TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums General Caribbean Day 40 A canal tour and hike in the jungle

Jan. 26 Canal tour and a hike through the jungle
The WARC had arraigned for tours of the Gatum Locks for anyone interested; we decided to go since it was only $17 per person including admission and transportation. I had expected them to be a lot wider than they are, the gates are just like the Erie Canal lock near where I live, but more massive. There are two locks, side by side, and when we were there a cruise ship was in one and a freighter and a couple tugs in the other. Seeing it in person really brought home the experience it will be to transit them in Skyelark, she has an air draft of about 72’ so the mast will just stick above the wall when we are at the low water level.

A cruise ship and frieghter exit the canal

A Panamax freighter came in after the other ships had exited to Lake Gatum, they are the largest ships that can fit in the canal, hence their name. From the observation deck you can see both ends of the locks and watch as the locomotives that guide them climb the steep incline; the ships travel under their own power through the canal. A multi lingual guide gives an ongoing presentation of the operation and costs of transiting the locks, the large cruise ship we saw pays in excess of $350,000 for each transit.

A Panamax frieghter enters from the Caribbean side

After our tour, we returned to the marina for lunch and decided to take a hike to the nearby national park. We walked down the road quite a ways, and that was a little boring not to mention hot. Once we turned off the road onto a trail it became much more interesting, the thick jungle trees all around us.
We followed the trail to the coast where there were a large coral flats, we had been warned about swimming by some folks we passed due to jelly fish being present.

A man of war jelly fish washed up on the beach

Some young Irish lads, who are crewing on one of the other WARC yachts, were having a cookout on the beach to celebrate Australia Day (wish I thought of that) so we spoke with them a while before making our way back. We could here howler monkeys in the forest, and got to see a bunch of them towards the end of our hike. We also spotted some beautiful birds and butterflies along the way

A curious howler monkey watches us from a safe distance


One of the colorful birds we saw

Tonight was movie night at the marina, put on by the Yellow Shirts; the movie was Titanic (we treid to get them to switch to Captain Ron, but had no luck). It was an interesting experience, the sound wasn’t perfectly synced up and the make shift screen blew over at one point. It was a good night, especially since the Sunday happy hour runs to 9:30, and once the festivities were over we called it a night.

Smart of you to do the tour, I think, to better understand and appreciate your own transit! We've only done the transit once in a cruise ship, but it was great fun and very interesting! Enjoy!

Quote: I had expected them to be a lot wider than they are, the gates are just like the Erie Canal lock near where I live, but more massive. There are two locks, side by side, and when we were there a cruise ship was in one and a freighter and a couple tugs in the other

Yes an amazing feat of engineering.
when Jimmy Carter gave them back to Panama the Panamanian government couldn't maintain them and the heart broken Chinese government took over the canals to help the Panamanians government, of course for a reasonable fee.
It's nice to have a considerate country like China in control of one of Americas strategic waterways and by a country that loves us.
All of our Aircraft Carriers and other military ships were built from the ground up to pass through the canals of Panama And the Suez.
Ever wonder why the Carriers are wide on top and trimmed (skinny) to the waterline.

Our Advisor told us that when the US ran the canal it was run as a non profit operation, since the Panamanian government took over the costs to transit have increased heavily. He said there is a lot of corruption involved, the example he gave was if a road was being built and the cost was $50,000 they would sign a contract for $1.5 million and everybody would get there palms greased. This is from someone who works for the canal authority.
The construction of the new canal is behind schedule and over budget at this time