24 - 25 April 2010 Going Through The Panama Canal And Visiting Panama City !

Saturday - 24 April Entering The Panama Canal's Gatun Locks At 5:30AM !!
Lighthouse To Left Of Gatun Locks	Dale Says It's Too Early!	Entering Gatun Locks		"Mules" Locomotives Are Ready For Us
Entering Gatun Locks	Millions Of Gallons of Water Used Each Transit	In We Go !	Locomotive Moves Into Position	Lock Filled In Adjacent Chamber And Vehicle Bridge Temporarily Open !
Another Ship Already Elevated In Adjacent Lane	We Move Into First Chamber !	Locomotive Has Lines Tied To Us		Now We Wait For Our Chamber To Fill Up !
Sandy, Dale And Pat Gatun Locks Panama Canal	Dale & Barry	We're Up! Now Moving Into Second Chamber	Administrative Buildings Gatun Locks	Sandy & Skip Gatun Locks
Mule Guides Us Inside Second Chamber Gatun Locks	Barry	Gatun Locks Control Building	Pedestrian Bridge On Top Of Lock Gates	Dale Ship Is Elevated Again !
Gates Open. We Move Into Third Chamber Gatun Locks	Locomotive Mule Pulls Us Along !	Dale Almost To The Double Gates Of Third Chamber	Island Princess Cruise Ship Enters Gatun's Third Chamber Beside & Behind Us
Double Locks At Each End Of This Chamber In Case A Ship Rams A Gate (Flood Control)	We're Now 85 Feet Above Sea Level	Wes Taking A Picture of Me Taking Picture Of Him !	Entering Gatun Lake 85 Feet Above Sea Level	Dale Entering Gatun Lake
Gatun Lake Dam	Relaxing On Deck Six And Watching The Sights On Gatun Lake	20 Miles Of a Ship's Transit Through the Panama Canal Is Via The Gatun Lake		Golden Shower Guayacan Trees Gatun Lake Shoreline
Views Of Gatun Lake	Panama Canal Railway	Small Boats Also Transit The Canal !		Panama Canal Dredge
Gold Hill Gaillard Cut Centenario Bridge	Centenario Bridge From The Ryndam Bridge	Puente Centenario and The Pan-American Highway ! It Connects North & South America !
Building Six New Locks To Be Opened in 2015	Entering The Single Chamber At Pedro Miguel. We Drop Down 31 Feet Here !	Pat Pedro Miguel Locks	Pedro Miguel Lock We Catch Up With Small Boats
Leaving Pedro Miguel Entering Miraflores Lake	Pedro Miguel Control House	We're 31 Feet Lower, And Entering Miraflores Lake !	Pedro Miguel Yacht Club Closed For Security Reasons Abandoned Yachts Available !!	Barry Fort Clayton In Background
Fort Clayton The Last U.S. Base Handed Over To Panama	Old, Small Observation Platform And Huge New Visitor's Center! I Spent A Lot Of My Free Time Here In 1985-1986		New Visitor's Center And Miraflores Control House	Barry Miraflores Locks
Water Lowered In First Chamber	Barry & Dale Miraflores Locks	Waiting To Enter Second Chamber Each Gate Is 7 Feet Thick Each Chamber Is 110 Feet Wide And 1050 Feet Long		Miraflores Control House
Entering Second Chamber Miraflores Locks	Loud Cheering From New Visitor's Observation Building	Mule Tows us Into The Last Chamber	Fort Clayton Headquarters Building Is Now The City Of Knowledge Etc
Miraflores Locks Lowered us 54 Feet To Pacific Ocean Level !	Giant Swing Bridge For Vehicular Traffic !	Our Old Office Location Atop Quarry Heights! Ancon Hill Panama City	Bridge Of The Americas	The Catamaran Girl
Panama Canal Administration Building Balboa Heights	End of Canal Naos, Culebra, Perico And Flamenco Islands	Quarry Heights	Bridge Of The Americas	Quarry Heights And Panama City On The Right
M/S Ryndam Passes Fort Amador, Now A Commercial & Tourist Area With A Public-Access Causeway To Panama City>		Wes, Dale, Pat, Skip & Sandy	Upper& Lower Rotterdam Dining Rooms	The Yum Yum Man After Dinner Mints, Etc.
Sunday - 25 April We Anchored By Fort Amador last Night. Today We Go Ashore To Visit Panama City !
Casco Viejo (Old Quarter)Is The Oldest City In Central America ! Very Poor Area But Its French & Caribbean Colonial Buildings Are Now Being Renovated!
Tourist Police	New & Old Buildings Casco Viejo	Dale & Barry Cathedral Municipal, Plaza Mayor		Barry Offices Of Ferdinand DeLesseps
Side Streets Off Plaza Mayor Casco Viejo, Panama City		French Embassy Plaza De Francia	Dale Plaza de Francia Former Official Home Of The Mayor, And The Military Barracks	Dale Panama City Skyline From Plaza De Francia
Barry & Dale Plaza De Francia, Casco Viejo, Panama City			Dale Typical Renovations Of Casco Viejo Buildings! 'Gut The Inside' And Retain The Original Facade. Beautiful!
Noriega's Officer's Club Now Being Renovated Into A Hotel! Noriega Murdered His Enemies Here And Threw Their Bodies into The Ocean!
National/Tourist Police Police Station Casco Viejo		Gorgeous Architecture (Oh Yeh - Dale Too)	Tree grows On Wall	Barry Boliva Plaza Casco Viejo Panama City
Dale Bolivar Plaza	Palacio Bolivar	Bolivar Plaza, Casco Viejo (Old Quarter, Panama City)		Residential High Rise Panama City
Panama City Skyscrapers Are Mostly Residential, Not Commercial Buildings	Unusual Twisting Skyscraper Architecture	Noreiga's Neighborhood	Noriega's Front Gate
Noriega's House Near Ruin	Noriega's House - State Property - No Entry!			Caesar Park Hotel Now Is The Sheraton! (Where I often stayed 1985-1986)
Caesar Park (Sheraton). The Convention Center Next Door Hosted The 1986 Miss Universe Contest!	Trump Ocean Club Tower Under Construction	Circular Holiday Inn Is Surrounded By High Rises! Now Re-named As The Plaza Pantilla Inn ! (Stayed Here On My TDYs With John Kohl)
Holiday Inn Is Now The Plaza Paitilla Inn	Old Balboa Hospital Balboa Heights		Canal Administrator's Home Balboa Heights	Typical Landscape On Balboa Heights And Quarry Heights
Panama Canal Administration Building			Street To Administration Building	Barry Panama Canal Administration Building
Barry Panama Canal Administration Building	Barry View From Administration Building		Purple-Flowering Jacaranda Trees	U.S. Canal Zone Buildings Are Now Panamanian Offices
Typical Canal Zone Architecture	Return To M/S Ryndam From Amador	Storm Is Coming !!		Island Covered With Bird Guano !
Panama City Skyline From Fort Amador Anchorage	Islands Linked By The Amador Causeway		Stormy Panama City Skyline	Ships Waiting For Their Turn To Go Through The Canal
Panoramic Views of the Panama City Skyline !