Panama Canal
November 27, 2017
November 27, 2017
I was awakened very early that morning so that I could go up
on the highest floor on the ship. Why? Because that day we were going through
the Panama Canal! We stayed up in the Constellation Lounge for 8 hours,
including bathroom stops and going to get food. My butt hurt so much after that
day. Anyway, getting back to the Panama Canal. We got up there at 8
am the lounge was packed with a ton a people. Most of the people were in the
bow to get the best view.
My dad had found a table on the starboard side where
we could see a little bit. Then, eventually, as people left, we got up to
the very front where we had a spectacular view of the locks for the Panama
Canal opening. For a kid, 8 hours of just sitting is not exactly fun, even if
you are seeing something amazing. So, we brought a cross stitch so I would have
something to do. I finished the cross stitch that day and it was my first one
too!
My Dad let me use his big high lens camera and I took full
advantage of it. Let’s just say I used it like binoculars. I took pictures
of cars and the drivers in them. I also took pictures of No Smoking signs
on boats, people that worked for the Panama Canal walking to work. Very random
things like a rusty hose, a rope, the names on container ships, my Dad, my Mom
and cars etc. While we were crossing the Panama Canal there was a lot of
frigate birds fly around. The difference between a male frigate bird and a
female frigate is that the female has a white chest and the male has a red
chest. The reason the male has a red chest is so that when its mating it can
puff up the red on his chest to attract the females.I also saw 2 men getting in a row boat to row the cable out
to our ship. The other end of the cable is connected to a train and the train
pulled the ship to the end of the lock. The speaker who was narrating our trip
through the canal told us that the canal has tried a bunch of different high
tech ways to get the cable to the ship, but this is the only one that works
consistently.
My dad had found a table on the starboard side where
we could see a little bit. Then, eventually, as people left, we got up to
the very front where we had a spectacular view of the locks for the Panama
Canal opening. For a kid, 8 hours of just sitting is not exactly fun, even if
you are seeing something amazing. So, we brought a cross stitch so I would have
something to do. I finished the cross stitch that day and it was my first one
too!
My Dad let me use his big high lens camera and I took full
advantage of it. Let’s just say I used it like binoculars. I took pictures
of cars and the drivers in them. I also took pictures of No Smoking signs
on boats, people that worked for the Panama Canal walking to work. Very random
things like a rusty hose, a rope, the names on container ships, my Dad, my Mom
and cars etc. While we were crossing the Panama Canal there was a lot of
frigate birds fly around. The difference between a male frigate bird and a
female frigate is that the female has a white chest and the male has a red
chest. The reason the male has a red chest is so that when its mating it can
puff up the red on his chest to attract the females.I also saw 2 men getting in a row boat to row the cable out
to our ship. The other end of the cable is connected to a train and the train
pulled the ship to the end of the lock. The speaker who was narrating our trip
through the canal told us that the canal has tried a bunch of different high
tech ways to get the cable to the ship, but this is the only one that works
consistently.
Just after we passed through our last lock, the narrator
told us that a salt water crocodile could be seen on the starboard side. I had
been sitting long enough (too much, really), so my Mom and I headed down to the
helipad. Sure enough we were able to see the crocodile and also a deer a couple
hundred feet away. We also were informed that there were capybaras on the port
side, so we rushed over to get a glimpse of them and I got some okay pictures
of them too. If you don't know what capybaras are, they are the largest rodents
around. I really enjoyed going through the Panama Canal even though it was not
very exciting at times.
No comments:
Post a Comment