2005 Panama Canal Cruise -- Panama Canal, Gatun Lake

Updated July 31, 2005

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The primary reason for this cruise, of course, was to transit the Panama Canal. Riding on a brand new, beautiful cruise ship was also an important goal. The photos here are an extensive record of our (exhausting) day, spent in the Canal. This is truly a cross-roads of the world, with many, many ships both in transit, and in port at either entrance. The engineering that made this canal is a marvel, and the setting is other-worldly. In some cases, the ships run alongside wild jungle, with no humans in sight. A website about that canal that may be of interest is: "http://www.panamacanal.com/map.htm".

Of course, we could not see or photograph a lot of our journey through the locks. We were fortunate that another ship was locking near us for some of the transit. The entire locking operation is pretty amazing, involving men and machines. This page contains the pictures we took as the Pride sailed through Gatun Lake.

These pictures were taken primarily with our (no longer) new Kodak DX6490, which we love. The 10x optical zoom is great, and the electronics do a fine job of automatic adjustment and flash operations.

Canal map	Gatun Dam holds back Gatun Lake, the highest point in the Canal.	Top of Gatun Dam	Closeup of Gatun Dam	Looking back at Gatun Locks
Ships in Gatun Lake	More Ships...	More Ships...	Closer view of the ships.	Range makers help the pilots to keep the ships lined up correctly in the channels.
Another range set	Closer view	All along Gatun Lake there were trees blooming.	Another ship transiting Lake Gatun.	This photo shows how narrow the channels can be in Gatun Lake.
Making our turn.	Our companion, the Ludwigshafen Express, is behind us as we transit the lake.	More of those lovely trees.	Another ship approaches us in the lake.	Closer.
The Frontier Ace is a car carrier.	The Canal is constantly being dredged and maintained.	Hmmm, they seem to be blasting, too.	Widening of the Canal, with the bridge in the background.	The works
The Gaillard Cut required enormous excavation, and still does.	To prevent washouts, there are drainage channels along the cut.	A slightly different drain.	Another...	A lot of this mountain had to be blasted away to make the canal, but there is still plenty of rock left...
Passing by.	The Express following us.	Sailing under the Centennial Bridge	One of the tugs used in the Canal	Closeup...
Approaching the Pedro Miguel Locks.

2005 Panama Canal Cruise -- Panama Canal, Gatun Lake

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