Sunset on the Panama Canal
I was in Panama City, Panama a while back and had the opportunity to get out and shoot around sunset one evening. I grabbed a cab from downtown Panama City and headed out to the Amador Causeway, which stretches out into the sea a bit and provides a nice view back toward the town in one direction and a view towards the Panama Canal in the other direction. I chose the canal view.
Having arrived early, I grabbed a quick dinner and then as the light began to change, I hurried up and started walking along this little bay. What you are viewing here is technically the Pacific Ocean (Panama City sits on the western side of the country) though it’s known here as the Gulf of Panama. This is the mouth of the canal, so to speak, and the Miraflores Locks begin several miles from this point, way around the bend to the right. You can always spots ships lining up, getting ready to change oceans.
Miraflores Locks is probably the most popular place to see the canal, since it is closest to Panama City. While viewing the canal is something worth doing, viewing the actual movement of the ships through the canal is pretty uneventful. It’s slow, for starters...and it takes a while. But it’s fun to say you did it - and I did!
