Gatun Lake, Fort San Lorenzo, & Agua Clara Locks
Day Two - Panama - 2017
A morning spent cruising Gatun Lake in the middle of the Panama Canal, followed by the World Heritage ruins of Fort San Lorenzo, and a trip to the new Neopanamax-capable Agua Clara Locks.
Map Credit: OpenStreetMap
1. Gatun Lake #1
Gatun Lake has a surface area of 425 kilometers-squared (164 square miles), and was the world’s largest artificially-created lake at the time of its completion in 1913.
I began day two by taking a short boat ride on Lake Gatun. After a short drive from Panama City, we set off from Gamboa, a small town just north of the Culebra Cut. Immediately, we came across the Leto Providence, a Singapore-flagged liquefied petroleum gas tanker.
2. Gatun Lake #2
We circled behind the LPG tanker, and set-off to pass it and its escorting tug.
3. Gatun Lake #3
Soon, we were along the quiet edges of Lake Gatun where a diversity of wildlife thrives.
4. Gatun Lake #4
5. Gatun Lake #5
A Geoffroy's tamarin peeks out from one of Lake Gatun’s many monkey-occupied islands.
As best I understand it, when Lake Gatun was flooded, many small hills along the Chagres River were effectively turned into small islands; any animals on those hills during this period were effectively trapped, to include at least four species of monkeys. Many of these so-called “Monkey Islands” can be visited today, and their residents are always happy when tourists float by, as it usually means an easy meal.
6. Gatun Lake #6
Like clockwork, this tiny monkey came aboard our ship in search of food. The ship’s pilot happily obliged.
7. Gatun Lake #7
8. Gatun Lake #8
While most of the edges of Lake Gatun have been reclaimed by nature in the last 100+ years, many remnants of the U.S. project remain, including this cut.
9. Gatun Lake #9
On the way back to Gamboa, we passed this Atlantic-bound ship, the No Smoking. I’m kidding, I don’t recall the name of this ship off-hand.
10. Panama Canal #1
In 2017, the Panama Canal Ferry was the primary way to cross the Atlantic end of the Canal Zone…
11. Panama Canal #2
…And all types of vehicles -to include trucks and buses- were reliant on its services.
After a quick stop in Colón, we crossed the northern (Atlantic) end of the Canal Zone via the Panama Canal Ferry. While some vehicle traffic can cross this part of the canal using a bridge at the Gatun Locks, this passage is only available during very short periods when the locks are not in use. The ferry did give us a nice view of this end of the canal, however, and I am glad we had a chance to make the journey. The ferry is slated to become obsolete in 2019 with the opening of the Atlantic Bridge, which will cross very near the ferry’s current route (see 22. Panama Canal #3 below).
12. Fort San Lorenzo #1
Before the construction of the Panama Canal, the Chagres River was the primary way goods were transported across the Isthmus between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as it reached inland towards the Continental Divide near the current Culebra Cut. The Spanish Empire was reliant on this route to transport goods from its gold-rich possessions on the Pacific to Europe. As such, it built many forts along this essential conduit, to include Fort San Lorenzo.
After crossing the Canal Zone, we reached Fort San Lorenzo. This side of the Panama Canal is significantly less developed than the eastern side, and it didn’t take us long to find quiet away from the hustle-and-bustle. We stopped at Fort San Lorenzo, a World Heritage site at the mouth of the Chargres River to get a sense of Spanish Empire-era colonial Panama.
13. Fort San Lorenzo #2
14. Fort San Lorenzo #3
15. Fort San Lorenzo #4
The Spanish Empire built Fort San Lorenzo in the late 16th century in response to pirate attacks against the nearby (now demolished) settlement of Chagres and along the Chagres River. Centuries of attacks and neglect have left only a hollow shell of this once-imposing site.
16. Fort San Lorenzo #5
Most of the remaining Fort San Lorenzo dates from the 17th century; the original was sacked in the 1670s by Henry Morgan, who used it as a base to attack Panama City.
17. Fort San Lorenzo #6
18. Fort San Lorenzo #7
19. Fort San Lorenzo #8
20. Fort San Lorenzo #9
While walking near the fort, I spotted this Choco toucan.
21. Fort San Lorenzo #10
22. Panama Canal #3
After departing Fort San Lorenzo, we made our way back towards the Panama Canal Ferry; however, this crossing was temporarily closed as a ship was transiting (the same from our boat ride about five hours earlier near Gamboa; see 9. Gatun Lake #9 above). Our guide received a call on his radio that the Gatun Locks were now closed, and the small bridge leading across it to the Agua Clara Locks was very temporarily open. Flipping a furious U-turn, we headed towards Gatun Locks to make this rare crossing…
23. Agua Clara Locks #1
…And we made it just in time to experience this rare treat. To give you an idea of where this is relative to the ferry, you can just make out the under-construction Atlantic Bridge in the background.
Photographer’s Comment: In all honesty, I snapped this photograph through the van’s window without looking as we were crossing the bumpy bridge across Gatun Locks. The fact that it came out clear at all was amazing; the fact I didn’t pick up any smudges from the window or guardrails or light poles from the bridge makes this photograph a minor miracle.
24. Agua Clara Locks #2
The Atlantic-side Agua Clara Locks -in conjunction with its companion Pacific-side Cocoli Locks- increased the tonnage of a Panama Canal-fairing vessel from 52,000 tons deadweight to 120,000 tons deadweight.
After our sprint across the Gatun Locks, we arrived at the then-new Agua Clara Locks Visitor’s Center. Much quieter than the Miraflores Locks visitor’s center, here you can also see NeoPanamax ships rise and fall in the locks. Here, a large container ship awaits its final set of drops into the Atlantic Ocean.
25. Agua Clara Locks #3
Much like off Amador, ships must queue at the north end of Lake Gatun for their turn through the locks. Here, Panamax and NeoPanamax traffic meet before choosing the appropriate sea lane.
26. Agua Clara Locks #4
Due to extremely tight clearances and the massive weight of the NeoPanamax vessels, ships are gently pushed and pulled by tugboat through the Agua Clara Locks.
This was our last stop for the day before heading back to Panama City. While this was an extremely short trip for me, I feel I got a very good primer of Panama, and I absolutely gained a greater appreciation of the Panama Canal and its construction and operation. I would very much like to make a transit of the Canal one day, since I think it would be interesting to see it from that perspective (especially the Culebra Cut). Perhaps one day, but for now I feel content I “did Panama right.”
