Blogs from Panama Canal, Panamá, Panama, Central America Caribbean

After a hearty breakfast aboard the Discovery, we all boarded small dinghies and headed to the nearby shore, docking at the Gatun Yacht Club. From there we got on a small van that drove us drove OVER the narrow lock (this road access is soon to be removed) to the Agua Clara Locks, the location of the new rolling gates on the Atlantic side. The Only other way to get to Agua Clara is via ferry or draw bridge. This over-lock opportunity will end soon but it was a great opportunity for us to get a perfect view of the operations along this very narrow access “road”. On January 19, 2015 eight mammoth gates, ranging in height from seven to nine stories were installed in the three concrete locking chambers. The locks were scheduled to open ... read more

This morning, our bus left the Holiday Inn in Clayton, and headed towards the Atlantic Ocean on Corridor Norte. While Roberto navigated our bus, Abdiel discussed Panama’s position on land preservation and environmental protection. He said that 42% of the land in Panama is protected by the government for green space allowing for water mitigation and natural flow to the canal. A portion of the same 42% of land is also used for parks where some of the protesting squatters live. He also informed us that Stanley Motta, who some may know from his calypso record label in Kingston, Jamaica, owns the Panamanian airline COPA (that some of us will use flying to Colombia). COPA makes up 14% of Panama’s GDP. Motta has become an extremely wealthy man and is very influential in Panamanian elections. Abdiel ... read more

This is the day!! Breakfast at 6, on the bus at 6:30, on the boat at 6:45! We were to have our luggage outside our door by 11:30 the night before to be picked up by the bellboy and loaded on the bus to be driven to Colon, where we'll exit the boat. Luckily, we left the knapsack to pick up after breakfast and noticed that our luggage (and that of other travelers on the same hall) had not been picked up! Took the bus out to Flamenco Island and saw the sunrise over the Pacific. What, Susan, you have that wrong! No, the bay curved around so that the point we were on was actually facing East. Boarded the Islamorada, a 100 year old boat that used to belong to Al Capone! From url=http://www.canada.com/travel/Gangster+Capone+running+yacht+ferrying+tourists+Panama/9360023/story.htmlhttp://www.canada.com/travel/Gangster+Capone+running+yacht+ferrying+tourists+Panama/9360023/story.html... read more

The idea of the Panama dates back to 1513 when Vasco Nunez de Balboa first crossed the Isthmus, the narrow land bridge between North and South America. A water passage between Atlantic and Pacific ocean. The European's recognized the potential for a canal and several proposals were made. By the late 19th century technical advancement and commercial pressure allowed construction to begin. Canal engineer Ferdindale de Lesseps led the Initial attempt to build a sea level canal. They failed by financial loss and personal losses from tropical diseases. Interest from the usa once France abandoned the project. The usa success was more converting the canal to a lock system and managing disease spread by mosquito's. On January 7 1914 the French crane boat Alexadrie Lavalley became the first to transverse and on April 1 1914 the ... read more

Ray and I have traveled through many locks in the world including the big one on the Yang Zhi River. The principle behind locks is quite ancient and simple - the river is dammed up and the locks are used to raise and lower boats by gravity. What makes Panama Canal unique is its strategic location and its history. The book of 'Path Between the Seas' by David McCullough is highly recommended for anyone who is interested and planning to visit this area. In the early 16th century Spaniards started to transport precious gold found in South America to Europe, the idea of a short cut through the Isthmus linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was entertained. The French began to built a canal in 1880 but landslides and tropical diseases (yellow fever, malaria) killed 22,000 ... read more