Panama Canal

Panama Canal, wow. What a day. We were up early again as we started our transit of the canal at about 730.

As you can see there were two cargo ships in front of us.  This is a great picture to show you how the locks work. The ship on the left is in the first lock and the ship on the right is in the third lock. You can see how much higher the ship is on the right as we have to raise up 85 feet to exit to Gatun Lake and then transit the canal.

Closing the gates once we were in the lock.

This vehicle is called a mule. There were at least three on each side to keep the ship from hitting the walls of the locks. A lot of people think they tow the ship through the locks, but they just keep the ship steady. You can see the cables that are attached.

Into Gatun Lake and then on to the transit of the canal. While we were transiting, we did a 5 mile walk on the Promenade deck. 

Cruising through the canal. It was a winding waterway and parts were quite narrow. This is the Culebra Cutand the narrowest part of the canal 

This is the Pedro Miguel Lock. This lowered us 31 feet.

We entered Miraflores Lake and then into the last two locks.The Miraflores Locks lowered us 27 feet each. Down 54 feet back to sea level.

This is the museum and observation decks at the Miraflores Locks. Thousands of people come out to watch the ships pass through the locks.

Bridge of the Americas and out to the Pacific Ocean.

What a wonderful and interesting day. Off to dinner at another specialty restaurant, Tastes. Tastes is a very casual venue that offers Tapas and small plates. 

Still having an awesome time and there is so much more to look forward to.