Everyone getting ready for an early morning start. Today we Transit the Panamal Canal - there is an air of expectancy on the ship! They pick up our Pilot at 5am. They are very specially trained Pilots- grade nine. It's a very delicate task to get a ship our size through the locks. We were having coffee on the deck at 4.45am - both were awake early. Some people already up on deck!
It's an amazing piece of engineering! It was originally started by the French in the 1800s and then bought and completed by America in 1914. It cost the lives of thousands of people due to landslides, yellow fever, malaria and many other accident's and bad weather conditions. They called the cut through to make the lakes ' Hells Basin'.
It actually took us 10 hours to pass all the way through the three sets of locks and lakes. It was another thing to cross off the Bucket List!
Not many people about this evening - everybody is having an early night - it was a long day but a great experience.
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