The 8th Wonder of the World

The 8^th Wonder of the World – The Panama Canal 

We attended an on board talk about the canal and also re-read a couple of articles that we'd found earlier and had saved, we were surprised by many things that we learnt about the canal –

*Work started by the French in 1881 but had to stop because of engineering problems and the high mortality rate due to disease. In 1904 the USA took over the project and gradually overcame all difficulties, with the Canal officially opened on August 15^th 1914.

*The canal builders had to contend with a variety of obstacles, including challenging terrain, hot, humid weather, heavy rainfall and rampant tropical diseases. The earlier French attempts had led to the deaths of more than 20,000 workers and America’s efforts fared little better; between 1904 and 1913 some 5,600 workers died due to disease or accidents.

Many of these earlier deaths had been caused by yellow fever and malaria; diseases that the medical community at the time believed were caused by bad air and dirty conditions. By the early 20th century, however, medical experts better understood the role of mosquitoes as carriers for these diseases, allowing them to significantly reduce the number of deaths among canal workers, thanks to a host of sanitation measures.

*American ships use the canal the most, followed by those from China, Chile, Japan, Colombia and South Korea.

*We presumed that the ships were towed through the locks by the ‘mules’ that worked along the sides, not so. These mules are there to steady the ship and keep it in the centre of the lock, the ship travels the locks under it’s own power.

*The canal is the only place where the pilot assumes control of the vessel, at other times the vessel remains under the control of the captain.

*Every vessel that transits the canal must pay a toll based on its size and cargo volume. Tolls for the largest ships can run about $450,000. The smallest toll ever paid was 36 cents, plunked down in 1928 by American adventurer Richard Halliburton, who swam the canal. To.day some $1.8 billion in tolls is collected annually.

*On average, it takes a ship 8 to 10 hours to pass through the canal. While moving through it, a system of locks raises each ship 85 feet above sea level.

In 2010, the 1 millionth vessel crossed the canal since it first opened in 1914.

*Along the route of the canal there is a series of 3 sets of locks, the Gatun, the Pedro Miguel and the Miraflores locks.

At Gatun there are 2 parallel sets of locks each consisting of 3 flights. This set of locks lift ships a total of 26 metres.

The smallest set of locks are at Pedro Miguel and have one flight which raise or lower ships 10 metres. The Miraflores locks have two flights with a combined lift or descent of 16.5 metres.

*There are 3 bridges spanning the Canal, The Bridge of the Americas, Centennial Bridge and Atlantic Bridge.

Our Captain was very mindful of the excitement as we neared Cristobel and Colon and the Atlantic entry to the Panama Canal. He timed our arrival very well. Nearly everyone was up on deck, despite the early hour – 5.30am- as we started the approach. We were mindful of the humidity and possibility of mosquitoes so wore long sleeves and insect repellent.

We were standing at the front near the guest lecturer who was giving talks on birds and animals that we might see on the trip so were able to spot anything that she aimed her binoculars and camera at.

It did get a bit annoying when at one point we were all trying to listen to the commentary about the Canal and 3 birdwatchers were oohing and aahing over a bird. (Someone pointed this out to them and they quietened down)

That said, we did see lots of South American vultures, a crocodile, monkeys and Capybaras (world’s largest rodents).

But the star of the show was the Canal itself.

A new larger canal has now been constructed to accommodate the larger ‘Panamax ‘vessels but our little ship is using the original canal.

We started our passage through the first set of locks, the Gatun Locks.

We were dwarfed by a ship travelling in the opposite direction, I wonder how much their passage cost?

In my ignorance I hadn’t realised before reading about it before we left Australia that there is a lake in the middle of the canal. That lake was very busy with lots of ships, the most we’ve seen on this whole trip.

We exited the lake and were then halfway along the Canal.

 We passed under the Bridge of The Americas.

We approached the Pedro Miguel Locks, where a huge car carrier was in transit, dwarfing the entire lock area.

Today was November 2^nd – the annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). On this day of reverence, Panamanians flock to cemeteries across the country to tidy up the graves of their loved ones, decorate their tombstones, and pay their respects with offerings of food and flowers. Unlike the day of fanfare and parades in Mexico, el Dia de los Muertos in Panama takes a more subdued path. Declared a “dry day” by Panama officials, stores and restaurants cannot sell alcohol the entire day. 

Loud music also gets the axe. The following day, November 3^rd is Panamanian Independence Day, known as Separation Day marking the Separation of Panama from Colombia, so all along the canal there were hordes of Panamanian flags, especially at the Miraflores Lock where there is a Canal Visitors Centre.

Then we were in Limon Bay, at the northern end of the canal. We could see the skyline of Panama City. An amazing huge city. 

We were amazed at just how many Frigate birds were in the sky above us, there are 16 in this photo and I'm sure that there were more around.

We were surprised that we seemed to be 3 hours ahead of schedule but then it all became clear – we were dropping anchor and bunkering. (Taking on fuel.) That actually took much longer than expected and we were then 2 hours behind schedule, but what did we care, we went to dinner and then a show.