In The Zone: The Panama Canal
We left Costa Rica on the Tica Express Bus at midnight for what turned out to be a sixteen hour bus trip from hell (think freezing cold air conditioning and the passenger in front of us lying almost in our laps). However, we were on our way to Panama City and a visit that we’d dreamed of for many years: the Panama Canal. Several years ago we’d watched an impressive documentary about the building of the Panama Canal and, since then, seeing the Canal had been one of our big bucket list items.
A waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans had been a dream since the explorer and conquistador, Vasco Balboa, first claimed the western sea for the Spanish crown in the 16th century. However, by the turn of the 20th century it appeared to be more of a fools’ delusion as the French had lost a veritable fortune and an estimated 20,000 lives between the years 1881 to 1884 attempting this folly. But less than twenty years after the French catastrophe, science and technology had progressed sufficiently in divergent fields to allow this ambitious aspiration to become a fully functioning engineering reality.
Scientists, among them Dr. Walter Reed, established that malaria was transmitted by a mosquito and, through an aggressive campaign on many fronts, effectively halted the pestilential killer during the construction. New earth moving machines such as drag-line shovels and moveable dredges made mass excavation possible on a scale previously unimaginable. And concrete, at the time a novelty for heavy civil construction, was used as the predominant building material. All of this newly acquired knowledge, scientific components and machines allowed the work to begin in earnest.
But perhaps the most phenomenal aspect of the canal was the elegantly simple notion to use gravity to raise the ships from sea level through a series of locks over the continental divide and then return them to sea level on the other side of the isthmus. Sir Isaac Newton would surely have been proud.
For the better part of two days our venues were the Visitors’ Centers, first at the Miraflores Locks on the Pacific side and subsequently the Gatún Locks on the Caribbean side, gaping at the massive ships as they transited the canal through the system of locks and lakes that comprise this international waterway. Call us hicks but this was one show for which we had both been eagerly awaiting; it was bigger than the big top at the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus we’d attended as kids.
We were still struggling with the concept of gravity as the main character in the live drama before us when we realized that a very large container ship, the MSC ELA, was actually sinking into the center lock at the Miraflores. It wasn’t really sinking; the water was being equalized with the adjoining chamber so that when the gates opened the ship would glide towards the final lock gates. This commercial behemoth was being held firmly in the center of the canal by eight mechanical mules (locomotives) with their sixteen hawsers. 
What was even more astounding was that there were approximately eighteen inches of clearance between the sides of the ship and each canal wall. These last gates would open, when all was stabilized, and the MSC ELA would be free to resume her voyage to the Pacific side of the American continent.
That this entire operation was one hundred years old in 2014 was a staggering thought. The lock gates, forged in Pennsylvania a century before, were performing magnificently. The major modification occurred in 1998 and changed the forty horsepower motors which drove the bull gears, the massive ratio-reduction system of cogged wheels, to a pneumatic system. But ultimately the key to the longevity was rigorous maintenance and that was evidenced all around us as we watched the ships transit north and south though the canal.
So much of what we saw was attributable to the efforts of individuals on a regular and recurring basis. This was true from the surveyors who shot the original grade to the laborers who manned the shovels and dredges; from the men who operated the Canal Zone as an American enterprise until the transfer on December 31, 1999, to the country of Panama and the Panamanians who now provide this vital service to the world.
By Richard and Anita
Thanks for the super-interesting background and virtual tour of the canal and locks. I’d love to visit and see all of this in action. Great pics!
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So glad you enjoyed our virtual tour. Taking pictures of one ship as it transited the canal seemed like a great way to show what actually is involved when a ship moves through the canal. For such a seemingly simple process it’s absolutely awesome, too!
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Wow, what an experience that must have been. Thanks for sharing.
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We really enjoyed our research before our visit to the canals and we’re having even more fun reading the many stories and historical accounts now that we’ve actually seen this area. It’s fun for us to share our excitement about this fascinating area and engineering achievement!
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Anita??? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you via Facebook – have sent 2 IM’s now (no doubt they’re in your fb “other” box), and here on your site – alas, I can find no “contact” link so I figure maybe if I comment here on your latest post, you’ll see this.
The dilemma: The Facebook link that your posted in your TravelnLass Foto Flip Friday Celebrations entry is bad – I get a “This content is unavailable”. So I need you to either set the privacy setting on it to public, else upload the image here to your blog server and repost the link on your FFF comment.
Do please confirm that you’ve received this message, as I’d really like to include your entry in the Celebrations contest (winners will be announced this Friday).
Thanks,
Dyanne
P.S. I fondly remember when I too stood alongside “The Canal” – pretty awesome to see the dim line of ships lined up in the far distance as far as the eye could see – all waiting to sial through the “Crossroads of the World”.
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It’s really surprising to see how many travelers have seeing and or going through the Panama Canal on their must experience lists! I think, for us, it has definitely been one of the high points of Panama. “Crossroads of the World” sums the canal up quite neatly!
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Oh, that bus trip! But the end result is worth it. Well covered. Glad you enjoyed this segment of your bucket list.
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Even though we grumbled about our bus trip and the novelty has long worn off we still prefer to travel by bus. We have a chance to view the country as it goes by, visit small towns when the bus picks up and discharges passengers and even interact with some of the riders. Since we have time it’s a great way to add to our travel experiences and we certainly can’t complain about the price!
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Doing a 3-week Panama Canal cruise was one of the best trips of our lives. Absolutely adored the experience of going thru the locks and visiting the places mentioned. It’s a truly magical experience that every traveler should experience.
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I would love to take the trip through the locks and complete our canal experience as passengers so that we can see how the waterway looks from both perspectives. It’s hard to explain why the Panama Canal has taken such a big place in our imaginations but, you’re right, the experience is magical!
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Thanks for taking me through the Panama Canal with you! I wanted to direct you to a live webcam on the canal that is found at my website http://www.webcamtraveler.com but the cams appear to be down right now, so instead I’ll direct you to a cam focused on some rescue kittens in L.A., http://webcamtraveler.blogspot.com/2014/03/rescue-kittens-los-angeles-california.html
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So glad you enjoyed the canal re-visit. We were lucky enough to watch several ships transist through the Miraflores and Gatun locks and I look forward to seeing your webcam of the experience. As for kittens…who can resist?
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Great post. Very informative and fantastic photos. Almost as good as being there. Well, not really but your post did remind me why the canal is also on our Must See List. Thank you.
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I’m really amazed at just how many people have the Panama Canal on their must see lists as it’s really not a “destination” glitzy sort of place! I think that a lot of people, like us, have been captivated by the canal’s story and what a marvel its construction truly was.
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Your pictures are awesome. I never really thought about how this all worked but what an interesting post. Thanks for sharing.
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We were lucky that there were several ships going through both the Miraflores and Gatun locks and that we were able to follow a ship entering, transiting through and exiting. That made telling the story through pictures much easier. We found the whole watching experience to be extremely interesting and we’re so glad you enjoyed our telling of it.
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Yes, what is with those buses with the seats that recline so far back? It’s like being in a dentist’s chair! I’m glad you made it to Panama and saw this wonder of the world!
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Speaking of dentist chairs…we probably could have seen this guys tonsils if his mouth had been open! We keep saying it’s a good thing we’re not tall people but some trips just don’t seem to be any better for us shorter people either! However, we usually like traveling by bus as it gives us a chance to see some of the amazing scenery that we’d miss if we were flying and, since time isn’t an issue it (almost always!) makes our travels more interesting!
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What great photos! We went through the canal on a large cruise ship and it was an amazing experience—and feat of engineering.
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I guess we’ll have to come back for the second half of our canal experience as passengers! I would love to see the transit from that point of view as well.
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Hearty second the David McCullough book (well, any of his books, really), which inspired our wish to cruise the canal. This was fascinating to see. Truly a magnificent engineering accomplishment.
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The McCullough book has been truly eye-opening and it’s so interesting to see how many things really had to come together for the canal to be built at all. The book describes the era as one of “confidence” to which I would also have to add optimism and vision!
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I didn’t realize until I saw your pictures how little clearance room there can be through the locks. I’d love to sail through the Panama Canal.
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When the Panama Canal was first conceived the builders never guessed how huge the ships going through would be. Over the years ships have been built specifically with the idea that they needed to be able to transit through the canal which limited their size. Now, however, with the new set of locks being built the mega ships will be able to be accomodated. The size is astounding!
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Great post. Don’t really know why, but we are dying to see, and hopefully pass through the canal. Guess it’s just one of those bucket list things.
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There’s something about the canal that ignites the imagination.Maybe it was learning about it in school as kids or watching all the amazing documentaries and reading its history over the years. We’d love to go through the canal as passengers but it was fun to watch the ships glide through and wave at the crew members too!
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The history of the canal is amazing. We’re sharing a book on the canal by David McCullough called “The Path Between The Seas” that makes the history even more fascinating. We were lucky at both the Miraflores and Gatun Locks to have several ships waiting to transit through the locks – we could have easily watched then all day. Maybe at some point we’ll be on one of them!
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When we visited the Miraflor Lock, we, too were amazed at the tiny space on either side of the canal. Thanks for the detailed history of the Panama Canal. I hope it met your expectations. One bit of Canal trivia: The name Panama hat originated because the workers wore them when building the canal. They are really made in Ecuador.
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Seeing the enormous ships glide through the canal far exceeded our expectations; we could have watched the show for hours. And thanks for the hat history trivia. Evidently the hats became quite a fad when Theodore Roosevelt began wearing one after his visit to the canal.
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Beautifully written info with great graphics and pics. Thanks!
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Seeing the ships transit through the canal has been a highlight of our time here in Panama. We’re so glad you enjoyed the post!
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I learn something every time I read your posts! You are the masters of condensing a ton of information into bite size chunks. Fantastic!
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Some of what’s fun about writing our blog is trying to understand and describe some of what we see so that we can share it with others, It definitely make us more observant of the details and also makes us work harder to learn some of the history and try to figure out how things work!
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how cool to see this in action, and it still does the job. They say concrete in water just keeps getting harder and curing for 35 years or so, thanks for sharing!!
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So glad you liked this post, Tom. We weren’t kidding when we said this was one of our bucket list dreams dating from several years ago. It was just as amazing as we’d hoped to watch the ships move through the canals. Now we’re going back and reading the history surrounding the canal – so many different and fascinating stories!
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Great article! Thanks so much – pictures and story were well worth reading.
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Thanks Bill. It’s really fun to be able to research and visit so many interesting areas and then relive the experience over again as we sort through our photos and then write about it.
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I was there! Wonder of all wonders. You explained the process and the history magnificently. Wish you were with me at the time.
Keep well
Maida
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