Visiting the Panama Canal has always been on the top of my 'to see' list. I've always been fascinated with any of the wonders of the world, so I was pretty excited for this excursion. The Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal was about a 30 minute taxi ride from our apartment. We had no problems getting there....my high school Spanish is really getting a workout though. August 15, 1914 was the day that the Panama Canal officially opened. We were there just one week after the centennial celebration. It must have been with this in mind that they doubled the entrance price. I'm joking, but when I researched the entrance price, it was literally half of this about a year ago, so not sure what happened there.
We thought a weekday would be less crowded, but we didn't plan on the school groups. They came in masses. They all went straight up to the observation deck. We decided to head into the museum with the masses that were not a part of the school groups. The whole setup was a total fire hazard. There were four floors to the museum and they were arranged so that you had to start on the first floor and work your way up to the fourth. There was no other exit except the fourth floor-problem number one. It would be total pandemonium if you had to evacuate and you were on the second floor. Amazing how people can create and build a passage for boats between two continents, but can't plan a multi-floor museum with proper exits or traffic flow. Problem two was the sheer number of people they allowed into the museum. You could barely get to read the exhibit information without bumping into someone or interrupting a guided tour. Problem three was that the vessel traffic through the canal was not advertised well. The boats came in the morning and afternoon. Since we chose the museum first, we missed the boats coming through the canal that morning. By the time we got to the observation deck, we were told it would be three hours before the next boat would come through. Sigh.
Now this is when the Collins family runs into problems. Some members would say, well, we saw the locks and the museum, let's go. I didn't come to the Panama Canal to miss the boats passing through. We knew there was a restaurant there and we had already planned to eat there. They didn't open until noon, so we had to wait a bit. It would seem our ignorant streak would continue. I had read reviews of the locks and the restaurant. They reported that the food was okay, but you had amazing views of the locks. No one mentioned the price of the food. It was a buffet and suffice it to say, once we learned the prices, we decided we were going to camp there until the boats showed up.
View of the lock from the observation deck
The other side of the lock from the observation deck
The second lock gate. You can see the water level difference here
Since we were the first ones in the restaurant, (apparently others knew the boats come in at 2:30 and planned their lunches later) we had our pick of seating. Of course, we went outside with the best view of the lock gates.
Not a bad view at all
So here we were with a good two hours to kill. We ate as slowly as possible (not something easily achieved by any Collins family member). Eventually other people came in to eat in anticiation of the boats. We could see two boats far off in the distance. They were guided into the canal by tug boats. It would take two hours for them enter this area and clear the the three lock gates. Just as we could see the boats approaching, the clouds opened up and it began to pour. It didn't seem too bad at first. We had some shelter, but then it rained harder, then it started coming in on an angle so that water was entering the balcony area and people started moving their seats away from the edge.
It's difficult to see the first boat entering with all of the rain
The boat being pulled in by the four vehicles on the tracks
The water level has to change before the gate will open
The water level continues to drop and the rain subsides for a bit. You can see the cruise ship in the distance entering in the second lock parallel to this.
Fortunately, we were never asked to leave early since we were clearly done with our food. I think it was expected that we would stay if we payed that sort of price for a meal. Now I found this all very exciting. I was snapping pictures and taking video as best I could with the rain and people moving from the serious puddles that formed on the ground of the balcony. Just as the boat made it in front of us, my phone displayed a message saying that I had no more space for pictures or video. Are you kidding me? Maeve didn't have space on hers either and Michael didn't bring his phone. I frantically tried to get to my camera roll to delete old pics and video, but it wouldnt let me. I shut down the phone and restarted it....which seemed to take years as I'm watched the boat pass us by. I'll attach what I was able to capture.
Once the red boat cleared, the rest of the gang was ready to leave. I had to stay and grab a few more pics of the cruise ship coming through. The rest of the family was done. They left the restaurant for the bathrooms and I said I'd just be a minute more. I couldn't get enough. I tried a selfie with the cruise ship in the background and a gentleman saved me by offering to snap a pic for me.
It was a good day. We all took in a lot.
Here is what we learned:
There are three lock stations that make up the Panama Canal - The Miraflores, The Pedro Miguel Locks and the Gatun Locks. The Miraflores is on the Pacific Ocean side and Gatun exits into the Atlantic Ocean.
The direction of the boats through the canal depends on the time of day.
It will take a boat 8-10 hours to clear the entire canal which is 48 miles in all.
Once the boat has entered the locks, the ship's captain is no longer in control of the vessel. Panamanian workers guide the boats through with four attached vehichles on tracks (two on each side...see video). This allows for better control and the ships won't hit the sides.
Over one million boats have passed through this canal (the millionth was in Sept. of 2010 according to the museum, Wikipedia says something different though.)
They are building another set of wider locks to allow larger vessels to pass through.
Happy 100 Birthday Panama Canal!
