Panama: When in Panama...

...one must visit the Canal! (Naturally)
And I brought my camera!

Yesterday I went to visit the famed Panama Canal at Miraflores with my ISA student group. We met at La Ciudad de Saber and walked for 25 minutes (along the side of an uncomfortably busy and truck-filled highway) or so to get to the main tourist entrance of the Canal. Since being in Panama I’ve never seen so many tourists in one location; many of them were speaking English, so I’m assuming they were American or Canadian. We began our Canal experience by watching a short 3D film about the Canal’s history and its impact on Panama and the rest of the world (glossing over the negatives, of course, and focusing on what a feat of engineering and ingenuity the passage is).

We went to check out the canal from a couple different observation decks. Both were overcrowded. I dislike tourist attractions that are unpleasantly teeming with people, each trying to get the best view, so I quickly became rather not thrilled with the scene. The Canal (which used to look like this) is an impressive thing, to be sure, but I can only be so invigorated by a rather slow moving and dull process. It was fine to see once, but for me once is enough. We also visited the Canal museum (in the same building), which was informative; my favorite part of the museum was the exhibit that is designed to make visitors feel as though they were in the control room of a barge going through the canal (at a sped up rate, because otherwise it would be a dull experience indeed).

I did appreciate the significance the Canal, even if I didn’t enjoy the touristy ambiance. I admit I was underwhelmed by the spectacle that is the Panama Canal, but I tried to take some quality photos (although I think that they are rather unexciting, as there isn't too much happening as ships pass through the Canal...):