Sittin' on the dock of the bay

After six weeks staying in small villages and beach towns it’s nice to be back in a big metropolis with proper bars, restaurants and a bit of culture.

Wend starts the day staring wistfully at the skyline from our bedroom

And continues doing much the same thing for the rest of our stay

We have no pre-conceived ideas about Panama City.  Well, apart from the fact that there’s a big canal and they make some cool hats (weirdly the very best Panama hats are from Ecuador, so perhaps I’ll write about more them when we get to Quito). Our first impressions are good. It’s very clean, the people are friendly and there are some nice buzzy little neighbourhoods.

Matt and Liz have travelled with us from Santa Catalina so we hang with them for a couple of days. He’s a kindred spirit and loves his ale, so before long we’re comparing tasting notes in Panama’s premier craft brewery. 

Anyway. The canal. Who would have thought watching a bunch of boats go by could be so much fun? We spend a couple of hours at the Miraflores Lock in the morning and enjoy ourselves so much we return for another session later in the day.

It’s great. You see the ships approach the lock from the canal (if they're transiting from Atlantic the Pacific) or the open sea (Pacific to  Atlantic). 

There are inches to spare on either side, so it's a slow process. 

As the rear set of lock gates close these huge vessels 'sink' almost 50ft. 

Then the forward set of gates open and the ship is on its way. 

Clever stuff. And as I said, completely captivating. The scale of the operation is mind-blowing, especially when you consider the hardships and engineering obstacles that had to be overcome during construction over 100 years ago. 

Most of the workforce were shipped in from the West Indies and endured (and sadly in many cases, succumbed) to exposure to malaria and yellow fever. 

Their legacy is a thing of awe and beauty.