Panama Canal

We hung around the Hostel this morning, which is a lot of fun, as it is full of travellers from around the world.  There are Australians, Germans, Dutch, Canadian, Mexican, Brazilian, and a host of other countries represented here, and almost without fail, they are a wonderful and gregarious group.

Taking a taxi from the Hostel, we first stopped off at the Albrook mall, a massive, western style mall teeming with familiar stores (Nike, Addidas, Apple etc)

Troy purchased a new set of Armour and a new helmet, in preparation for the higher temperatures expected by the equator.

We hailed a cab which took us to the Canal Zone, which until December 31, 1999, was run by the American Government.  It has since been turned over to the Panama government.



From Wikipedia:

The Panama Canal is a 77 km (48 mi) ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in the canal's early days to 14,702 vessels in 2008, measuring a total 309.6 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons.

One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via either the Strait of Magellan or Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 9,500 km (5,900 mi), well under half the 22,500 km (14,000 mi) route around Cape Horn.


When we arrived, a large cruise ship was passing through the final lock on it's way to the Pacific Ocean.  We then watched as another Tanker ship ,and finally a full Container Ship, which was a Panamax vessel (a vessel built to the largest size possible that would still fit through the canal)

Large Cruise ship sitting in the lock.

A large tanker ship passing through a lock

Troy and I

Some of the great girls from the Hostel.  We shared a cab to the Canal, although the cabbies try to charge more if there are more people in the cab.  At first he wanted $15 for 4 people.  We offered $3.  We settled on $10 after threatening to call the Tourism Board.  The trip back (same distance, same people, different Cab was $7 without haggling.

One of the massive lock doors.

Container Ship.  A Panamax class vessel.

Tanker ship, just after entering lock

Tanker, after the lock was emptied dropping it 27 feet.

After passing through the first lock, sitting in the second lock which will drop it to sea level on the Pacific side.

Panamax class vessel, in the lock

The engineering and technology employed on this 100 year old Canal is a wonder.