FRANKFORD ALUMNI

          This trip was on my bucket list of places to go.

 

          I was always fascinated by the idea of a manmade waterway connecting the two great oceans, and I went out and bought the book by David McCollough, The Path Between the Seas.

 

          The experience was everything I dreamed about and more.

I traveled with three friends on Viking Cruise Lines with an 11-day itinerary. Our ports included Cozumel, Mexico, Belize City, Belize, Roatan, Honduras, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, Colon, and finally, Panama City, Panama. 

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          I went on excursions at every stop along the way in order to get a taste of the culture and history of each location. My best and most memorable experience was the actual passage through the canal, which began around 7am and didn’t end until around 5pm! It was amazing to see the engineering of the locks that carry ships of all sizes through the waterways beginning in Colon at the northern (yes, northern, not eastern) end and ending in the port of Panama City at the southern end.

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          All of this was accomplished by thousands of men and machines at the beginning of the 20th century! We were able to watch the passage throughout the journey.

The most unpleasant part of the trip was when we docked at Roatan, Honduras, an island off the coast. The roads were in terrible condition and there was obvious poverty experienced by many of the people. This made me both sad and angry, and it did spoil the experience for me.

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          My adventure to the Panama Canal satisfied my lifelong dream.