Our Great Adventure: Miraflores Locks Day 332 16/08/2015

We were both really keen to visit Miraflores Locks whilst we are in Panama. The Panama canal is one of the world's great engineering achievements, stretching 80km from the Pacific to the Atlantic and cutting through the continental divide. About 34 to 40 ships pass through the canal each day with ships built to the dimensions of the canal's locks. Miraflores locks are nearest to the Pacific Ocean and raise the ships by 28m as they pass through the double set of locks. We wanted to get to the Locks before the tour buses so had an early breakfast and set off in a taxi to get there for 0900 just as it opened. We got there for 0900 but unfortunately not before several buses! We bought our tickets, decided to jump the queue (well we are in Panama!) and headed straight for the 4th floor of the visitors centre and the viewing platform (a very good tip from Rosie). The largest ships pass through the locks heading south to north between 0900 and 1100 before continuing on to Pedro Miguel locks, the artificial Gatun Lake and Gatun locks. From mid afternoon ships pass north to south before allowing smaller boats to pass through both ways during the night. The average cost is c$35k to $40k with ships charged based on their weight. The highest charge ever paid was $376k by the cruise ship the Norwegian Pearl, the lowest $0.36 by Richard Halliburton who swam through in 1928. We were lucky to see five huge freight ships pass through. Each one takes about 10 minutes to pass through each lock. They are guided by 6 engines on tracks at the side, each costing c$4m, which ensure they avoid banging the lock side. It was fascinating to watch and the crew on board the ships seemed as enthusiastic as we were, taking photos of the locks and the visitors. Given they have probably just spent months at sea we guessed they were just pleased to see other human beings! It also very much reminded us of our earlier travels through the locks at the Yangtze Dam. The visitors centre houses a 4 story museum on the history of the canal which was fascinating to see. They also show a 15 minute video which was a bit pro Panama but then who can blame them! The canal was built by USA and opened in 1914 after an earlier failed attempt by the French. In 1979 the USA under Jimmy Carter's presidency handed the Canal Zone area back to Panama ceding the last part in 1999. The Zone which was US land, covers a huge area full of civilian and military housing, offices, schools and universities, hospitals, shops etc. Although most our now inhabited by other residents a large number of buildings remain empty and are now derelict. From the locks we headed to Casco Viejo, which became the main city centre in 1671 after Henry Morgan destroyed the old city. It's a half restored/half derelict area but was nice to meander around exploring the neighbourhood. Declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2003 it's now getting international recognition. We strolled around the narrow streets and through the plazas passed churches, theatres and historic buildings before deciding to have a late lunch at an Italian restaurant by the main plaza. In the evening we decided to avoid the task of finding somewhere open on a Sunday evening and ordered take away pizza which we washed down with a bottle of red wine we'd bought earlier, and spent the evening chatting to Rosie and Simon.