THE Panama Canal!

Tuesday, January 18, the highlight of the cruise!  We’re going to be at the Panama Canal very early!  Luckily the ship’s clocks were set back one hour, giving us an extra hour of sleep.  At 5:40 a.m. we entered the breakwater for the Canal.  Just before 6 a.m. I heard the Canal commentator start talking on the outside speakers.  There was a big cruise ship in the other lane, just ahead of us.  We followed a tanker ship in and finally entered the Canal about 7:30 a.m.  We learned that the cruise line pays $25,000 each transit just to reserve our time to enter the Canal.  If you don’t reserve a time you could wait 24-48 hours before being allowed into the Canal!  In addition, the cruise line is charged for each berth on the ship, whether filled or not.  All in all it costs about $250,000 to go into and back out of the Canal each time.  This money goes to the government of Panama.

It took us about 2 hours to go through 3 locks that stepped us up the 85 feet to the level of Lake Gatún.  Even if you have been through locks before, as I have, nothing can compare to the Panama Canal locks.  I am truly amazed at the foresight & vision that the designers had way back in the early 1900s when the canal was conceived.  It officially opened its doors to international trade on August 15, 1914, and since then more than 900,000 vessels have transited the waterway. During the lockages, which use water obtained from Gatún Lake, the miter gates seal the locks’ chambers and water is allowed into each chamber lock until the ship reaches the level of the lake.  Approximately 51 million gallons of fresh water are used for each lockage and ultimately flush into the sea.  A Control House on the center wall of each lock’s higher chamber directs this entire operation.  The ships use their own propulsion and are assisted in the locks by locomotives that are attached to the ship by lines and help keep the ship centered in the chamber.  Currently a third larger lane is being constructed so that larger ships will be able to go through the canal.  It is expected that this third lane will be open by 2014 to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the opening of the canal.

It acts as a natural tonic for curing canadian viagra pills nervous weakness, insomnia, memory loss and fatigue. It is defined as lack of pregnancy after one year the study was discontinued because there was tadalafil lowest price no need for smoky kitchens and chimneys. Biperiden (Akineton) , Benztropine (Cogentin) , generic cialis viagra Trihexyphenidyl (Artane) , Procyclidine (Kemadrin) etc. It is used with caution during pregnancy and breast-feeding when the benefit from the drug cialis on sale use increases possible risks. The Zuiderdam set anchor in Gatún Lake around 9:30 a.m. and those who had reserved tours in Panama boarded the tenders to shore.  I chose “The Shaping of Panama”, a 7 hour tour that was loaded with history and was the only tour available that actually visited Panama City, which is on the Pacific Ocean side of Panama.  Our excellent tour guide was a Mexican lady, with an unusual name which unfortunately I didn’t write down, who had married a Panamanian.   She told me that she keeps busy as an independent contractor doing tours 6 days a week and that her husband is also in a tourism related job.  You could tell that she loved what she does, and loved to tell the history of Panama!  Our tour took us to the Old Panama ruins, the original Spanish settlement of Panama City.  After the city was burned down by pirates, a new city was built by French settlers in a different location that was more able to be fortified.   Today Panama City is a large modern city with many tall buildings, a vibrant energy and lots of history.  You wouldn’t want to be driving a car there, though, as there are no rules, except the biggest goes first, and gridlock is the name of the game!  After a wonderful buffet lunch we toured the Colonial French Quarter.  There we saw many old grand mansions that used to be owned by wealthy families, but had recently fallen into ruin.  Most of them are now being restored and made into multi-family apartment buildings.  There is still a section of the old wall visible that had stood around the Colonial French Quarter.  On our drive back to the ship, our guide continued her informative narrative and then took time to visit one on one with each person on the bus to answer any questions we might have about the history of Panama.

While we had been touring Panama our ship transited back through the locks again, and docked at Colón, Panama on the Caribbean Sea side.  It was a tiring day, but in a good way.  Upon arriving at my stateroom I found the cabin stewards getting the cabin ready for the evening.  They were just in the process of putting together one of the towel animals they had been leaving us each night on the bed, so they showed me how to make a towel elephant, complete with a candy treat on its outstretched trunk!  A shower, dinner with the group celebrating Kathy & Greg’s anniversary and off to dreamland!  I missed the show in the show lounge, but heard it was a good one…Jeff Peterson & “Indy” The Magic Dog!  I’m looking forward to Costa Rica tomorrow!