The Panama Canal

We took a taxi to the Casco Viejo. This is one of the older sections of Panama City and was where the city moved after being destroyed by the privateer, Captain Morgan. The area is a Unesco World Heritage site. The original headquarters for the French Canal Company has been restored and is now the Museo del Canal Interoceanico. The museum has lots of material but the displays are all in Spanish and we are still not very conversant. We rented audio commentary in English but it only covers about half of what we see. Something appears lost in translation. It still is worthwhile to see. After the museum we had lunch across the plaza at a small restaurant, La Forchetta, which had great food.

 Museo del Canal Interoceanico

 The Plaza

After lunch we got a taxi ride to the visitor center at the Miraflores Locks. The visitor center has a theater where we watched a 3D film about the canal. Afterwards we went up to the fourth floor observation deck where you may watch the ships moving through the locks. It is like the Ballard Locks on steroids. The large ships are built to maximize the space available in the lock, with maybe a few feet of clearance on any side. There are engines, similar to train engines, which run on rails on either side of the lock to move the ship in and out. It is quite an operation. The visitor center also has some exhibits about the canal as well, in both English and Spanish. One floor has a restaurant overlooking the lock for your dining pleasure.

We do not plan at this point to make a transit of the canal on Windarra. Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets will be making their transit on July 5 so we will experience it vicariously through them.