The Panama Canal and some Fauna

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Panama Canal and Wildlife

After breakfast we traveled to a dock on a small inlet attached to Gatun Lake, at the time it was built, the largest man=made lake in the world.  The locks at both ends of the canal raise the ships to lake level, 85 feet above sea level, and they then cross the lake before being lowered to sea level on the other side.  Here’s a map:
  


On the road to the lake we passed both a two-toed and a three-toed sloth, literally hanging out by the side of the road.  The three-toed posed for photos:
  


We set out in a small boat and came first to this bridge where the Panama Canal Railroad carries long trainloads of containers from one ocean to the other.  Not all of the cargo which traverses Panama goes on ships through the canal.  A substantial amount is carried by rail from one ship to another which is much cheaper.  The toll for a one-way transit of the canal for the largest ships can exceed $1,000,000!



 We entered the lake and came to a stately procession of phenomenally large ships moving at about 5 mph, spaced about ¼ mile apart.  It’s really hard to capture the size in photos:




 After viewing a number of ships, we went to some of the protected areas of the lake to look for wildlife, which we found in abundance.  Just a few samples.  Crocodile:



The Great Kiskadee:



 Howler and Capuchin monkeys.  I only have good photos of Capuchin:














The Jesus Christ lizard who can walk on water:



 We saw giant dredges keeping the shipping channels open:



 We went back to dry land and visited the Miraflores Locks where there is a viewing platform and a museum of the history, engineering and function of the canal.  Here are the locks—the new ones which just opened last year, are the far ones:


 We visited the museum where Oren had a good time with a simulator, taking a giant ship through the canal:



 We had lunch on a terrace overlooking the Miraflores Locks:



 We then left for the domestic airport for our flight to David City.  On the way we passed the Gehry-designed Biomuseo:



 After a one-hour flight to David City on the western Pacific coast, we drove inland and up into the beautiful mountains where our story will continue tomorrow with zip-lining and a canopy walk.

Comments

  1. Ralph P. LockeAugust 27, 2017 at 12:44 PM

    Wow, I had no idea you'd be seeing such fascinating wildlife! Along with learning amazing facts about the transportation of massive quantities of enormous containers from one ocean to the other. Thanks for sharing with the us homebodies!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rwa442August 27, 2017 at 5:04 PM

    Love that photo of the three of you!

    ReplyDelete

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