CRUISING the PANAMA CANAL!

Mon.,  Oct. 5:  PANAMA CANAL

People take the canal SERIOUSLY.  They buy the T-shirts and the caps.  Maybe they frame the certificate you get at the end of the day!?!  One guy even told me that for him this was the whole point of going on the cruise. 

We were up top by 7:30 A.M. but already the crowd was 3 deep at the front of the ship. 

So Bryan boosted me up onto a rail and I got a good view.

Some people tried standing on deck chairs.  One woman fell off and was taken away in an ambulance. 

Another ambulance came for a guy who had a heart attack.

Women in national costume came on board to sell local handicrafts.

Eight little trains called mules pulled our ship through each lock.  There was only one foot of clearance on each side of the ship.

A huge man-made lake provides the water for the locks.