"Panama Hats In Sight!" a Panama Travel Page by cruisegirl4life

My husband and I took a cruise that went to both Panama and the through the Panama Canal. While I must admit that at first I was not that excited about this portion of our trip, after seeing the Canal and surrounding area - I was stunned and amazed.

The fact that your huge cruise ship is pulled into this lock system by small electric locomotives with barely any room for error (our ship's captain advised that once we were in the canal, there was only 1.5 feet of clearance on each side of the ship!).

It didn't take long to reach the top of the locks right before Gatun Lake. Everyone was crowded up on deck to get the best view and watch everything take place. This gave us a great moment to snap a quick picture with the gate house at the top of the locks. Then it was back to jostling for space along the rail to watch all the action.

As you may have noticed from my other pages, I am more than happy to go on fishing trips with my husband - but when it comes to touching the fish or the bait....no way! So, while my husband wanted to go do a catch and release excursion for peacock bass, and I was more than happy to go along, when I caught my first one, I made the guide hold it for me.