The locks use gravity and water from Gatun Lake (which is fed from rivers in the mountains) to raise and lower boats 80 feet total to reach the necessary height to cross the higher elevation in the middle of the country.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Canal
The locks use gravity and water from Gatun Lake (which is fed from rivers in the mountains) to raise and lower boats 80 feet total to reach the necessary height to cross the higher elevation in the middle of the country.
The Kuna Yale
Each day, the hotel would take us to a different island in the chain. Most of the people live on less than 30 islands in the chain, so most of the islands (the ones we did the day trips to) are deserted, white sand beach islands. We traveled to these islands by way of a dug out 12 foot (approximately) canoe. Now, I tend to be prone to a little seasickness sometimes, and traveling on windy seas in a canoe did not help. I got seasick almost everyday. However, the beautiful scenery and the completely empty beaches did help me get over it quickly.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Panama Viejo
Jesse wanted to be all arty, so he tried to do an artistic shot of the church tower.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Casco Viejo
Our hotel is a new hostel in the Casco Viejo region of the city. "Casco Viejo" means old quarter, and this was where the city was rebuilt after Henry Morgan sacked the old city in 1671. The area has seen some better years, with buildings becoming run down and such. However, it was granted a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognition a few years back, and now renovations have been going on to put the area back into its traditional glory. The area is surrounded on two sides by water, and comes to a point into the Pacific Ocean. After the original city was sacked, the townspeople decided to start using the natural protective barriers around them. The quarter is home to the gold altar,a church altar made completely of gold, which, story goes, a priest covered it in coal dust to turn it black, and told Henry Morgan that the original altar had already been pillaged.
Below is the Catedral of Panama. It is a beautiful old church, complete with a the Plaza de la Independencia outside of it.
The quarter also is home to the Plaza de la Francia, or the French Plaza, which tells the story of the France's role in buiding the canal. It shows some of the original wall that was around the city and the Puente de las Americas, or the Bridge of the Americas, which links the two continents. Casco Viejo is also the home to the Presidents Palace, which I think it really cool. The president lives in the historical part of the city instead of the flashy, modernized downtown.