Both our parents took cruises through the Panama Canal when they retired and had saved up. It was and is still high on the list of must-sees in the world.
I am reading “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough, which is the 40 year history of the attempts to join the Atlantic and the Pacific.
I know a plethora of trivia about the 50 mile span that links the continents via the oceans: 5 locks that raise enormous ships up 85 feet to traverse a lake in the center and then down again to sea level. All tolls must be paid in cash and the largest toll as of two years ago was $350,000 paid by the cruise liner “Disney Magic.”
Coming up on its centennial year in 2014, they are enlarging the locks to accommodate even bigger ships.
It takes a better part of a day to make the trip but saves over 7,000 miles of transit.
They had to cure yellow fever, and tackle malaria which were each spread by different kinds of mosquito. First you had to convince the authorities they were caused by mosquitoes, at first it was thought to be the mist, or the filth.
Over 500 lives were lost per mile on this project.
This is an average container ship coming through the Miraflores lock near the Pacific Ocean as seen from the viewing platform.
Steve and I left home on Oct.11, 2013 to head out again to Orlando (for work) and Daytona ( to see my dad) and then to Panama to await the birth of our grandaughter, Soleil Naomi Wilt. The princess took her sweet time as she was 9 days late, but appeared on the scene at 20″ and 8lbs 12 oz. We are watching big brother, Carson, while mom and dad have a couple days at the hospital to rest up for real life.
That comes after we spend 10 days in a missionary compound where it is busy and we have been sequestered (my meaning=holed up) in two bedrooms. Our bedroom is about 8′ x 12′ with 4 bunk beds lining the walls with just enuff space to walk down the middle. Mind you, that and a bathroom is it! We make our meals in the communal kitchen and retreat to the bedroom. The bunks do not allow for sitting without hitting ones head. It feels like you’re getting in a drawer to go to sleep. But it’s clean and free and it is what it is.