We flew to Panama City for a couple of nights.
We took a walk along the front.
We took the obligatory trip to Miraflores locks to see the canal. There is an excellent museum and IMAX presentation there.
The canal is 82km long, and the first ship passed through on the same day as WWI started in 1914. The canal was completed by the US using a lock-and-lake system. The previous French attempt to try to dig a sea level canal all the way through was abandoned after the loss of many lives to Yellow Fever and Malaria. A key to completion was the discovery that mosquitos spread those diseases and tackling them was a necessary part of the solution.
New, wider locks were completed in 2016. This allowed much larger container ships to pass through. Ships have to pay up to $800,000 in advance to pass through the canal. The price is calculated based on the value of the transit to the ship.
The ships move through under their own power, but are guided by small electric locomotives to make sure they don’t collide with the side of the canal. Depending on the size of the ship, up to 8 locomotives may be used.
Back in the city we took a walk around the old town.
