There is a large business district but i headed for Casco Viejo, a dilapidated neighbourhood with cobblestones, old churches and scenic plazas.
This is the goverment buildings. You can walk through the streets but everything is armed so no entry.
´Following the destruction of the old city by Henry Morgan in 1671, the Spanish moved their city 8km southwest to a rocky peninsular on the foot of Cerro Ancon. The new location was easier to defend as the reefs prevented ships from approaching the sity except at high tide. The new city was easy to defend as it was surrounded by a massive wall, whic is how Casco Viejo got it´s name (old Compound)´
´The capture, sack and burning of the city of Panama in 1671 marked the climax of one of the most extraordinary campaigns in military history — perhaps the most remarkable aspect of which was the fact that it was not a military campaign at all. The ‘army ‘ that reduced the second largest city in the Western Hemisphere to ashes did not act on behalf of any nation, sovereign, religion or political ideology. No, these were men motivated solely by the spirit of free enterprise. They were, in point of fact, a gang of criminals — pure, unadulterated pirates.
The leader of this enterprise was equally remarkable. Indomitably courageous and charismatic, Henry Morgan had a rags-to-riches life that would have made a fine subject for a Horatio Alger novel had he not also been one of the most rapacious, ruthless and unprincipled villains of his age.'
There were so many incredible buildings.
Plaza de la Independance is in the heart of Casco and was the site where Panama declared its independance from Columbia on November 3rd 1903.
This has been one of the highilights for me. It is a combination of being a secret boat spotter and the importance of one of the greatest engineering marvels of all time.'The Panama Canal is approximately 80 kilometers long between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This waterway was cut through one of narrowest saddles of the isthmus that joins North and South America.
The Canal uses a system of locks -compartments with entrance and exit gates. The locks function as water lifts: they raise ships from sea level (the Pacific or the Atlantic) to the level of Gatun Lake (26 meters above sea level); ships then sail the channel through the Continental Divide.
Each set of locks bears the name of the townsite where it was built: Gatun (on the Atlantic side), and Pedro Miguel and Miraflores (on the Pacific side).
The lock chambers -steps-- are 33.53 meters wide by 304.8 meters long. The maximum dimensions of ships that can transit the Canal are: 32.3 meters in beam; draft -their depth reach- 12 meters in Tropical Fresh Water; and 294.1 meters long (depending on the type of ship).
The water used to raise and lower vessels in each set of locks comes from Gatun Lake by gravity; it comes into the locks through a system of main culverts that extend under the lock chambers from the sidewalls and the center wall.
The narrowest portion of the Canal is Culebra Cut, which extends from the north end of Pedro Miguel Locks to the south edge of Gatun Lake at Gamboa. This segment, approximately 13.7 kilometers long, is carved through the rock and shale of the Continental Divide.
Ships from all parts of the world transit daily through the Panama Canal. Some 13 to 14 thousand vessels use the Canal every year. In fact, commercial transportation activities through the Canal represent approximately 5% of the world trade.
The Canal has a work force of approximately 9 thousand employees and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing transit service to vessels of all nations without discrimination'.
I went to the Miraflores visitors center which is an expression of the permanent commitment of the Panama Canal Authority to strengthen the public’s knowledge of the Canal. They are very focused on environmetal issues and there is a whole floor dedicated to showing their comitment to the public. From the top of the center you can see the boats passing through the Milaflores, i spent hours here watching two massive tankers pass through.
They have trains along side so that the boats stay central and don´t hit the sides. There were about 6 trains on this boat.
Moving through the second lock.
This boat was from Hong Kong. It was huge.
Ships pay according to their weight, with the average fee around USD 30,000. The highest amound paid was around USD 200,000, by a cruise ship in 2001 and the lowest amount was USD 0.36 by Richard Haliburton, who swan through in 1928.
The gate house of the Milaflores lock
The next day i had booked a trip up the Panama Canal. It was a 5 hour trip and took you through three locks and up through the Gatun lake. All boats, even submarines that occasionally pass through, have to have a port captain who is responsible for getting the vessels through. I overheard that they get paid about USD 300,000 per annum. This is a huge amount of money in this part of the world, an most other parts come to think of it, so it really is a huge responsibility.
There are two briges that connect the two sides of the canal.
This boat is to big, with its cargo, to pass through the locks. They unload all the containers which are then taken by train to the other end and reloaded once the shop passes through.
It takes a few hours for the boats to pass through the first three locks and then they cross the Gatun lake to the other side and spend a few more hours dropping down to sea level on the Atlantic side.
We shared a lock with this monster. This is a fuel carrying boat but there is very little or no cargo on this ship. If it was full the red part would be underwater, and you would only see the black.
It was a tight squeeze, this thing only just fitted in. They are building an extension to the lock which will allow bigger boats to come through. The new locks are being built along side the current ones so there will be no disruption to day to day manovers. They will have more advanced technology and will be more efficient.
The gates
There is lots of wildlife on the canal. This pelican did quite well for his lunch, at least 4 fish. There were also crocodiles and lots or birds.
The little train keeping the boat from hitting the sides, although it did look like it had taken a bit of a battering.
The lock chambers -steps-- are 33.53 meters wide by 304.8 meters long. The maximum dimensions of ships that can transit the Canal are: 32.3 meters in beam; draft -their depth reach- 12 meters in Tropical Fresh Water; and 294.1 meters long (depending on the type of ship). These doors are actually hollow and if they need to be repaired they are taken off and floated up to Gatun for repair, then floated back down.
Taking a rest
The Pedro Miguel Locks, the last of the three locks on the Pacific side.
These white tubes are to put explosive down and clear the land. This is part of the expansion.
Thes are drills that are drilling into the canal. They drop explosives in and then come along with a barge to clear it up.
I hope this hasn´t been to boring. I found it so intersting and it was cool to see the types of containers that were being carried. Bananas, coffee, Fuel, electronics etc etc.
A big day out for me and afterwards i headed up to Isla Grande. I booked to take a boat from Panama to Cartagena. On the way i met some really cool people that lived in Panama. I went along with them to Isla Grande and partied the night away, a great laugh and some new friends.
Bye for now
love
Sara
x
1 comment:
Really interesting! I saw a documentary about this and they use incredibly precise measurements to the nearest millimetre to get these boats through.
Sounds like your travels are going really well. But hope to see you back in HK one of these days!
Cx
Post a Comment