Panama City: Day 5 THE PANAMA CANAL

When I was about to land in Panama City a few days ago, I could tell the Panama Canal was going to be a highlight of my trip because I looked out over the water and saw SO many SHIPS. Huge ships, just waiting to go through the canal (I assume). Hundreds. Or at least 75. Just seeing them was a spectacular new sight for me. Seeing the Panama Canal is much much better.

Below, look at the building, then look between my head and the building, notice the water to the right of that arrow point. All of that water gets displaced to the left of the arrow when the Canal operates as it should (and it always has, it's worked perfectly since it opened in 1914) to transport ships one at a time through the Isthmus of Panama that separates the Atlantic from the Pacific. These Miraflores locks are the first (or last) of 3 locks, within 6 "ladder" steps. The first 3 steps move the ship up, the last three move them back down and into the other ocean (it goes both ways). It is really, really amazing to watch the operation. It's like clockwork.

Now this is cool to know: Sea level is the same on both sides, right, so why do ships need to go up and down, and not just straight through? The Suez Canal for example, travels through desert, so it's just a waterway; it was relatively simple to build just by digging. The Panama Canal however, is surrounded by mountains and jungles, which made digging a canal challenging. Not only the higher elevation of the land (ie: rock) but also the root systems of the trees. At first, they (the French) tried the Suez method, but failed. There were dangerous mudslides setting them back whenever they made progress, and budget ran out. The U.S. took over years later and invested in the project trying another engineering method, taking the ships up and over through a serious of "locks" or water gates or water elevators. (I read a short educational children's book about it on my Kindle before I went.) The U.S. only gave control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999.

So this is the first lock if you are coming from the Pacific side trying to get to the Atlantic. You can just barely make out the higher water on the other side of the lock.

Here is the waterway to the Pacific and the beginning (ending) of the canal:

Here is a ship entering:

Approaching the Miraflores Locks:

Going through the lock:

Almost through it (see it's so much higher??):

And through it, on it's way to the next lock:

That chick would not get out of the way!

The pictures REALLY do not do the whole process justice. Here is my Snapchat story (had to be shortened a bit unfortunately for youtube), annotated here and there with what's going on. I cannot overstate how cool this is to see in person.

I recommend the way I did it: got there at 8, nabbed the best spot (at least I thought so, in the corner at a table), and left at 9:45 or so after the boat was through the locks. The crowd started accumulating at 9 I'd say, and when I left it was packed. Being in the corner and focusing on the ship, I didn't even notice them before I turned around to leave. I was also really glad I researched the mechanics before I went. I knew what I was looking at and where I wanted to stand. There is a narrator, but I already knew 90% of everything he said and more. Plus, I didn't have to waste time watching the movie or walking around the visitor center. I read it's a great & informative visitor center but I have no regrets.

#MirafloresLocks #PanamaCanal #ShipgoingthroughMirafloresLocks #CourtneyComstockblog #PanamaCanalship