Panama

 There was one day stop and tour on the east side of Panama before going thru the canal. We signed up for a tour that showed us the 'New' locks and then took us to where we kayaked in Gatun Lake.

A comfortable bus took us to the Agua Clara locks. This is part of the Panama Canal expansion that was completed in 2016. It's one more set of locks big enough to accomodate the mega-ships of today. Where the original locks are 110 feet wide, the new locks are 180. The old locks have 2 lanes so ships can pass going in different directions. The new locks are just one lane so, only one ship at a time can go thru. Scheduling of ships going thru the canals is quite a job! 

New Locks at Aqua Clara - one lane. This is looking toward the Atlantic.

We were there to see a mega ship going thru - The Mount Everest

Then, we got back in the bus and headed to Jungle Lake Lodge where we would kayak on Gatun Lake. But, the lodge itself was fascinating. Accomodations were made from shipping containers. Makes sense to me. Easily available. Add furniture and plumbing and you have a tiny house. Solar panels on the roof provide electricity for the Air Conditioning. 

I enjoyed speaking with Alwin, who owns the Jungle Lake Lodge. He is a Canadian and said it's very easy to own property in Panama. Panama is like a territory of the US in that they have an agreement that Panama will have no military because US promises to protect it. Anyway, Alwin is intent on saving the jungle by buying chunks of it and protecting it - eco tourism. Next he has his eyes on a piece of property in the Amazon. 

It was a little walk thru the jungle to get to the lakeshore and the kayaks. So fun. It felt great to get out on the water and get a little exercise. It sprinkled a bit, but not a soaking rain. 

We felt right at home on this kayak!

The jungle is so beautiful

We paddled for a couple hours, sometimes in the middle of the lake, sometimes at the edge. Hoping to see some of the wildlife in the jungle. There are monkeys, there are also Sloths - I really wanted to see a Sloth!! 

Someone said they saw a Sloth in one of these trees. Yeah, right!

At least the monkeys jump once in a while and you can then spot them because you see the movement. Sloths are too slow to spot.

This kayak trip actually qualifies as kayaking on the Panama Canal because Gatun Lake is part of the canal system. Of course, we were paddling in an area that the big ships don't go, but still ...

Then it was back in the bus, back to the ship and we were scheduled to cross thru the canal to the Pacific the following day.