The Panama Canal

Bonnie, Hank, Me and Kate

Typical scene at the Miraflores locks


One of the panamax ships with 11 inches to spare

Another wow.....just got back from the Miraflores locks at the Panama canal and saw the massive cargo ships go through the locks, including a a big Panamax ship (305m long and 33.5 m wide) which are purpose built to pass through the locks with only 11 inches gap either side!! The visitor centre was excellent and covered all aspects of the history of the canal, the important ecosystem in the area and the current use of the canal.

The canal is one of the world´s most significant waterways stretching 80 km from Panama City on the Pacific side to Colon on the Atlantic side, cutting right through the continental divide. Nearly 14,000 ships pass through the canal each year, paying on average $30,000 to pass through. The most ever paid was $230,000 in 2001 by a french cruise ship and the lowest amount paid was $0.36 in 1928 by a guy who swam across.

I went to the set of locks at Miraflores which raise the ships two times by 54 feet in total, and using 52 million gallons of fresh water for each passage. It was a fantastic day out and would highly recommend anyone travelling near Panama to make the extra effort to visit the city. Off to another casino tonight which should be fun.

For more information on the canal go to www.pancanal.com or http://www.eclipse.co.uk/~sl5763/panama.htm#History