Traveling Central America The Panama Canal

T he country of Panama holds                                          a unique strategic              It was not until 1826 when the     geographic location, and it     United States started              has tried its best throughout the     investigating a treaty with South  ages to exploit this to the full.     American countries to "protect     From the time of the Portobello       the companies intending to open a  fairs to the first transisthmian      communication system between both  railroad to the present waterway,     oceans", that the building of a    often considered to be the eighth     canal attracted worldwide          wonder of the world.                  interest, with France, England                                           and the United States looking for  A canal linking the Atlantic with     locations and means to avoid the   the Pacific oceans had been a         long, difficult and dangerous      dream since the first Spanish         voyage around Cape Horn. The       colonizations. In fact it was         first attempt at this was the      Charles V of Spain who first          construction of the Transisthmian  envisaged a shortcut through the      Railroad in 1855, which            Panamanian jungle to ease the         eliminated about 8,000 miles from  difficult crossing. So in 1524 he     the journey.                       ordered a survey of the land.                                            However what inspired the king        The first attempt at a canal was   initially was not so much the         in 1854 by a multinational         possibilities for trade, so much      expedition comprising the United   as how to bring back to Spain         States, France, England and New    with least difficulty the hoards      Granada. But the impenetrability   of treasure recently discovered       of the jungle was to take its      in Peru. Unfortunately for him,       toll and the attempt failed with   earth-moving techniques were to       many resultant deaths. But not to  need major improvement before his     be daunted in this most crucial    idea could be undertaken.             endeavor, in 1878 the French       obtained a concession from            85 feet through three sets of      Colombia to build a waterway. Yet     locks – the Gatun, Pedro Miguel    again, after seven years of           and Miraflores.                    fighting disease and other jungle                                        problems, the attempt was to fail     Operating the gigantic locks       with yellow fever, malaria and        consumes vast amounts of fresh     various plagues holding sway.         water. For every ship passing      This project, with the idea of        along the waterway, around 52      building a level canal, was           million gallons of water flows     ultimately abandoned at the turn      into the locks then out to sea.    of the century.                       This comes from the Gatun and                                            Madden lakes. The lock gates,      Eventually the creation of a          themselves engineering wonders,    canal was to become a military        consist of pairs of towering       imperative for the United States      leaves from 47 to 82 feet high,    who commenced (fruitless)             65 feet wide and 7 feet thick.     negotiations with Colombia in         Their weight is from 400 to 700    1902. Finally, Panama declared        tons, yet each can be opened or    its independence from Colombia in     closed in 2 minutes, powered by    1903 and the project went ahead.      electric motors.                   The monumental construction took                                         10 years to complete at a cost of     To navigate the canal, a ship’s    $387 million.                         captain must relinquish                                                  responsibility for his vessel to   The Panama Canal is 50 miles in       a Panama Canal Pilot. Currently    length running from northwest to      over 250 pilots steer over 14,000  southeast. About 8 hours is           ships through the canal each       needed for a typical vessel to        year. The total time spent in the  transit the canal, whilst being       canal is around a full day.        lifted gradually to a height of       Navigating through the canal is    not cheap for vessels, averaging      week, from 9am to 5pm. Ships       several 10s of thousands of           passing through the locks can be   dollars, depending upon the size      viewed from a pavilion where       of vessel and its contents.           commentators provide an English    However, whatever the toll, it is     and Spanish-language commentary,   typically ten times what it would     giving all the details of the      have cost to navigate around Cape     canal including the amazing        Horn.                                 statistics. From yachts and small                                        crafts through to container        The Panama Canal Commission           vessels, huge cruise liners and    welcomes visitors at the              even small submarines, the Panama  Miraflores Locks on the Pacific       Canal is truly an international    side of the Isthmus seven days a      crossing point.                    About the Author: Dr Tavares guides you in Panama helping you learn Spanish and find romance at http://learn-spanish-love.blogspot.com Source: www.isnare.com