buildings they have. It was impressive.  

Well that is the end of our trip to Panama! I hope it wasn't too boring for everyone. :)