Panama Canal

Last time we cruised through the Panama Canal, I accidentally donated my sunglassses to the jungle gods, so this time, I thought I could get away without wearing any sunglasses out on the deck. As you can see, that didn’t work out well for either Larry or me. We could barely keep our eyes open out there in the bright equatorial sun!

It takes roughly 11 hours to pass through the canal, as a series of 12 locks leads you from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, crossing over the continental divide along the way.

Forty five ships pass through the canal each day taking 60% of the world’s merchandise with them.

Due to low rainfall, however, only 18 to 24 ships are currently passing through the canal.

As you can imagine, this shortcut is not free. Our ship, for example, paid around $350,000 to traverse the canal.

It’s not a flat fee, either; it’s based on weight. That’s why Richard Halliburton paid a mere 36 cents when he swam through the canal in 1928.

Most of the canal’s traffic is made up of container ships, but we saw a trio of catamarans making the trip in a lock beside us this time,

It’s just another day at work for the canal employees, but even so, they often wave as we pass by.

I’m always impressed by what a tight fit it is as we pass through the locks. I tried to convey this in some of my photos.

Since our entrance was delayed for some reason, we went through the final lock during dinner. This worked out great, since our table is right at the transom. We gave us some of the best views of the action that we’d had all day!

As dusk arrived, we saw dozens of deer grazing alongside the canal. Some folks even saw crocodiles, but I couldn’t tell if I was seeing crocs or tree branches in the water.

Birds sighted along the way: grackles, vultures (black & turkey), caracara, frigate, herons, pelicans, and one I couldn’t ID.En savoir plus