Canal Trip

jungle along canal
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diesel mules for towing ships
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We…(I was up at 5:15 am)…Dianne came later…to see the sunrise as we entered the Panama Canal. Sadly, it was pouring rain so I couldn’t go out on deck. (Apparently Panama receives more rain than everywhere else in the world except at Haleakala in Maui.)

As it became lighter, the sky cleared and photos were possible. As we entered the lock system, we were following another cruise ship so we could see the locks in action. There wasn’t much room to spare as we went into the locks. Diesel “mules”, each worth $2 million dollars, were hooked onto the ship on either side and they ran on tracks along the ship and pulled us through into each lock. The doors were closed and the water came in and up we went. Very cool.

close call
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The jungle is close by and we sat on our balcony and watched it pass by. Heard lots and birds and spotted some as well. Also saw some crocodiles in the water.

As I am writing this, the ship s crossing Gatun Lake (biggest man made lake in the world) making its way to the other set of locks that will take us in the Carribean Sea about 6pm tonight. The whole canal crossing will take almost 11 hours start to finish and it will cost this ship over $400,000 in tolls for the trip.

Time for some lunch and a nap.