National Geographic Expeditions cruise to traverse Panama Canal

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Simple in conception, monumental in scale, and a genius of design and construction, the 50-mile-long Panama Canal is a supreme triumph of man over nature. Its construction also spawned a revolution, toppled a government, and even gave birth to the Republic of Panama.

To cross the isthmus by cruise ship is one of life's great adventures. To do so with National Geographic Expeditions aboard the organization's 62-passenger Sea Lion is to turn a fascinating passage into an enthralling adventure. And not simply from the mind-numbing feat and statistics involved in excavating a man-made passage through Panama’s continental divide. The banks are cloaked in deepest verdure. Pelicans skim the soupy waters. And crocodiles can be seen hauled out on the banks, motionless as logs, soaking up the rays on sunny days.

On Saturday, January 23, I will join a diverse team of naturalists and other experts aboard Sea Lion for two back-to-back 8-day cruises of Costa Rica and Panama, including passages of the canal. I love escorting these cruise-tours. Especially the canal crossing. Not least because, uniquely, National Geographic Expeditions stops off at Barro Colorado Natural Monument, in the midst of Gatun Lake. Barro Colorado Island has been the exclusive research preserve of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute since 1946. Here, we'll go ashore to hike the forests and explore the mangrove-lined shoreline in search of monkeys, sloths, and other exotic wildlife.

But its the three sets of locks that mesmerize me the most. The canal system features three sets of locks, six in all (each with twin chambers side by side), that raise ships 85 feet to the level of Gatún Lake–once the largest man-made lake in the world–and lower them again to the level of the ocean. Once in the locks–which measures 1,000 feet long by 110 feet wide–vessels move under their own propulsion but are tethered to electric locomotives called mulas (mules), working in tandem on narrow-gauge tracks to keep the ships tautly aligned.

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Copyright © Christopher P. Baker