I wasn’t feeling great the night before walking around Panama City downtown, but pulled myself together enough to make it to the Panama Canal. I had stomach cramps – so I knew something was going on in the GI region. I immediately took some Ciproflaxin, Imodium, and Gas-X all together and continued taking them throughout the next 2 days until the cramps subsided. I was glad this happened in Panama and NOT in Cuba.
Because I wasn’t feeling great, we were a little late to our Panama Canal tour – we made it downstairs after the decent buffet breakfast included with our room by 11AM. Our guide’s name was Ruven, and he agreed to drive us to the Panama Canal and walk us through the museum for $55. Thankfully it wasn’t a lot of exertion – it was about a 30 minute ride in – and then we basically just watched a boat work its way through the locks. Admission was $15 for an adult, and $10 for a student – I’m still making use of my Thunderbird ID card that doesn’t have an expiration.
Panama Canal admission
Up at the 4th story of the museum, there was a viewing point where we stopped to watch a boat move through the locks from the Atlantic side. It really was an engineering marvel.
Ship passing through the Panama Canal
Apparently the first attempt to build the canal (by the French) failed because they wanted to bore a hole through the 60 mile stretch of land to flatten out the water passage to avoid having to build locks. Halfway through, they realized it was too hard and too costly, and they gave up. Americans took over the construction and engineering the lock system in place today. It takes a ship 6-8 hours to transit the Canal, and they offer tourist cruises across. You can read more about the engineering and design here.
Ship crossing towards the Pacific side of the Panama Canal
The rest of the museum (3 other floors) consisted of a display on the construction, a second floor display on the aquatic life, and a 3rd floor display on the Canal today and plans for expansion (Panamanians recently voted to expand the Canal, and it’s supposed to be complete in a year’s time).
We went back up to the top of the Panama Canal (Milaflores Museum) and took a final closing shots of the locks. One thing I found interesting, and which Ruven also pointed out, is the tug boat and runners that go along the side of the ship and guide it so it won’t hit the sides.
Boats waiting to pass through the Panama Canal locks
After about 90 minutes, we had had enough, and went back to the hotel. It was the perfect morning activity, but I still wasn’t feeling great so I settled in to a long nap.
[…] up to the top of the Panama Canal (Milaflores Museum) and took a final closing shots of the locks. [53] In a recent article in the New York Times, the plans for the future of American ports is credited, […]
I’ve often thought it would be cool to have a bike trail that runs alongside the Panama Canal and crossing Panama from one coast to another. It seems like they probably have service/construction roads on either side that they could convert into a trail. What do you think? A pipe dream? A man, a plan, a canal trail. Panama!
I think this is a spectacular idea! I do remember seeing service roads on the side, so why not a bike lane? The only issue I can think of is security – the government might not be too happy about allowing “everybody” access to the sides of the canal. But – cruise ships are OK, why not this!?