Panama City beyond Historic Center, Panama City, Panama

To state the obvious, you can only see so much of a place when time is limited. While in Panama City on a layover that spanned two nights and one full day, we managed to set foot in three major locations of interest. Casco Antiguo and the archaeological site of Panama Viejo featured in the World Heritage post. The other sight on our itinerary was the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal.

Seeing a grand achievement of human endeavor always earns top marks in my book, so the Panama Canal was pretty high on my wish list. At the Miraflores Locks, you do not actually “see” much of the canal, per se, but you do get to observe the slowly-progressing passing of a ship, opening and closing the gates, changing water levels, and more, all loosely narrated by public announcements. There is plenty of other relevant historical and functional information available throughout the visitor center. Since every tour guide worth their salt can predict when a ship would be passing the locks based on the standard operations schedule, the place gets pretty crowded at peak times.

And a sequence of shots at different stages of a car-carrier ship passing through the locks southward.

Look closely at the last two shots and you will be able to recognize the difference in water levels relative to the banks of the channel. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).