Did you know that the French tried to dig a canal through Panama in the 1880s? They did, but after thousands (21,900) of deaths from malaria and yellow fever, they gave it up. The U.S. then went in and, chalking up only 5,600 deaths ("only"), opened the canal in 1914.
You can drive or walk across bridges that span the canal.
The locks move ships up and then down as they pass over the isthmus.
It isn't free: they charge a toll. The most expensive, according to Wikipedia, was $331,200 in 2008 to the "Disney Magic." The least expensive toll was 36 cents, charged to Richard Halliburton who swam the canal in 1928 (also according to Wikipedia).
It takes between 8 and 10 hours to sail from one end of the canal to the other - a distance of about 50 miles. Still, it beats swinging down around the Horn if you're trying to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The scenery is lush and tropical. Anyone up for a boat ride?
Did you know that the French tried to dig a canal through Panama in the 1880s? They did, but after thousands (21,900) of deaths from malaria and yellow fever, they gave it up. The U.S. then went in and, chalking up only 5,600 deaths ("only"), opened the canal in 1914.
You can drive or walk across bridges that span the canal.
The locks move ships up and then down as they pass over the isthmus.
It isn't free: they charge a toll. The most expensive, according to Wikipedia, was $331,200 in 2008 to the "Disney Magic." The least expensive toll was 36 cents, charged to Richard Halliburton who swam the canal in 1928 (also according to Wikipedia).
It takes between 8 and 10 hours to sail from one end of the canal to the other - a distance of about 50 miles. Still, it beats swinging down around the Horn if you're trying to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The scenery is lush and tropical. Anyone up for a boat ride?
makes 4 bucks to cross from jersey to philly a bargain!
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe. I still think they charge too much to let people out of Jersey.
ReplyDeleteI think walking across would be fun - when are we going. And, as for the jersey comment - NO charge is too much to get OUT of jersey - just don't try to charge me to get IN - word.
ReplyDelete