An Engineered Miracle - The Panama Canal

A trip to Panama would be wholly unconscionable without a visit to the Panama Canal. Originally contemplated by the Spaniards in 1524, it wasn't until 1880 that a canal bridging the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was undertaken. But after 20 years, malaria - the still constant killer carried by that venomous creature the mosquito - along with financial difficulties put an end to the French's attempt under the direction of De Lesseps, builder of the Suez canal. Then the U.S. stepped into the picture in 1903 after Panama seceded from Colombia (something Colombia did not recognize until many years after the US paid some - and 25million dollars). A treaty was signed under which the U.S. obtained the concession for the public maritime transportation service across the Isthmus in perpetuity (or in other words for forever!) In 1904 the U.S. bought the French Canal Company's property and began digging.

Ten years later the first cargo ship made the first transit through the canal. But the U.S. control of the canal, along with adjacent property and the military rights that were associated with the deal (like the housing of U.S. military troops) were a source of growing discontent with Panamanians and after much pressure and conflict (both domestically and between the two countries) President Jimmy Carter started the process of turning the control of the canal over to Panama in late 1979 by entering into a treaty which would give Panama full control by 1999. In December 1999 the US departed its bases and Panama took over full control of the Canal.  Of course that came with some negative ramifications - loss of over 4000 Panamanian jobs from the US military base, a huge lose of additional US money resulting from the US military personnel leaving the country, not to mention all those undetonated bombs used in military training by the US. But the Panamanians are proud to have gained control of the Canal and have recently approved a large expansion which will enable even larger ships to pass through their waters.

John was excited to see this whole process in action. We arrived at the Miraflores Locks at 10 am only to find out that the next boat was not scheduled until 1:00 pm. We sat around for awhile watching tons of kids running around - obviously on a school field trip. Small cafe has coffee and snacks. Then we watched a short film about the Canal and visited the 3 story museum which had some great exhibits on the construction and how the mechanics of it all worked. Then a bell sounded indicating the boats were getting closer and we made our way to the viewing deck. Par for the course, the rain started just as the first boat entered the locks. But no problem as boats continue to pass for several hours.

The Miraflores Locks are just one of the three lockages where the ships must pass on their way through the 50 mile long canal. The journey through the isthmus takes about 8 hours although the ships are probably in canal waters for 14 - 16 hours and by the time they exit the canal they have been lifted and dropped 85 feet.

Today, the Canal sees over 13,056 blue water ships under the flags of 70 different nations each year, with US being the biggest consumer. Tolls per ship average $70,000 to $80,000 but are far less than the alternative of sailing around Cape Horn. The highest fee was $359,950 and the lowest was 36 cents for a lone crazy man, Richard Halliburton who swam through in 1926.

Most people may spend a couple of hours here - but we spent most of the day marveling at how these huge boats barely squeeze through with just inches to spare on each side, guided into the locks with the assistance of small tugboats and then through the locks with tiny locomotives.