The Panama Canal and City Tour

Azamara Onward World Voyage 2024

Crossing the Panama Canal

We left Puerto Limon and headed to our next stop: The Panama Canal! Transiting the Canal has been on my bucket list for years. I used to imagine I’d do it on our sailboat, but now that we’re staring down the barrel I’m happy to be doing it in comfort! . It was actually part of what made me throw my hat in the ring to teach art on the cruise ships in the first place. And now we’re here. Go time.

When I woke up we were just about to start our transit. There are three locks on either side of Gatun Lake, which sits 85 feel above sea level. The whole thing is of course marvel of engineering. That this system was devised and built at all is mind blowing, but that they did it at the start of the 1900’s with yellow fever and malaria devouring their workforce as they went is just bizarre. So many lives lost, over 20,000, to move goods more quickly around the world. But they got ‘er done as we say, and here we are. In fact they’ve now built a whole second set of locks to accommodate the larger ships that are now used to transport containers. One of the parts I find the most interesting is how the strategy pivoted throughout the effort to build. At first it was the French who were driving it; and they were using a trench system, like the Suez Canal. But the tides on the Pacific are about 15’ greater than those of the Atlantic, problem one. Add to that the treacherous terrain, a raging river to cross, and the elevation through the centre of the isthmus, and that initial plan was doomed to failure. Along came the Americans, who after a few failed attempts realized that rather than try to cut through that, damming the river, creating the worlds largest (at the time) man made lake at 85 feet above sea level and elevating the ships to it to traverse under their own steam was the way to do it. The locks raise the ships up to Gatun Lake. It took us under an hour to sail from the top of the Atlantic locks to the entrance point of the Pacific ones. The locks themselves use fresh water (about 50 million gallons per transit) and are gravity fed. There’s not a single pump in the whole system! They use hydro power of course to open and close the locks, and the ships are guided by electric locomotive engines on tracks that run alongside. I loved that the gates themselves were fashioned on a design idea of Leonardo da Vinci from the 15th century. Thanks Leo. Still changing the world after all these years. 

Panama City 

The city itself was a big surprise. There are some cool historic areas, but a huge chunk of development was driven by banking money and foreign investment after the Panamanians took control of the canal themselves in the 90’s. There are more sky scrapers here than in all of Mexico. I think it was sixty something of them. The Marriot is the tallest at 70 stories, but there are loads of rivals, and very diverse architecture. The contrast of the old architecture against the new, all set on the coastline, it’s very cool. I know. We toured the city first at night, then went back out the next day. And then there’s all the American Zone construction; the army bases that are now housing for politicians, civil workers and canal employees. I read a book called “Six Minutes to Freedom, by and about Kurt Muse, which made seeing places like the back entrance to the American Embassy and the various neighborhoods even more interesting. It also gave me some good context for all the inevitable stories and references to Noriega that you’re going to get if you come here. Old Cara de Pina, Pineapple Face. If you’re planning a trip here I’d highly recommend reading it first. Here’s a link:

Six Minutes to Freedom - Kurt Muse and John Gilstrap

Now we’re back onboard. Last night was the Azamara-famous White Nights party. We all dressed in our best white outfits a la Diner en Blanc, ate a feast like only Azamara can produce, and danced the night away while Eric de Gray and the entertainment team belted out dance hits from across the decades. 

Now it’s a three day sail to Peru. We’ll cross the Equator tomorrow afternoon. We did have a stop booked in Ecuador, but things are a bit hot there right now, so we’re giving it a skip. We’re also all anxious to hear what our plans are for the next several months. With things heating up around the Red Sea we’re all pretty sure there will be some major changes to our itinerary. But we’re good with wherever we go. I’m just happy to be on this adventure. 

I’ll update you soon. Thanks for reading. Feel free to put any questions or comments below and I’ll do my best to respond.