..the Panama Canal is an amazing feat of engineering...'
That's what the brochure says anyway. Went for a visit yesterday and it is actually quite gob-smackingly amazing. For $5 you get to climb up to the observation deck from where you can view the ships' passage through the Canal. For an extra $3 you get to see a 3D film. Though while it's quite good, it's probably not worth that.
I was a bit disappointed at the lack of information about how they actually organize movement through the Canal but I can tell you this: in the morning ships go north to south and in the afternoon they go south to north. There is a two hour break in the middle of the day, during which they probably line them up. These ships are
huge. However, evidently not huge enough because they are currently building locks which will allow bigger ships to pass.
I was talking to someone about it and they said that probably most of the products we own in the UK which have come from China have passed through the Canal at some point. Mind boggling.
The huge boats get towed through by these little tug trains...
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| Four tug trains to one huge ship.. |
There are two locks at Miraflores, the place we visited.
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| A tanker, not Thomas |
After being at sea for a long while the seaman seem quite astounded by the number of people watching them (100-200) they take pictures of the crowds.
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| Man waving and taking pictures. |
These are the lock doors. There are four of them at each end of each lock. They weight 700 tonnes each. That is (apparently) the weight of about 300 elephants.
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| Starting to close.. |
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| Bit more closed |
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| They are about 20m in length across the top |
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| Its not like cycling the Kennet and Avon Canal |
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| Note size of people in foreground |
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| It was a lovely day too, nice enough for an ice-cream |
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| I hear the weather is 'bloody miserable' at home |
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| Nearly there... |
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Closed. And with huge cargo vessel in background.
Amongst other things this ship is carrying 6000 pairs of shoes! |
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| This is view eyes left, a second lock for ships to pass through. |
The ships go from sea level up, into a lake which takes them through the centre of Panama (the water in the locks is fresh water). They then have two other locks at the other side to descend back down to sea level.
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| One tanker and one ENORMOUS ship. |
The ship in the background is a car transporter called the CSAV Rio Grande. It was absolutely enormous. Being a bit of a train(ship?)-spotter I rushed right home and looked it up on 'tinternet.
(I'm such an anorak)
The verdict? Panama Canal, well worth a visit.
