On Wednesday Angie and I cycled over to the Panama Canal observation centre at Miraflores — we arrived just in time to see a tall ship exit the locks.
We watched as a series of ships passed through, from small yachts to gigantic container and cargo ships. It’s fascinating to watch as the massive ships are steered into the locks by “bumper” tugboats, then they are cabled to locomotives and moved along and held in place as the water drops or rises. The largest vessel we saw pass through only had about 24 inches clearance from the concrete walls.
The museum at the observation centre was less impressive. It provides a little information about the actual construction and operation of the canal, displays some pictures and has a couple of “hands on” exhibitions but has few artifacts and it was extremely crowded when we were there. It was interesting to watch the various guides and groups and listen to the languages and watch the behaviours. But I have many questions remaining about the canal. I’ll have to find a book about that.