The Canal

I'm not sure what I expected of the canal and I was really impressed.

 I could have spent the entire day there watching the ships come through. They have made a great visitor center with a four story museum and movies in Spanish and English about the canal. There was a very great guide who talked, in the viewing stands, almost non-stop in both English and Spanish, explaining details of the canal and how it works!

From the air you can see all the ships waiting to enter the canal zone.

Boats that were waiting out at sea have come into the canal zone.

Note the tug boat pulling the boat to the locks. Once they get to the locks they are attached to carts on both sides of the ship.  These carts pull the ship through the lock and keep them from hitting the sides of the locks.

The large cranes along the shore are for unloading containers off the container ships.

Ships have to pay their fees  in cash, 2 days in advance of being 

allowed into the canal zone.

Once a boat enters the canal zone, a Canal Captain boards the boat and becomes the Captain of the ship, responsible for guiding the boat all the way through the canal. The regular captain relinquishes his control of his ship to the canal captain for that duration.  The canal is 50 miles long and it take 8 to 10 hours for a ship to pass  through the canal.

Container ship had passed through the locks just as I got to the viewing area.

I couldn't figure out why there are locks in the canal zone.  Aren't the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans both at sea level?  Isn't that the same for both oceans?  Come to find out at both ends of the canal, Pacific and Atlantic sides, there are locks.  The locks lift the boats where they are entering the canal. (Pacific side or Atlantic side) to the level of the Gatun Lake that they need to traverse to get to through the canal. Gatun Lake is a man made lake that makes up a major part of the canal zone.

This map from Wikipedia shows the route.  I'm in the Panama City end of the canal.

A cruise ship is coming into the lock closest to the viewing area. 

Notice how high it is sitting.

It's as exciting for the passengers on the ship as it is for us. 

Every level and every railing is full of passengers!

Note the carts on each side of the ship, pulling the ship through.

They let the water out of the lock to drop it down to the Pacific Ocean level 85 feet.

This takes about 10 minutes to drain the lock(which fills the other side of the lock. 

The canal operates 24 hours a day.

In the morning, midnight to noon, the ships traveling west to east are passing through. Then in the pm-noon to midnight, there is east to west traffic. Once the lock empties out, the double gates open. letting the ship pass through.  There are extreme precautions taken(hence double gates) so the locks are not damaged. If the gates/locks failed, it would release the water out of Gatun Lake flooding the towns down stream.

Even very small boats can go through the canal.  

This is a group of sailboats waiting in the far lock for their turn to enter the lock.

They either go through with another larger ship or bunched together to make it cost effective.

They paid $2,000 or less to pass through the canal.  

A large commercial ship pay an average of $150,000.

This is less than it would cost to sail around South America!

Ships are now built for the size of the canal.  They call them Panamax vessels.

This is a very simplified look at the canal.  There is much more including the other lakes, the third lock, etc.

Arriving in Panama City

I arrive in Panama City. Flying in, it looks like any big city from the air!

Panama City is the richest city in Central America! 

Richest in what income? investments? I'm not sure

The downtown reminds me of Abu Dhabi with all the new 

skyscrapers and the promenade/ public area along the water.

Just outside the city it looks like jungle!

I arrive in the afternoon and wanted to see the Panama Canal before I take off for the beach the next day.  I got settled in my room and asked at the front desk if there were tours or how I could get to the canal. Being an airport hotel, they had no concierge and suggested I take a taxi!  What taxi? I asked and they pointed to a man standing at the side of the lobby.  Little did I know it takes 40 to 50 minutes from the hotel to the canal!!   I negotiated a price and we went out to his car--not a taxi, an older car with cracked windshield. I figured the hotel knew him and recommended him so I was game for the adventure! 

Here are some sights along the way.

This is the unfinished mass transit system(scheduled to be done in a few months) that goes 

through Panama City to the airport. I'd heard Panama 

City was the first city in Central America to build 

a subway. This is line 2 and it is above ground!

A typical mini mart at the gas station with the typical 

snacks, etc.  Even hot dogs!

The lighthouse near the canal. Evidently

the water was closer to here than it is now.

Gas prices are around $2.65 per gallon.  Higher quality gas.

See the cracked windshield??

Panama and Panama City have quite a history of pirates and trade. Once the Pacific was discovered by Spanish explorers in 1519, they crossed the narrow peninsula, using it as a trade route for gold and other treasures.  Pirates also discovered this and would steal the treasures before they could make it across the peninsula.  Captain Henry Morgan is the most notorious and credited with leading the group that ransacked the original Panama City, burning it to the ground and stealing the richest booty in the Americas.

Here are some sights in Panama City. Most of them taken from the car.

View from across one of the many rivers/streams that flow around the city.

Domino's delivery fleet!

Does having a McDonalds or many, mean this is a developed nation?

None in Haiti!

Beautiful Churches

Usual architecture!

Reminds me of Abu Dhabi, built up on the coast.

The fish market is very large and busy place.  There are swarms of 

birds sitting on the building and flying around above the area!

I can see returning to Panama for a longer visit and it would be worth spending more than half a day exploring Panama City.

Well, it's been a year and I guess it's time to travel again...and blog!  Emily (my daughter) and I are off to Panama at the end of the week.  We are arriving in Panama City and then traveling to the beach on the Pacific later this week.  Tune in for my (and Emily's) adventures.

Beach Day!!

Carnival is done, finished for 2017. So what's a person to do?  Go to the beach! After all, this is an island and every direction you go, there has to be a beach!

Susan's Cousin Darlene picked us up and we headed to Maracas Beach on the north side of Trinidad-Northwest of Port of Spain, the capitol. Lots of others had the same idea but I'm told the day after Carnival is the worst day to go to the beach.  Lots of loud music and crowds of people.  This was 2 days after Carnival and all was tame and quiet.

Up over the small mountains and down to the beach area. 

Winding, narrow roads!

Looks barely wide enough for one car!

Beautiful overlook!

Beautiful scenery--looks like Haiti with the mountains but more vegetation.

I've been hearing all week about Bake-N-Shark, we have to try Bake-N-Shark. Everyone in Trinidad asked if I had tried Bake-N-Shark.  So today was the day. It is the thing to eat at the beach.

Richards is the place to get it!  The line was long.

Bake-N-Shark ended up being a lot of fried fish in an oversized bun with lots of garnishes.

No way to really tell if it was in fact shark!

Maracas Beach-Big waves, the tide is coming in, lots of people enjoying the ocean!

Water was cold until I got used to it!

Snacks and touristy stuff for sale at the overlook.

A sudden rain came down and cleared up just as fast.

I'm told it's unusual for rain this time of year.

$1 TT to use the restroom and take a cold shower after swimming in the ocean.

That's about $ .17 US!

After enjoying Maracas Beach we decided to check out Las Cuevas Beach a few kilometers away (La Cuevas translates from Spanish to the Caves-although I didn't see or hear of any caves being nearby).

Beautiful drive

Fishing boats moored in the Bay of Cuevas Beach

Low sun on the beach

The beach goes on forever. No high rise hotels to impair the scenery.

Back to Port of Spain before dark. The road to the beach was very winding and narrow!

Another great day in Trinidad.

Tomorrow is the last day!  Time seems to go fast and yet we did a lot everyday while here!

Trip down the Southeastern Coast of Trinidad to Mayaro.

Susan's cousin Devon (who you've met in previous blogs) drove us down the Eastern coast of Trinidad to meet his daughter and her mom, Ann.

This coast faces the Atlantic Ocean and the wind is really strong. The waves look quite wild!
Beautiful coastline.

Driving down the road were small food stands. Saurel and Susan spotted fruits they hadn't eaten in years. So we stopped and got some fruit. I had never eaten or even heard of these fruits.

Pomeracs-has a pit like an avocado with taste and texture like a pear. White inside.

Saurel found purple and green (both ripe-just different types) Caïmites-star apple.

Milky inside, juicy, not too sweet and seeds like an apple or pear. 

Had to peal the outer rind as it not edible.

Tangerines in the back with the Pomeracs in the foreground.

They also had small pineapples and bananas.

Not mango season so no mangos!

Crossed the Nariva River, one of the largest rivers in Trinidad.

Devon says there are Manatee and Anaconda snakes in the river.

Saurel and I couldn't see any from the bridge!

Where the Nariva River flows into the ocean.  

Looks  inviting but told it can be very dangerous to swim there.

Fishing boats in another river inlet.

We bought fresh caught fish on our way home.

More fishing boats.  Low tide.

Taking photos of the river.

People who live in Port of Spain and want to get away from the noise and chaos of

Carnival come up to this area to camp by the sea or stay in a hotel.

Beautiful and breezy.

Ann made us curried lobster for dinner!  Wonderful! 

We ate on the deck or at the table right off the deck.

Such a nice breeze off the ocean keep the bugs away.

Many of the towns in this area have French and Spanish names. A hold over from when those countries controlled the island of Trinidad.

It takes a lot of skill to drive down these narrow roads! At some points it looks like it is too narrow to pass safely. Very lush along the road, beautiful palms.

Including the solar powered Hula Dancer on Devon's dash.

Tomorrow is a beach day. Off to Maracas Beach on the north coast of Trinidad in a nice bay.  I'll need to make sure I have enough suntan lotion to not get a burn.

Ann prepared lobster soup for us.