This is the Miraflores lock on the Pacific side of the canal. It raises/lowers the boats by 16.5 metres with another lock just slightly further in land that raises/lowers the boats in and out of the Gatun lake. The doors themselves are huge and the amount of water, all gravity fed is ridiculous!
Unfortunately there wasn't anything passing through when I was there this morning but the scale of the lock is incredible, not to mention the cost. A large ship will pay on the order of $400k to traverse the canal, with most paying around $100k. This has to be paid in advance with payment received two to three days before the ship arrives at the first lock. They also don't let the ship captains navigate the canal, a dedicated pilot comes out to the ship and takes command throughout its time in the canal and then hands control back to the captain when they are finished.
And then they let idiots like this come and take photos :o)
There's also one hell of a queue sitting out in the pacific waiting for its turn......
It's definitely quite pretty around here but the city has a little bit of a gritty feel about it. Having said that, there is a restaurant just outside my hotel called Gaucho's which has one of the best steaks I have ever eaten! 12oz of succulent, juicy goodness. I suspect I'm going back again tonight to partake, I'll take a photo and do a separate post in its honour!
Sorry about the funny looking fella that keeps popping up in these pictures, I'm just glad he hasn't caused the lens of my camera to crack yet!
So that's about all from me, I've got almost a whole day tomorrow kind of kicking my heels since I have a late flight out to Santiago, I might see if there's anything going through the lock and make another journey out there in the morning if there is.
For now here's a couple more photos and I'll catch you later.
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