Panama Canal Cruise: Panama

We were so lucky. My partner, Kate, got sick so we didn't do anything in Panama so she could rest and then we hit the canal the following day. We did go out into town for a little bit with her wearing her mask just to buy some knick knacks but we did miss out on a fun trip out on Gatun Lake. By the next day she was feeling much better and we had a great time viewing the canal. I mentioned before that we were on a smaller ship which is important because very few can go through the old locks which we were able to do. It is so narrow and hard to understand how these big ships get through but they do.

At first we tried to go up front and try to see the canal from up there but there were a ton of people trying to do the same thing and let's just say they weren't being all that nice about it. We had a balcony on the port side of our ship which meant that the traffic coming the other way was on our side of the ship so we just stayed out on our balcony where we could see all of the action. It was fascinating seeing the gates open and close and the different water levels. We also got a great look at the tugs pushing the ships and the mules too which are essentially train engines that help guide the ships through the narrow canals. It was so interesting and we were able to take tons of pics. It's amazing to think that they put this all together way back in 1914 and that it still stands and also that it all still works. We had the best time hanging out in our room, away from the crowds, watching everything up close. It turns out that you can't really see anything in action from the front of the ship anyway so we considered ourselves lucky for having a room in such a great location.