Panama

Whenever you get the chance for a stopover in Panama, make use of the visit to the canal organised directly at the airport by the tourism office.

Before getting to the canal, we get a glimpse of the city. It's impressive the number of skyscrapers you can see, while many more are being built. There must be quite a lot of wealth coming to this place, surely not only thanks to the canal. Still, it is certain that the return of the canal to full Panamanian sovereignty has benefited the country. Apparently, the manager of the canal is one of the most well-paid and discreet person in the country.

The locks at Miraflores (the closest ones to Panama city) are one of the three locks along the canal. Ships transit from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the morning, and in the other direction in the afternoon. It takes around 12 minutes for a ship to do the transit. It is the only place in the world where the captain of the ship has to let another person navigate his ship - indeed it requires special skills, and the help of little cars. The total duration to go through the entire canal is around 10 hours.

It is very impressive how the ships manage to go through the narrow canal. Once the ship is in-between the locks, the water flows out and the ship descends by around 16 meters.

Then, the locks open and the ship goes through towards the Pacific. It's simple, yet impressive. So much trade depends on this canal functioning efficiently. Because of the increase in the number of ships, Panama is building a second parallel canal. The new canal, expected to open in 2016, should allow for bigger tonnage ships to go through. People here did not seem worried by the plans by Nicaragua to open another canal there.

The museum has a good section explaining the construction and the history of the canal, including the failed attempts by the French, before the Americans took over. The canal was opened in 1914. There is a cool simulator, with which you can pretend to be the captain of the ship and get it through the canal. A little video gives a good idea of the challenge to cross the canal.