The gates to the Pacific admit us. Notice the half-bridge in the top right of the photo. That bridge swings around and connects to its other half to permit vehicles to cross Miraflores Locks. In the same location where you see these two sailboats, seagulls swarm this area when the lock empties into the Pacific. Our tour guide said that the fish are momentarily stunned by the freshwater mixing with the Pacific’s saltwater, and the gulls prey upon the gulls’ weakened condition.

As we proceed into the Pacific, Curitiba and Kitano follow. You can see that Kitano, on the right, is still above sea level in the last lock at Miraflores. Our tour guide said these two ships are likely en route on return trips to Japan.

The Bridge of the Americas connects North America and South America and is one of the first things we saw as we made our way away from the Miraflores locks.

Becky and I believed that Panama was one of those underdeveloped, tropical countries, but its capital, Panama City, proved to be everything but underdeveloped.

The sun baked me as I stood atop the Pacific Queen for about nine hours to get the photos you just saw. I’m writing this on June 15, 2004, and the tan on my feet is still with me. (This photo was taken on April 5.) This ocean-to-ocean excursion ran late and the Coral Princess had to wait for us before leaving for Costa Rica.