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Take the eight-hour trip along the Panama Canal and you
won't stop pinching yourself. Sometimes referred to as the eighth wonder
of the world, the Canal bears remarkable testimony to the ingenuity of man
- and there are a few sights along the way to catch the eye too.
Opened in 1914, the US-built waterway stretches some 50km across Central
America from Panama City on the Pacific side to Colon, the gateway to the
Atlantic via the Caribbean Sea. The highlight of the cruise is the system
of locks, which lowers the ship 85 feet, but any group of travelers will
enjoy the rich rainforests that surround Gatun Lake and the undoubted
drama of Gaillard Cut, one of the narrowest sections of the Canal. And
remember: the whole project cost hundreds of millions of dollars and
thousands of lives.
Live
Cameras
Animated Canal
Crossing
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Completed in 1914, the Panama Canal was the
culmination of a dream that began in 1513 with the Spanish
conquistador Balboa. He was the first European to trek across the
43-mile-wide Isthmus of Panama. In 1880, The French Canal Company
began construction, but plagued by diseases, financial burdens and
engineering problems, they sold the canal's rights and properties
to the United States for $40 million. The US began construction in
1904 and completed it ten years later at a cost of roughly $387
million an unprecedented amount at the time.
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Building the Panama Canal involved solving
monumental engineering challenges. In addition to the staggering
concept of digging through the Continental Divide, the project
also involved constructing the largest earth dam ever built up to
that time, designing and building the most massive canal locks
ever envisioned, constructing the largest gates ever swung, and
solving environmental problems of enormous proportions. |
Without question, the best way to
experience every mile of this magnificent wonder is from the deck
of a transiting ship. From this privileged vantage point you get
an incomparable perspective while passing through the canal's
three sets of locks. Ships passing through these are raised and
lowered 85 feet. |
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