Puntarenas, Costa Rica

We are now in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Yesterday, January 19, 2006 going through the Panama was fantastic. It is absolutely amazing to imagine the difficulty of dredging and building the canal. They had to cut through a 500ft. mountain of solid rock as part of the process. This is the narrowest part of the canal and is called the Gaillard Cut. It is now 700 ft. wide but was only 300 ft. wide in 1914 when the canal was completed thanks to Theodore Roosevelt and his key manger John Stevens. The day the canal was open was the day World War 1 started. Another interesting aspect of the canal is that there are no pumps to move the water. All of it comes from the surrounding watershed and the Chagris River. Peter climbed up on the most forward and highest roof of the ship and was able to get some good photos.