Panama - (Eventually) Kayaking in the Canal

April 16

Hello everyone!

As I mentioned last time, the construction of the Panama Canal was possible due to the damming of the Chagres river. One consequence of its construction was that artificial lakes were created due to the dam. It was on one of these lakes, at Gatun, that we got to ‘kayak on the Panama Canal’.

2028 Olympics here we come!

Yes, it's not exactly the Panama Canal...

This story starts with me making a slight mistake. The company that organises this doesn’t run the trip every day. I thought I had agreed this for Tuesday 14th. On Monday morning, not having anything planned for the day, I thus went for a run in the city.

My run gave me a view of the Bridge of the Americas

Panama in the early morning sunshine

I returned after 8am, had a shower, checked my phone…and realised that Monday was…the 14th. The trip was due to start at 9am from the dock at a place called Gamboa…45 minutes away. We were never going to be able to get ready and make it in time, so asked to reschedule. We instead spent this day cycling around the Amador Causeway and Cinta Costera, which was lovely. Really should have double-checked the date, though!

The Amador Causeway is at the end of the canal

This is not in the canal - this is
the other side of the sea

That amateur move cost me $60. For that fee, we were able to change to Wednesday. It’s fair to say that it was worth the wait. We took an Uber to a surprisingly busy dock at Gamboa, which is almost halfway up the narrow strip of land that is Panama. Of course, this is the reason that the idea of a canal was floated here.

Semana Santa might explain the number of visitors

This map shows you some of the
artificial lake tha that have been created

I had read an information poster on the Amador Causeway about a fun story of how Boy Scouts set up rowing races down the Panama Canal in the 1950s. They would row a boat known as a cayaco, that looks very similar to and even sounds like the word kayak, from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Apparently this was organised in part to keep teenagers out of trouble. I’d suggest that rowing a rickety boat for 80 kilometres in crocodile-infested waters might actually cause more trouble…

Imagine canoeing past a cruise ship!

No jokes about crocs, we spotted them early on in our boat ride

You can’t row - or kayak, for that matter - on the canal itself now, of course. A few too many ships and a bit too much value for someone like me accidentally steering my kayak into the shipping lane. I was surprised that our small speedboat was allowed to zigzag across the shipping route. There are markers - green on one side, red on the other - that help you know when you are in or out of the shipping lanes.

One of the green markers

Our guide said that it’s easy enough to manage as ships only travel in one direction at certain times in the day. On this Wednesday, Pacific to Atlantic traffic was going in the morning, which switched to the opposite direction in the afternoon. On our return to Panama City, we saw boats at the Miraflores Lock getting lowered from lake level - 26 metres above sea level - back down to zero in preparation to enter the Pacific.

It took a long time to pass some of those ships!

Wonder what was inside the containers...

That lake is actually multiple lakes. They were created by the Chagres river being dammed in order to construct the Panama Canal. These lakes feed the canal, but are away from the ships and the noise.

The Gatun Lake is actually freshwater

Our boat trip from dock to lodge was about 40 minutes

Different noises start to be heard once away from the canal (and once the boat has turned off its motor). The area is known for wildlife, and there is a national park nearby. The majority of people who were at the dock had come on a shorter canal tour to see monkeys. It was very disappointing to see guides encouraging guests to feed the monkeys as a way of guaranteeing a sight of them, almost more like being in a zoo than seeing them in the wild.

At leasy six boats were rammed into
the trees to see the poor monkeys

Apparently some monkeys couldn't eat bananas in
the past, but have evolved to digest them

Our guide Juan quickly realised that we wouldn’t participate in that and instead whisked us off across the canal to another artificial lake. Leaving our things at a lodge, we hopped into a double kayak. Within 100 metres or so, we had been transplanted to the Okavango Delta.

Beautiful day for kayaking. The Monday
would have been rubbish, no doubt.

Our guides in front had a machete to
slash through any dense vegetation

After fighting through the long grass and paddling through water that resembled a lentil soup, we emerged in a wide tributary, surrounded by towering trees and birdsong. Serenity.

When constructed, Gatun Lake was
the largest artificial lake in the world

There is water under that!

We saw a couple of stunning birds zoom by as we glided along the water. No time for pictures of those. We did find our own howler monkeys. No bananas needed.

Kingfisher

Their noise can be heard up to 5 kilometres
away. Admittedly not when this relaxed...

Wildlife was present at the lodge as well. As we ate on what the owner described as ‘Central America’s only floating restaurant’ (unverified), three turtles stopped by to swim around. Once again, other tables throwing rice into the water to get the turtles closer to them didn’t sit well with me. 

The lodge grows a wide variety of fruit and tree species

Panama is known for turtles...on its islands 

Kayaking was brilliant, a world away from the hustle and bustle of both the city and the relatively close canal. It was a great way of seeing a different side of Panama.

Practising those weaving paddling skills

A world away from the Dubai of Latin America

Enjoying a dip in 'the Panama Canal'!

Love you all,

Matt