We entered the Panama Canal at 6:30am. The stern was full of the passengers taking pictures and eating Panama Rolls (sweet rolls with pieces of orange). Our ship only went thru the first set of locks and we took an excursion that allowed us to see and pass thru the other locks. Here are some interesting facts about the canal:
If a ship is just large enough to fit thru the locks it is called a Pana-max
The locks are 110ft wide – our ship was 106ft wide!
There are 3 sets of lock pairs across the 50 mile Panamanian isthmus
The locks are able to function using fresh water from a man made lake (Gatun)
The locks work via gravity; there are no water pumps used
The locks and mechanisms are 80% original from the August 1, 1914 opening
More than 25,000 people died building the Panama Canal
They are currently designing a larger set of locks that will parallel the existing ones
38-40 ships pass thru on a daily basis saving an 8k mile journey around South America
It cost our cruise ship $225,000 just to pass thru the first set of locks
See our pictures of Panama here.
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