1?:00 PM Bend

I’m not really sure what the time differences are anymore, we may or may not be two hours or three ahead of Bend, as we are now crossing or not crossing the line which divides the times. With the said, I shall begin. Today started with an early wake up (two hours after I went to bed). My parents called me up to their room (which has a balcony, whereas we get to look out of our window at a lifeboat, but hey, they’re paying I guess ;) to watch the passage through the Gatun Locks, which took us 86 feet up to the water level of the third largest manmade lake. (it used to be the largest, but one was built larger than it, and then another was built and it had to be larger than both, because for a lake to be built as the second largest right off the bat just wouldn’t do) The lake was built so that the panama canal wouldn’t have to be dug down at sea level. Instead there are a series of locks which raise up the boat to the higher level where it crosses to the other side, where it drops again to sea level. The cruise boat is actually the largest boat that comes through the locks, and they have to pay over 2,000 dollars to travel through in a boat with that much mass and size. (The boat has a clearance of four feet on either side as it runs through the locks. One in the lake, we boarded a smaller boat that took us on a tour around the islands that dotted the lake. (The cruise ship didn’t have a place to dock, so it just sat anchored out in the lake) On the tour we happened upon a small cayman, (spelling? I dunno) a group of four red spider monkeys playing around in the trees, and various birds, including a few kites and vultures. We then took a tour of the locks and learned how the operate. It’s an incredibly simple system, and the gates that are used now are the same ones that were originally put up when the canal was first built, (well when it was first built by the English, the French tried once but they tried to make it at sea level... That would have been building an 86 foot or more deep canyon) I’ll try to post some pictures with some explanations if needed once I get home, we’ll see. While we were there the cruise ship passed through the locks right in front of us (passed through one section at least, it takes and hour and a half for a boat the size to squeeze through the entire system). We waved, everything was happy, then we got back on the bus and drove out to the port where te ship would arrive later. On the way, we saw a lazy sloth lounging in a tree by the road, and there was much rejoicing. We got on the boat again that afternoon after being... Um.. serenaded... ya... serenaded... by a street guy with a five string banjo missing two strings. After dinner and hanging out for a bit, we played a bit more of our newly invented tennis soccer, while a group of workers from the Philippines watched and waited for the courts. When we had finished, they challenged us to a four on four basketball game, quite the intense game, but we triumphed in the end. After a midnight snack as a victory celebration, I am now here typing, and can’t think of anything else. Tomorrow, Costa Rica, and the next port brings us to the Grand Caimans, where I get to go 800 Ft. Under the sea. Bwahahahahah!!!