Panama Canal, Part 1

I couldn’t sleep the night before we arrived in Panama,

so watched a lightning storm for a few hours in the dark, 

then got up an hour before the alarm, at 6 am, 

 Bridge of the Americas

to watch QE’s approach to the Canal.

 Back side of the bridge

 Pilot boat 

 Second pilot boat

 Looking back over QE’s deck during breakfast 

 One of many huge moths on deck

We spent the first part of the morning 

 

 First set of locks

in the Commodore Club at the top front of the ship,

watching our approach to the first set of locks through the windows. 

 Three levels of locks (right arrows) and water release (left arrow)

Not the best spot for taking pictures (through tinted glass)

 Opening the gates

but definitely a bird’s Captain’s eye view of the scenery. 

 Top of the light pole was at eye-level on Deck 10

Once we were in the first lock, 

we moved down to the outdoor railings on Deck 3,

 Just a little leak 

where the ‘mules’ were located. 

 Building inscription “Miraflores 1913”

These 50-ton locomotives, 3-4 on each side, are attached to QE with cables,

 Looking back as we enter the lock

and are what pull us through the Canal

 View from our balcony as we move between lock level 1 and 2

while keeping QE centered in the water.

By the time QE was ready to exit the locks into the lake, 

 Lock gates opening

we couldn’t get near the railing on the forward decks 

 Our escort into the lake

so ended up watching - and taking pics - on our cabin’s tv.

Not quite as good as the real thing, but we probably wouldn’t have seen this otherwise . . . a bloody enormous crocodile hanging out, just waiting for someone to slip up. Scary beast!