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Panama Land Tour #022
Our "week tour" with Retire in Panama Tours...
We arrived at the Panama City Airport (PTY) and was warmly greeted by Oscar and Megan - with the "Retire in Panama Tour" Company. They whisked us off to the beautiful city of Panama.
Panama is a country linking Central and South America. The Panama Canal, a famous feat of human engineering, cuts through its center, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to create an essential shipping route. In the capital, Panama City are many modern skyscrapers, casinos and nightclubs.
And the people in Panama are so nice and helpful. They’re clearly proud of where they come from and were always eager to hear where we were from and what we thought about their country. I was grateful just thinking back to the conversations I had with the locals - some were Ex-Pats now living in Panama and enjoying their new life.
If you've ever wondered about moving here, this is very informative and could answer a few of your questions.
Order your own Virtual Vacation Copy.
Panama Canal Cruise
Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Travel within Panama City - it's a modern city framed by the Pacific Ocean and the man-made Panama Canal. The Miraflores Locks offers views of ships traversing the canal, an essential shipping route linking the Atlantic and Pacific.
The country of Panama is home to more than 3.3 million people, as well as one of the world's most important waterways. Shaped like a sideways letter "S," Panama is a land bridge that connects the continents of North and South America. The Panama Canal, completed in 1914, was carved out of the land to allow passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by large seafaring vessels.
Panama Canal Cruise, Panama Canal, Miraflores Locks, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, seafaring vessel
Welcome to the Panama Canal...
The quickest link...
The Panama Canal isn't just the quickest link between the Atlantic and the Pacific, it's also the most beautiful. On these Panama Canal cruises you'll visit the verdant shores of Panama – or simply sail through this stunning turn-of-the-century engineering achievement.
The 48-mile long Panama Canal opened in 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Canal with its system of locks greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. As a safety feature, ships were guided though the lock chambers by electric locomotives known as mules (named after the pack animals traditionally used in Panama). Mules are used for side-to-side and braking control in the locks. Forward motion into and through the locks is provided by the ship’s engines.
Ships, electric locomotives, mules, braking control, ship’s engine, lock chambers, engineering
Panama's Centennial Bridge...
(Spanish: Puente Centenario) is a major bridge crossing the Panama Canal. It was built to supplement the overcrowded Bridge of the Americas and to replace it as the carrier of the Pan-American Highway. Upon its opening in 2004, it became the second permanent crossing of the canal.
The dam, completed in 1913, created the Gatún Lake, which was the largest man-made lake in the world and formed more than 20 miles of the canal route. In addition to the dam, engineers devised a set of locks, first begun at Gatún in 1909, that form the core of the Canal’s function. Each lock chamber, built in pairs to accommodate two-way traffic, has identical dimensions of 110-by-1000 feet. Gravity powers the entire system, as water is diverted through culverts into the locks, raises ships 85 feet to the surface of Gatún Lake, and lowers the vessels back to sea level on the Ocean side.
The trip through the Canal took the whole day and you can experience for yourself what it would be like to make this spectacular cruise from your own home...
You can order your very own copy of this wonderful cruise through the entire 48 miles of the Panama Canal traveling from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.
Centennial Bridge, Puente Centenario, dam, Gatún Lake, Canal, cruise, lock chamber, culverts
30-minute Movie/Download for $12.00
Panama Land Tour #022
We enjoyed learning about how the ships and cruise ships go through the locks and travel through the whole length of the 48-mile long Panama Canal - watched how the ships were guided though the lock chambers and traveling under Panama's Centennial Bridge! All of this included on our Virtual Vacation Copy!