December 13 - En route to Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Since I last wrote we transited the Panama Canal, spent a day in Fuerte Amador, the port of Panama City, and are now sailing in the Pacific on our way to Costa Rica.  I’ve made several trips through the Canal now so I don’t feel compelled to stay out on deck to watch the whole passage (a good thing because the air was so hot and humid you could cut it with a knife).  It’s still a marvel to observe though.  I won’t write about the history of the Canal again,  but here are a few facts about it.  The Panama Canal is about 50 miles long.  On the Atlantic(Caribbean) side there are a series of three locks which raise a ship 87 feet to enter Gatun Lake. From the lake ships transit for a little over five miles through the Chagres River until they reach the Culebra Cut, which was the most challenging part of the construction.  The cut is a passage through a mountain ridge crossing the Continental Divide.  It’s nearly 8 miles long and required the excavation of nearly 100 million cubic yards of rock and soil. Approaching the Pacific Ocean ships transit through first the single chamber Pedro Miguel lock lowering the ship 31 feet.  Then traffic goes through the Miraflores locks lowering it a further 54 feet. Along the way ships travel under two bridges, the Centennial Bridge and the Bridge of the Americas. An interesting fact is that the Pacific ocean is approximately 8 inches higher than the Atlantic ocean at the Panama Canal.  Since water seeks its own level that seems illogical to me, but apparently it happens because of variations in ocean currents, the shape and depth of the ocean basins, and tidal conditions.

In the second Miraflores lock

One of the mules keeping the ship in the proper position in the lock

Bridge of the Americas

We stayed overnight at Fuerte Amador alongside a brand new and very large cruise terminal.  In the morning I took a cab to what is apparently the largest shopping mall in Central America.  It was huge and it was also air-conditioned!  I walked around and picked up a couple of things I needed.  The Christmas decorations were interesting.  Santa’s setup didn’t have a North Pole setting; instead he was ensconced by a replica of the Miraflores Lock building.  I’d arranged with my cab driver to pick me up at a designated time and he was promptly there for me.  I was ready to go back to the ship because according to my Apple watch I’d walked nearly five miles in the mall.

Santa's place at the Mall

Unfortunately I was getting cleaned up for dinner when we sailed away because friends told me it was quite pretty.  Panama City in the distance looks like the Miami skyline and it was all lit up.  Added to that we sailed past lots of freighters waiting for their turns to go through the canal. I guess I’ll have to go through again sometime and try to see it.

The Panama City skyline

Our sea day was overcast with a couple of big showers.  It was cooler than the last several days have been which I’m quite happy about.  I expected the temperature to be lower because I have always noticed that the Pacific coastal water is cooler than the Caribbean and Atlantic. I hope the temperatures stay this way for the next few days when we’re in Costa Rica and Mexico. 

We had a trivia game today (we didn’t win) and I listened to a talk about four great canals which have helped to shape history.  I also went to an art class where we did a watercolor painting of a cloud forest.  I can state categorically that any famous watercolorist doesn’t have to worry about competition from me.  Tonight a British friend arranged for seven of us to have dinner together.  We had a wonderful time and laughed a lot.  It was a thoroughly nice day