Panama Travel

The Panama Canal

Before we go any further, you need to know about the Panama Canal. You can cruise through it, you can stand next to it at the Miraflores or Pedro Miguel Locks, or you can helicopter over it to include a bird’s eye view of the exotic wildlife on Gatun Lake ... but whatever you do, you must see one of mankind’s greatest modern wonders, an engineering feat unprecedented for its time.

When the 51 mile long canal first opened in 1914, it boasted the largest earth dam and largest artificial lake in the world. Begun in 1904, the Canal cost $400 million and employed 75,000 workers, 25,000 of whom lost their lives in the process. Not only were tropical diseases a problem, but frequent landslides added even more danger to digging the world’s biggest ditch. Since then, over $100 million has been spent simply to maintain the Canal ... recent rumors hint that even more may be spent to broaden it to accommodate the size challenged cruise ships growing in popularity.

To travel from Colon, on the Caribbean Sea, to Panama City, on the Pacific Ocean, takes from 8 to 10 hours on a ship. Well over 700,000 vessels have made the crossing so far.

Raising and lowering the ships as much as 85 feet in a single series of locks would be impossible if not for the trusty “mules.” These aren’t the four legged variety but rather strong little engines which travel on tracks on both sides -- they steady the ship’s transit with umbilical like thick strong cables. You’ll be reminded of “The Little Engine That Could” when you see them.

| Back |