The Pathway Between The Seas

Panama Canal

We woke up to the announcement that we were approaching the Canal. We stood on our balcony as the ship moved through.

This stop was always considered the highlight of the tour in terms of port visits. The Panama Canal was something most people on board had heard about all their lives and were now about to see this tremendous feat of engineering for themselves. For our part, we bought two copies of the David McCullough book “The Pathway Between the Seas” and finished them just about the time we entered the canal, which was great because we were then aware of the rich history behind this world wonder. After being started by the French in 1881 but ending in failure in 1894, the United States took over the construction in 1904. The canal was opened in 1914. This canal project was the most expensive man-made project ever, taking 34 years to complete and costing the lives of over 27,000 people. The largest causes of

death were tropical diseases like malaria and landslides during construction.

The canal cut the time it took to sail a ship from New York to San Francisco from 12,000 miles to 4,200 miles. The 51-mile canal route has served as a short cut to more that a million ships. The locks on the Atlantic side raise the water level 85 feet above sea level and on the Pacific side the locks then lower level by 89 feet.

Statistics aside, traveling through the canal was tremendous. The cruise ship navigated through the Atlantic side locks called Gatun Lake locks. We bought an excursion that took us by bus down to the Pacific side locks, where we boarded a smaller passenger ship and moved through those locks sailing close enough to actually touch the sides of the lock. Our journey through the lock was joined by a South

Korean passenger car ship containing 5,000 Hyundais and KIAs. Needless to say, we were dwarfed as we look up toward the bow of that monster, riding through the locks.

A side point for Pittsburgh folks is that the huge iron lock gate doors were made in the Steel City.

On the Pacific side we viewed the skyline of Panama City, which is a modern, gleaming metropolis right on the ocean. It looked like Manhattan, only newer and much bigger. The down side of the whole trip was seeing the unbelievable poverty outside the city and locks on the bus ride back to the ship. Our tour guide, a native Panamanian and US Army veteran explained that the country has no economic viability outside the canal itself, aside from a highly concentrated fruit producing industry. When the US left town in 1999 and turned it over

to locals, a major economic engine left with it.

Overall, it was a marvel to see, made more interesting by the story of how difficult it was to construct it. The Panama Canal should be a bucket list item for anyone thinking outside the domestic box.

Our ship departed at 8:30 PM to sail 192 nautical miles to Limon, Costa Rica at 8:00 AM. This is a very enjoyable part of cruising. Going to bed and waking up in another country.