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Panama cruising

BY JOHN JAWORSKI Since the Panama Canal's opening almost 100 years ago, a million ships have passed through the mighty locks.

BY JOHN JAWORSKI

Since the Panama Canal's opening almost 100 years ago, a million ships have passed through the mighty locks.


Panama cruising

The canal, a man-made marvel, remains one of the most vital trade routes in the world, and a popular cruise for those seeking relaxation and adventure.

My wife and I boarded the plane in Toronto to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to board the Sun Princess for our 11-day journey through the Panama Canal.

This Caribbean cruise took us to St. Thomas, Barbados, Aruba and Dominica.

One of our scheduled stops was to be in Gartagena, South America. On approaching Gartagena, our captain informed us that due to a city protest on the streets of the city, the stop over was cancelled. We were told for the safety of the passengers we were to stay an extra day at sea.

Now the most interesting part of out journey was about to begin, entering the Panama Canal.

Initial efforts started in 1880, it took 34 years before opening in Aug. 14, 1914.

Together the French and Americans spent $639 million. Could you imagine the cost in today's dollars?

An estimated 800,000 people worked on the construction and more than 30,000 lives were lost. The 50 miles across the isthmus were among the hardest ever won by human ingenuity.

At 7 am, we started to enter the first phase of the Panama Canal, entering the Gatun Locks, a series of three locks to raise the ship.

Next to us, in the other lock, was a large freighter which was carrying at least 1,000 piggy-back containers. It had to be five stories high.

After leaving the locks, we had to wait over an hour for clearance to proceed.

The eight hours was a very scenic journey. We passed barges dredging the canal - an ongoing task to keep the silt from building up in the canal.

Just past Panama City, we crossed under the Bridge of Americas connecting North America and South America.

When the bridge was completed in 1962, it was a key part of the Pan America Highway.

On leaving the canal, our final locks were Mira Flora and Petro Miguel, a drop of 85 feet. Then we were out on the Pacific Ocean.

We had one more day at sea, then we had a stopover at Puntarenas in Costa Rica. On the final day, we docked at Puerto Caldera.

Buses were waiting to take us to the airport.

After an hour drive we came to Costa Rica airport. It was very, very small. We boarded the plane to Miami, made our connection and returned to Toronto.

For those who are interested in taking the Panama Canal cruise, I recommend taking the complete trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

John Jaworski is a Sudbury writer who enjoys travelling.


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